The extent of family influences to one’s ability to be successful.
Essay at a Glance
In this essay, we are taking the leap into using the concepts from one text to analyze the ideas in another text. We will continue to work on carefully reading and understanding the texts, but this time, we’ll be choosing solid, specific examples to illustrate the connections we make from text to text and explaining these analytical connections to our readers.
Main Goals of Essay 1
⇒ Focus your essay on a solid thesis statement that makes a claim and states the reasons for that claim (your “because” statement).
⇒ Provide effective and developed support (reasons and examples) for your claim with ideas from the texts.
⇒ Critically analyze the degree to which you believe family plays a role in one’s success, using theories about family discussed in the readings.
⇒ Create organized paragraphs that focus on one main point and divide your argument into manageable chunks for your readers
Texts for Essay 1
⇒ “Don’t!” by Jonah Lehrer
⇒ “The Science of Success” by David Dobbs
⇒ “The Stories that Bind Us” by Bruce Fielder
⇒ “The Other Wes Moore” chapters 1
⇒ Gladwell “Do Parents Matter? Judith Rich Harris and Child Development” by Malcolm Gladwell
