ESSAY 2

 For the Topic Assignment, please submit your intro, thesis, and topic sentences for Essay 2. In this essay you need to make an argument that identifies some of the most significant causes of the crisis you presented in Essay 1. At the end of your Topic Assignment, following your 

Introduction (one paragraph): In your introductory paragraph you should name the crisis and explain what it is. You might briefly establish an origin and/or general time frame for the crisis. If you have a personal connection to the crisis, you should introduce that. You should also 

introduce your local focus. You should make clear why your readers should care about the crisis.

The introduction should be informed by research and include at least one quote. Your research must be cited with an in-text citation. Either directly quote the source and put the quote in quotation marks, or put the source information completely into your own words. All ideas, information, and language that comes from external sources must be cited. If you introduce the source with an attributive tag (Smith states, According to Smith, etc.), then make sure to put short works in quotes (article titles) and long works in italics (newspapers, journals, magazines, books, websites, etc.). In-text citations should contain the authors last name and the page number (if there is one). There should be no comma in the citation. Quotation marks go before the citation, and the period goes after the citation. (See the sample paragraph below.)

Note: While the focus of your argument and body paragraphs will be different from Essay 1, you’re still introducing the same crisis. So your 

introduction for Essay 2 can be pretty much the same as your intro for Essay 1, unless you want to update it to reflect new ideas or info or the 

feedback I’ve given you on Essay 1 once you’ve receive that back from me. The same goes for your conclusion, though you may want to tweak that as well based on how your ideas about the topic have evolved. Obviously you will be concluding the intro to Essay 2 with your causal

 thesis, so that will introduce the new focus.

 

Thesis: The introductory paragraph should end with your thesis points. The thesis should consist of your primary claim (central argument) plus the main points you will develop in each of your body paragraphs to support it (thesis points). Your thesis is the roadmap you present to your readers so that they know where they are going (what your argument is), and how they are going to get there (what roads they’ll be taking – what points you will be making to support your argument).

 

Topic Sentences: Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that introduces the main idea of the paragraph (thesis point). This should be the FIRST sentence of the paragraph. The paragraph should be unified around this one main idea. If your thesis contains three points, then you should have three body paragraphs. If your thesis contains five points, then you should have five body paragraphs. Since your thesis is your readers roadmap, your body paragraphs should develop the thesis points in the SAME ORDER that you present them in your thesis. If you tell your readers you are going to Z Street by taking W Street to X Street to Y Street, then you must take the streets in that order, or your readers will get lost.

NOTE: The topic sentence looks in two directions: forward to where the argument is going, and backward at where the argument has already been. It communicates two things to the reader: 1. It introduces the new point/paragraph, and 2. It connects the new point/paragraph to the old point/paragraph (the one that preceded it), as well as to the central argument (X is a crisis).

 

Sample Topic Assignment:

Introduction: Midlife crises have become an epidemic in America. According to an article in the New York Times, x % of the U.S. population experiences a midlife crisis each year, and the average age for midlife crises in America is 47 (Brown #). Smith states that midlife crises began increasing steadily beginning in the 1980s, and she relates this trend to x (origin and other general causes) (Smith #). In our home state of Alabama, statistics show that midlife crises are a common cause of mental health issues (“UAB Reports Uptick in Mental Illness Among Middle-Aged Adults”). According to Smith, a midlife crisis is defined as quote (Smith #). While midlife crises are often portrayed as funny in television and movies such as (examples), they should be taken seriously. I came to find this out the hard way when my best friend committed suicide on her  forty-fifth birthday. Middle age comes with its own set of challenges, and the more people are aware of them the better they can avoid  a midlife crisis and help their friends and loved ones to do the same. Thesis Points: Some of the most common causes of midlife crises include 1, 2, 3, . . . (You may discuss as many causes as you like.)

 

Topic Sentences for Body Paragraphs:

Body Par. 1: One thing that frequently leads to a midlife crisis is x.

Body Par. 2: Along with x, another thing that often contributes to a midlife crisis y.

Body Par. 3: In addition to x and y, midlife crises often result from c.

Body Par. 4: Etc.

 

Note: The topic part of the sentence introduces the topic of the paragraph (main idea). The transition part of the sentence connects the topic of the new paragraph to the topic of the old paragraph (or the paragraph that came before it), and to the thesis (or central argument – that midlife crises cause serious negative impacts).

 

Format: Font should be Times New Roman, 12 pt. Spacing should be double with no extra spaces above or below lines. Margins should be 1 inch on all sides. There should be a 4-line heading at the top left (your name, my name, EH 102, date). Your essay title should be centered on the next line. Your intro should begin on the line after that. Do not underline, italicize, bold, or put quotes around the title of your essay. You should, however, always punctuate the titles of published works wherever you refer to them in your essay. Always make sure to put QUOTES around article titles and to ITALICIZE the titles of the works that contain them (journals, magazines, newspapers, websites, books).