Discussion + Essay . Martin Luther King is the person youll be writing about.

DISCUSSION INFO (below)

While this essay’s topic concerns writing about a person you admire, this essay will give you practice in creating concrete details that support your overall thesis. As writers, you need to learn to avoid essay thesis statements that begin with:

• “In this essay, I will write about….”
• “When thinking about this topic, this comes to mind…”
• “This essay will cover [point 1], [point 2], and [point 3]” 

As your skill in writing grows, through practice and the writing process, your thesis statements will become stronger than the examples above. As you start your first essay, reflect on the idea of creating concrete details. This is why essay one is a great place to start practicing thesis statements and main ideas. As we start essay one, you will need to:

• choose a person that you admire (real or fictional)
• Ask yourself the following questions:
  • Why do you admire this person?
  • What qualities do they have that make them admirable?
  • Who is this person? Don’t rely on biography, but have concrete events in their life led to your admiration of them?
  • When did you discover your admiration of them?
  • Where did you discover this person? 
  • How did you come to admire them?
• Note: You do not have to answer all of these questions, but these should help you brainstorm ideas about the person you admire. 
• Identity 3-4 concrete ideas or traits about the person you admire. These may change throughout the essay process. You are allowed to change your details throughout the writing process. 
• Engage in Discussion Board 1. 

Discussion Details:

Create an original discussion post that clearly states the person or fictional character you have chosen. If you must give biographical information, be sure that it directly relates to your admiration of the person. 

• In one sentence, introduce your chosen person or character.
• For the rest of your post, explain the clear details about why you admire this figure. 
• Focus on 3-4 concrete details. 
• Reply to another student’s post. 

Remember, reading another students ideas will help you develop your own ideas. This aids in brainstorming and review of your own topic. You do not have to know anything about another student’s chosen person/character. They should give enough information to explain their admiration. The goal of this module is not to give a summary of a person’s life. The goal is to show concrete details that support a clear thesis. Focus on admiration and why you admire, not the person/character’s life story. 

ESSAY INFO BELOW

Essay 1: Person I Admire

Purpose

This essay assignment is the culmination of all your previous work in this module. You have already engaged in the beginnings of the writing process of this essay. You have:

• Brainstormed ideas (see Chapter 11 in SMG) about the essay in the Discussion Board.
• Condensed your ideas down into manageable points around a working thesis.
• Displayed knowledge of Description essays from Learning Activities
• Drafted a Writing Activity (WA2) about this Description essay.
• Consulted with a writing tutor to find areas of strength and areas of improvement. 

Finally, you will now compose the final draft of a description essay that: 

• contains a clear thesis
• identifies clear points to support your thesis
• engages in critical thought about the subject chosen
• uses 2-4 main ideas (points) that support your overall essay thesis
• allows you to expand on your chosen topic 

This essay assignment represents the first steps in writing any written essay for any academic course. The idea of thesis and support are the cornerstones of all essays. They represent the last part of the writing process. However, you may still revise your essay before final submission. This form of essay writing is the basis for all other academic writing pursuits. This skill translates to almost all careers that require critical thinking, critical reading, and responding in writing. Practicing “how to” write an essay carries over into any field’s task of “what” you need to write. This skill will help with all formal writing. 

Task 

Write a 900-word essay, in MLA format, about a person or fictional character in whom you have an interest.

• Select a subject (person or fictional character you admire)
  • Look to your Discussion (D1) and Writing Activity 2 (WA2) for your subject
• The person may be current or historical
• Some fictional characters have positive traits that can be identified. 

Select several (2-4) traits about the person or character that you admire and write about these. These will be the essay’s main ideas. 

• Biographical information should be used only to support claims. 
• Your essay should focus on the traits you admire. Do not write a biography or tell a story. 
  • Example of what not to do: This person was born in 1979. They were born in middle Tennessee. They went to elementary school is 1985. They graduated in 1998. 
  • Instead, follow this example: This person was born in middle Tennessee. Entering elementary in school in 1985 was hard for them. They never felt that they belonged in kindergarten. However, they persevered, learning that school was a place for them to grow and be themselves. 
    • Focus on the “why” you admire them instead of a list of traits. In the above example, perseverance and learning to be themselves are the traits the writer of the essay admires. 

Organize your main ideas to establish the essay’s pattern of organization.

• Your main ideas (traits you have chosen) need to be clearly organized.
  • Decide in what order you wish to discuss these main ideas (traits)
  • This organization needs to be presented in your introduction, preferably as the last sentence of your introduction in the thesis statement.
    • Note: your thesis is generally the last sentence in your introduction, but it not a requirement. 
  • Follow this structure throughout the rest of the essay. 
    • Always check to see if your main ideas/topic sentences, in each paragraph, relate back to your thesis statement.

Compose 5 well-developed paragraphs that support a clear thesis statement that is arguable.

• 5 paragraph minimum
  • introduction paragraph
    • introduces your essay and presents your thesis
  • three body paragraphs
    • Each paragraph contains one of your chosen admirable traits about your subject
      • expressed in a topic sentence in your paragraph
    • Each trait needs to transition to the next one in the next paragraph 
      • look to your chosen pattern of development
  • conclusion paragraph
    • rephrases your traits into one last paragraph
    • reflects the earlier thesis, but with the knowledge of your traits expressed throughout the essay
• This essay is a basic form of an argument essay. The essay should make an argument such as that the person or character selected is worthy of admiration because of the traits selected.