Writing Prompts for Essay #1 (Exemplification)
Choose ONE of the following prompts below and write an essay that you develop
primarily by example, just as both Quindlen and Staples did in their essays. Be sure to
choose the prompt you care most about so that the examples are a means of
communicating an idea (a thesis), not an end in themselves.
1. Have you ever moved from one place to another? What sort of experience was it?
Was there an activity, an experience, or an object that helped ease the transition?
Write an essay about leaving an old home and moving to a new one, making sure to
address these questions. (Remember, in an essay story-telling exists for the sake of
an idea, or ideas. Don’t just tell a story for its own sake.)
2. Consider more broadly than Staples does what it means to alter public space.
Staples would rather not have the power to do so, but it is a power, and it could
perhaps be positive in some circumstances. Expand on Staples’s essay by
examining the pros and cons of altering public space. Use specific examples as your
evidence.
3. Klass’s essay explores the “separation between doctors and patients.” Has this
separation affected you as a patient or as the relative or friend of a patient? If so,
write an essay about your experience. Did the medical professionals rely heavily on
jargon? Was their language comforting, frightening, irritating? Based on your
experience and Klass’s essay, do you believe that the separation between doctors
and patients is desirable? Explain.
REMEMBER: Make sure your essay—regardless of the prompt you choose—abides by
the points provided in the “Graded Essay Standards” doc in the Blackboard Classroom
