EAP Practice Essay

What are they really testing?? Can you read and understand the opinion of someone else?  reading skills Can you think of an educated response using evidence & support from your life / what you’ve learned in life?  supporting your argument (critical thinking) Can you articulate those ideas in writing so that someone you don’t know can understand your opinion?  writing / organizational skills

The Prompt… Explain the writer’s claim and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with her conclusion. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

“For many Americans, the concept of success is a source of confusion “For many Americans, the concept of success is a source of confusion. As a people, we Americans greatly prize success. We are taught to celebrate and admire the one who gets the highest grades, the one voted more attractive or most likely to succeed. But while we often rejoice in the success of people far removed from ourselves—people who work in another profession, live in another community, or are endowed with a talent that we do not especially want for ourselves—we tend to regard the success of people close at hand, within our own group, as a threat.” - Mead

Step #1 in responding- Rewrite Prompt “For many Americans, the concept of success is a source of confusion. As a people, we Americans greatly prize success… success confusing to Am’s, but important

“We are taught to celebrate and admire the one who gets the highest grades, the one voted more attractive or most likely to succeed.” Am’s taught to admire success

“But while we often rejoice in the success of people far removed from ourselves—people who work in another profession, live in another community, or are endowed with a talent that we do not especially want for ourselves—” we’re happy when people we don’t know are successful

“—we tend to regard the success of people close at hand, within our own group, as a threat.” we are threatened or jealous by the success of people we know

Step 2: Agree or Disagree ~ Make your decision whether you agree or disagree based on your summary AND think of examples why you made that decision.

success confusing to Am’s, but important -what is success? Agree Am’s taught to admire success -parents, teachers, media, etc. Agree we’re happy when people we don’t know are successful -famous actors, athletes, business people Disagree we are threatened or jealous by the success of people we know -classmates, siblings, coworkers Agree

**Ask self—does this sentence clearly answer the prompt/question? Step 3: Write a Thesis Mead accurately states that success is confusing, especially when we find ourselves threatened by friends and family who are successful, but she misses the point when she states that we are happy for successful people we don’t know because we are often jealous and threatened by them as well. **Ask self—does this sentence clearly answer the prompt/question?

The Prompt… Explain the writer’s claim and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with her conclusion. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Step #4: Organize Thoughts success confusing to Am’s, but important (Intro. Para) -what is success? Agree Am’s taught to admire success (Intro Para / Con. Par.) -parents, teachers, media, etc. Agree we’re happy when people we don’t know are successful (Body Para.1) -famous actors, athletes, business people Disagree we are threatened or jealous by the success of people we know (Body Para. 2) -classmates, siblings, coworkers Agree

Beginning to Write…

The Introduction ~Elements of a strong intro: *hook/opener *intro. to main ideas of body paragraphs *thesis -is your thesis a clear, one sentence ANSWER to the prompt (question)?

Body Paragraphs ~Do you explain what Mead is saying? ~Do you say whether you agree or disagree with Mead & use examples to support your opinion? ~Do you use commentary to explain how each example supports your opinion (whether you agree or disagree)? ~Did you remember to create a smooth transition from paragraph to paragraph?

Conclusion ~A strong conclusion needs to relate the main ideas from your body paragraphs back to the thesis— sum up why you agree or disagree with Mead **Also need to explain the significance of your ideas—Big Picture / “So What?” Test

Helpful Hints:

Write a title (can be done later) Explicitly refer to the passage Identify subtle arguments in addition to obvious ones ongoing conversation Write neatly enough that a reader can understand it! RELAX—and take the time to proofread!

When It’s Okay To Use “I” **Typically, in formal writing, you don’t use the word “I”, but of course, there are exceptions… Okay: “I remember the first time I won a race…” when giving an example, there’s no other choice Not Okay: “I think that all people should conserve…”  “All people should conserve…” **Saying the same thing, but more credible to reader Okay: “I agree with Mead when she says that…” Better option: “Mead is correct when she says..