Prompt: You have read three texts that claim that the role of zoos is to protect animals. Write an essay that compares and contrast the
evidence each source uses to support this claim. Be sure to use evidence from all three sources to support your response.
Similarities:
Articles 1, 2, & 3 all share the same claim: “the role of zoos is to protect animals”
Articles 1 & 2 use named animals and their success stories to convey evidence to support claim
Article 1 – tigers Tatja and Gaia – breeding – prevents extinction
Article 2 – gorilla Willie – replicating natural habitats – improves quality of life
Differences:
Articles 1, 2, 3 all use different strategies for sharing evidence to support claim
Article 1 – problem and solution (tigers going extinct; provide a network that enables them to breed successfully)
Article 2 – cause and effect (gorilla in cage leads to unhealthy gorilla; unhealthy gorilla leads to zoo rethinking how it houses
animal; zoo replicating natural habitat leads to healthy and happy gorilla)
Article 3 – list of information (macaws are intelligent birds that need stimulation and enrichment; the zoo provides a number
of opportunities for the macaws to be enriched)
Article 3 uses photographic evidence to support the text
Student Examples of Effective Writing:
Hooks that draw in the reader:
In the past, zoos were nothing but museums that displayed rare creatures for individuals who paid for admission; however today, zoos
serve to protect and preserve wildlife animals.
Tigers! Gorillas! Macaws! Oh my! Each of these animals is the subject of an article that explains how zoos are beneficial to certain
wild life.
Playful penguins, leaping lizards, and loud lions. Zoos are filled with animals from all over the world. While zoos are incredibly
popular to visitors, they are also incredibly controversial to critics.
Over the past few decades, zoos have evolved from showcasing animals in cold metal cages to protecting animals in sanctuaries where
they are often given a second chance from becoming extinct.
Extinction. Poaching. Mistreatment. In the wild, animals face many dangers, but in captivity they are given the care and attention of
individuals whose purpose it is to protect and nurture animals.
Thesis statements (some previously stated passage titles and authors):
The three passages support the claim that zoos protect animals with relevant evidence that is both similar and different.
The evidence that the passages provide to support the claim that zoos protect animals is both similar and different.
Through specific evidence, Jacqueline Adams, Nicholas and Theodore Nirgiotis, and Alicia Powers support the claim that zoos protect
animals.
Topic sentences/Body paragraph beginnings:
In “The Stripes Will Survive” author Jacqueline Adams shares how zoos are beneficial to animals by providing a problem and
solution. Adams conveys evidence through the story of two tigers who were bred to help keep their subspecies from becoming
extinct.
Providing the problem of endangered species and the solution of breeding, Adams conveys the benefits of zoos through the story of a
tiger family.
Both “The Stripes Will Survive” and “Zoos Go Wild” provide evidence to support the claim that zoos help animals by sharing success
stories of these institutions.
Different from the Adams and Nirgiotis articles, Alicia Powers does not share a specific animal story as evidence. Powers does,
however, utilize the medium of photography to show evidence to support the information provided in the article.