Tips for Writing a Human Rights Essay
1. Start with your hook or “attention grabber”
a. Startling information
 This information must be true and verifiable, and it
doesn't need to be totally new to your readers. It could
simply be a pertinent fact that explicitly illustrates the
point you wish to make.
 If you use a piece of startling information, follow it with a
sentence or two of elaboration.
b. Anecdote
 An anecdote is a story that illustrates a point.
 Be sure your anecdote is short, to the point, and relevant
to your topic. This can be a very effective opener for your
essay, but use it carefully.
c. A Quote or a Question
2. If the attention grabber was only a sentence or two, add one or two
more sentences that will lead the reader from your opening to your
thesis statement.
3. Finish the paragraph with your thesis statement.
SAMPLE A:
Have you ever wanted something really badly? A car? Money? New Clothes?
For girls all over the world, their wants are much simpler. They want to have an
education and get the same rights as boys. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights states in Article 26 that everyone has the “right to an education.” Around 125
million children around the world do not go to school. A startling 70% of that 125
million are girls. Countries around the world need to protect their children’s right
to an education and provide equal access to education for girls.
SAMPLE B:
Tanzi Bakonzi, 15 and about four feet tall, was on patrol. He stood in front of
a burned out vegetable market in Faradje, a town in northeastern Congo, wielding a
rusty machete. “I will cut them,” Tanzi vowed. Tanzi is a child soldier fighting in the
brutal civil war that has gripped Congo for more than a decade. But in other parts of
Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, children are being used as soldiers,
usually against their will. The problem of child soldiers is one of the most important
issues facing the world today.