Future On-Demand Essay
Topic: Describe the pressures that you
face in your daily life.
Brainstorm pressures that youth face in
their daily lives.
Write a thesis statement for the
pressures that you face in
your daily life.
General Essay Outline
Paragraph 1: Introduction
-Attention Getter
-Background Information
-Thesis
Paragraph 2-4: Body Paragraphs
-TIQAT
Paragraph 5: Conclusion
-Restate Thesis/Summarize Body
Paragraphs
-Appeal to Reader/Relate to Life
Autobiographical
Incident Essay
-It is about you
-It is about one incident
Question: Can you think of some topics
that would create an interesting
autobiographical incident essay?
Introduction
1. Grab the Reader’s Attention
-
Rhetorical Question
Announcement
Bold and Challenging Statement
Quotation
Personal Experience/Feeling
Fact/Statistic
What type of opener?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Everyone is racist.
Every sixteen minutes someone dies by
suicide in the United States.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
“C’mon, just try it. You won’t get hurt,”
yelled my experienced wakeboarding
brother.
I never knew that I could hurt as much as I
did at that moment. The pain was greater
than anything I had ever experienced and
would continue to grow as the days passed.
Unfortunately, there was no magic pill to
take, no words to heal, and no end in sight
to this pain that was overtaking my body.
It’s a boy!
Introduction
2. Background Information
- Describes to the reader what you
are going to reveal throughout the
essay. It includes general
information; specifics should come
from your body paragraphs. It
should be enough to create
interest, so the reader wants to
keep reading!
- Similar to a summary
Introduction
3. Thesis
- Answers the question, “What is
the paper about?”
- Explains the main idea
- Condensed/Summarized form
- One to two sentence statement
Introduction
3. Thesis
- Topic + 3 reasons
Try it: What are things you learn while in
middle school?
Try it: Weekends are time away from school.
What are things people should do on the
weekend?
Try it: Friends are very important in life.
What characteristics do you look for in
friends?
Ms. Toll’s Essay-Introduction
The peeling out of the rival gang’s tires and my
boyfriend lying unconscious on the middle of the
street are the instances that still haunt me from that
dreadful night. I held Justin in my arms, refusing to
let go, even as the paramedics lifted his vegetal body
onto the gurney and drove away. Five days later, with
his family’s consent, life support was pulled, and there
was one less life. Two months away from turning
eighteen, and four months away from graduating,
Justin Beckham was still a child when a gang member
broke the glass bottle over his head. I was fourteen
and oblivious to the life I was beginning to lead: drugs,
alcohol, sex, gang affiliation, and death were all in my
future, if they weren’t already there. Something had
to be done, and only I could help myself.
Pressures Introduction
The seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and
years pass, yet nothing changes. I used to feel so much and
now I feel so little, as this black hole eats to my inner core
and penetrates throughout my soul. I have never been lost in
life; however, I find myself at a dead end looking down a steep
cliff-not able to step forward, and not able to turn around.
Life is a funny thing; you want time to pass to escape the
stresses that you are going through at that moment, but when
it does, you wish you could go back and change so much, such
as learning to embrace the positive and pushing aside the
negative. Pressure is something that everyone experiences all
throughout life. It can be from the smallest decision as what
to wear to look your best to whether or not you ever want to
wake up again. The daily stresses are a lot easier to deal with
than the stresses that seem to take over your life and
consume your being. I am at a constant battle with myself to
move on from this depressed state, to stop worrying about
losing everyone that I love, and to accept who I am
is greater than any imperfection of my obsession.
Body Paragraphs (3+)
TIQAT
T = Topic Sentence
- Thesis + QER
I = Introduce Quote/Example/Reason
- Lead into QER
Q = Quote/Example/Reason
- State QER
A = Analyze Quote/Example/Reason
- Explains how QER fits with the thesis
AND why it was chosen
T = Transition
- Current reason + next QER or thesis (3)
Conclusion
1. Restate Thesis
2. Summarize Body Paragraphs
- 3 main points
3. Appeal to Reader
- Make the reader part of the essay
4. Relate to Life
- Extend to real world and/or life
lessons in order to appeal to anyone
and everyone—think in
generalizations or clichés
Ms. Toll’s Essay-Body 1
I was an academic achieving student all through
this time, so my parents could not comprehend the
fights, bullying, attitude, or my need to be away from
their loving home. They tried to help, but I was out
of control, until the memorial for Justin. It was
there that I realized Justin was never going to come
back to me. I wept, not because of his death or the
fact that he was gone, but rather for all of those
lives around me, including myself, who were still able
to choose the road which we would travel.
Ms. Toll’s Essay-Body 2
Teenage life is all about “having fun”, but the socalled fun that I had was turning my life into a
downward spiral headed six feet under. I stopped
going to parties, causing trouble at night, and stayed
away from the drugs and alcohol. Instead, I went
shopping with my parents on Friday nights for
groceries and spent Saturdays watching movies with
them. Most importantly, I developed a friendship
with my parents, a friendship that is still strong
today, for they are my best friends. Through them, I
discovered that both had chosen the road I was
steering myself away from. I was ending the cycle
that had gone on for generations.
Ms. Toll’s Essay-Body 3
Even though I had turned my life around, what
about others who still spent their time on the
streets? During the next few years, I brought
others under my wing and tried to help them. It was
no use; just like me, they had to see the light for
themselves. Unable to change anyone, I remained a
positive role model for those around me, hoping that
my example would influence a change within them.
Ms. Toll’s Essay-Body 4
Being a leader does not mean that I did not
need the support of others; I craved friends that
had the same interests as I, and found a handful.
My closest friends, the ones I will keep in touch
with throughout life, are just as much the same as
me as they are different. The diversity each one
brings to our friendship allows me to continue to
grow into a better person, able to accept that
everyone has flaws, and it takes others to point
them out, so we can improve upon ourselves.
Ms. Toll’s Essay-Conclusion
I am still traveling the road to success today.
Minor bumps and steep hills are in the future.
Although, I cannot prepare myself for them, I know
that I am strong and will be able to overcome the
adversity placed in front of me, no matter what the
endeavor holds.
Autobiographical Topics
1. First day of middle school
2. Favorite middle school
memories
3. Disneyland vacation
4. Loss of a grandparent
5. Falling in love
6. First concert
7. Favorite memory with family