Annotated

Topic: For Essay 2, you will develop research skills by investigating a person who has overcome adversity.

You will read biographical articles from the database Biography in Context (Gale) and the article “Bouncing Back” by Melissa Balmain (Course Content in Blackboard). For a third source, you will conduct research on your topic to find a source of your choosing. The essay must have a source from the database listed above as well as use the “Bouncing Back” article; essays without a biography database source or the use of “Bouncing Back” will have a deduction in the grade.

Assignment: Write a 750-1000 word essay that discusses how one person overcame adversity. In your essay, you will use specific examples to explain the challenges the person faced and how he or she overcame them. Refer to the applicable strategies in Balmain’s article in your discussion. There will be a deduction in the grade if the essay’s word count is under or over the given limits.

Here are some topic ideas, but also feel free to propose your own topic to your instructor for approval:

· Sandra Cisneros (author)

· Andrew Carnegie (industrialist)

· Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (chemist)

· Billie Holiday (jazz vocalist)

· Pelé (athlete)

· Lin-Manuel Miranda (writer and performer)

· Jesse Owens (athlete)

· Bethany Hamilton (surfer)

· Vincent Van Gogh (artist)

· Viktor Frankl (psychoanalyst)

· Nelson Mandela (human rights activist)

· Marie Curie (physicist)

· Stephen Hawking (physicist)

· JK Rowling (author)

· Oprah Winfrey (actress and businesswoman)

· Florence Nightingale (nurse)

· Malala Yousafzai (human rights activist)

· John Lewis (politician and activist)

· Simone Biles (athlete)

· Sonia Sotomayor (judge)

· Stephen King (writer)

· Tupac Shakur (rapper)

At times, what many of us consider adversity or a hardship may be perceived by the person dealing with it as a unique part of himself or herself or as a challenge that made that person stronger.

Organization:

· Don’t forget everything you know about well-structured writing: introduction, body paragraphs, topic sentences, transitions, and conclusion. Make sure all paragraphs are developed and unified.

· Make sure your essay has a clear and focused thesis.  

· All summaries should be kept brief.

Research: Your analysis must include 3 sources: the article by Balmain (which you are required to refer to), one source from the library database Biography in Context, and one source of your choosing. The source from the library will largely focus on biography and other information relevant to your chosen topic.

Quoting and paraphrasing are required. This means that your essay must have correct MLA documentation (in-text citations and a Works Cited page). Failure to include citations will result in automatic failure for the assignment.

Point of view: Use only 3rd person point of view for this essay. No first person point of view (I, we, our), or second person point of view (you).

Format: MLA

· Font: Times New Roman, Size: 12 pt

· Double spaced

· Margins: 1 inch (on all sides)

· Page numbers on all pages (in upper right hand corner)

· On first page in upper left hand corner: name, instructor, course number (Ex. English 101- ____), and date (Ex. 1 June 2018). This should be typed manually on the first page and not included on every page.

· Original title (centered—not bold or underlined. Not in quotation marks. All major words capitalized.)

· All paragraphs indented

Notes:

· Your thesis should present the person’s name and the essay’s focus:

Vincent Van Gogh experienced, and overcame, several challenges. (Example)

· Each body paragraph’s topic sentence should present the challenge the paragraph will develop:

One challenge Van Gogh overcame was . . .

· Please keep in mind the body paragraphs should present a challenge, how it was overcome, and something from the “Bouncing Back” article that supports the point the body paragraph is trying to make.

· Please do not write a biography about your chosen person as that is not the focus. If a biography is written, there will be a significant deduction in the essay’s grade.