Frequently Asked Questions

  Directions for the Definition Essay

1. Write a 1,500-1,750-word essay using five to seven academic resources

2.     Choose one of the required topics for this essay

• Organs are considered personal property because...
• The organ shortage should be classified as a national emergency because...
• Black market organ trafficking is exploitative because...
• People who do not register as an organ donor are selfish because...
• Living organ donors are real-life superheroes because...

(Remember you need three supporting subtopics for the statements above)

3.     Select a controversial case about organ sales or donation (which you might find in the news) that supports your topic

4. In  the introduction of your essay, introduce the borderline or contested  case chosen and give an overview of the term you will define (based on the list above) 

• Create three subtopics to support the term you are defining
• Clearly state which term you are defining and the three subtopics in your thesis statement
  
  

5.     You will focus the first three body paragraphs on the subtopics in your thesis statement

6.     In your fifth paragraph, you write a paragraph that addresses the opposition to your definition

7.  Your sixth paragraph is your conclusion

8. This is a third-person essay

9.     Make sure you have 5-7 SCHOLARLY references (peer-reviewed, not websites)

All  essays in this class should be 5 or more paragraphs. If you need help  with writing a standard, five-paragraph essay, please see the following  video/site.

http://esl.about.com/cs/writing/ht/ht_essay.htm   

 Click here for a sample essay! 

 Write  a 1,500–1,750-word argument using five to seven academic resources that  persuades an audience to accept your explanation of the causes or  consequences of your chosen topic. Write about the cause and its  effects.

1. Choose one of these required topics

• The organ transplant list is long which causes A, B, and C
• An  opt-out option at the DMV would encourage more people to do an  altruistic act and donate an organ, which leads to 1, 2, and 3.
• Increase in kidney failure leads to the need for an organ transplant, which then leads to A, B, and C.
• If  doctors encourage lifelong healthy habits, fewer patients will have  renal (kidney) failure. Fewer patients with preventable renal failure  means 1. the organ donor list will be shorter, 2, and 3.

2. Determine the effects of the topic you chose (above)

3. Create a causal chain for your thesis statement. Be sure to have three subtopics for your thesis statement

​4. This is a third-person essay

Click here for a sample essay! 

 This paper is focused on a topic related to organ sales or organ donations

1. 1,500-1,750 word policy proposal using five to seven academic resources

2.      You are writing an editorial for a newspaper or other publication

3.      You have a specific audience you are addressing - imagine you are asking for money to fund your proposed solution

4.       Elements needed in this paper
          a. Identify the problem
          b. Persuade the audience that your problem needs a solution
          c. Propose the action you have selected to solve the problem
          d. Justify your solution with support from your sources

5.      This is a third-person essay 

 Click here for a sample essay!