Project one argument response essay

• Writing Prompt

Despite modern lifes challenges or setbacks, a college student today should be an optimist: a

person who focuses on the bright side of things.

How strongly do you agree or disagree?

In response, write an essay in which you express your personal stance on the relative advantages of being an optimist

.

Express your own view on the issue but also refer to claims in at least one of the readings from Set A:

It Might Just Be the Time to Try Some Positivity by Susan Krauss Whitbourne

The Surprising Benefits of Being a Pessimist by Fuschia Sirois

Whitbourne reports that optimism not only benefits the optimist but also other people: that is, the optimists positivity appears to help others deal with adversity.

Sirois reports that pessimists may be better at preparing for and overcoming adversity

.

To what extent does your view match ideas expressed by one or both of these

writers?

Your essay must include at least two direct quotations:

(1) At least one short quotation of the spoken words of a person you know and

(2) At least one short quotation from one of our Project 1 short nonacademic readings: Set A: The pieces

by Whitbourne and/or Sirois

Set B: The pieces by Richard and/or DeGraff

At the end of your paper, you must cite the published source(s) you quote from.

Organization and Development (Also see the MLA essay template on Blackboard)

At the top of your essay, include a centered title that captures the gist of the stance you take.

Include carefully selected quotations to back up your viewpoint and make it more convincing.

Be sure to format your quotations correctly.

After you insert a quotation from a source, you must include the name of its author in parentheses before end punctuation.

But note: No page numbers are needed in any in text citations in this paper

.

Consult Purdue OWL (online) for review on formatting of MLA in text citations

. Link:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/ml

a_in_text_citations_the_basics.html

At the bottom of your essay, include an MLA Works Cited section that properly lists the author,

title, date, and other publication information for the source(s) that you quote from.

Consult Purdue OWL (online) for review on formatting of MLA end citations for articles in Web magazines or Websites. Link