Notable West Virginian Essay

1. Choose a person who you believe has made a significant contribution to the state of West Virginia from Chapter 20.
2. Write an essay (NOT A REPORT) which answers these 2 questions:
A) What quality did this person possess which enabled him or her to be a success?
B) How can this person be a role model to an 8th grader in West Virginia?
3. Organize your essay as follows:
A) Introduction: 1 paragraph containing a brief biography of the person.
B) Body Paragraph #1 : Answer question #1
C) Body Paragraph #2: Answer question #2
D) Conclusion: Briefly summarize your answers to questions 1 &2 in order to restate why this person has made a significant impact to the state of West Virginia.
4. Helpful Hints
A) Essay: a short literary composition on a single subject presenting the personal views of the author. This essay must be an original composition – it is not a biographical “report”. You will include biographical information ONLY in the 1st paragraph in order to briefly inform your reader about this person.
B) What is a quality? A quality is an essential characteristic a person such as honesty, intelligence, motivation, integrity, or perseverance (etc…) which is essential to a person’s success in life.
C) What is a role model? A role model is a person who serves as a model in a particular behavioral or social role for another person to imitate.


Essay Length: This essay must contain 4 well-developed paragraphs.

Well-developed: Every idea discussed in the paragraph should be adequately explained and supported through evidence and details that work together to explain the paragraph's controlling idea (Rosen and Behrens 119). The controlling idea for body paragraph #1 is the answer to Question #1. The controlling idea for body paragraph #2 is the answer to Question #2.

Purpose for writing: Your purpose for writing is to answer question #1 and question #2. DO NOT WRITE A REPORT.

Organize your ideas before writing: take notes, brainstorm, compose an outline.

Use 3rd person objective style writing.