Division or Analysis

Division or analysis refers to spareting a large and complicated subject into smaller parts that are easier to understand. Depending on the subject is how easy or difficult it is to divide or analyze it. If the subject is complex it is more difficult to do a division or analysis whereas if it is simple it is easier.

Use an outline to help write a division or analysis paper. You don't want to overlook any aspect of your subject because this paper is meant to be thorough. Use a lot of evidence to support your paper. Focus on your thesis statement and outline to make your paper less confusing and boring to read.

Using and Documenting Sources

When writing a paper you want your sources to be relevant to your topic as well as reliable. To determine the source's relevance and reliabilty as yourself these questions:
-what is the purpose of the source, and who is the source's intended audience?
-is the material a primary or a secondary source?
-is the author an expert? what are his or her credentials?
-does the author's bias affect the reliablity of his or her argument?
-does the author support his or her arugment with evidence that is complete and up to date?

A primary source is a work by someone who conducted or saw events first hand. A secondary source presents and analyzes the information in primary sources and includes histories, reviews, and surveys of a field.

Make sure that the author of a source is trustworthy and uncover any bias as well.

Look for strong evidence to support the arugment a source conveys.

When using online sources you can either use the school's library web site or the internet browser, but always use the library's first. Judge a website's reliability before using.

A paraphrase or summary must express the original idea in a new way otherwise it is plagiarism. Always cite your information. Common knowledge does not need to be cited.

Size 6: The Western Women's Harem

Unfortunately, this story is not uncommon to find in the United States. In this country thin is beautiful. Typically, it doesn't even matter if a woman/man has a pretty/handsome face, if they're fat no one even pays attention to them or people say "they would be so much more attractive if they lose weight". Everyone's guilty of doing this though; I know I am. I've never once been attracted to anyone overweight (as shallow as that may sound) because it's not normal to be attracted to that type of body frame.

In the United States, in order to be attractive a girl must: be thin, usually tan, physically toned, have good hair, wear flattering clothes (not necessarily skimpy clothes although that is the case sometimes), and have a pretty face. For a male to be attractive, he must: be physically fit, take care of himself, have muscles, and a handsome face. Usually magazines, television, and celebrities influence what's attractive and what's not. For example, in the 80's men who had a lot of muscle, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, were considered to be very attractive. Today however, men who are skinny but a little muscular, such as Tobey McGuire, are what's attractive.

In both males and females, like I said before, it is unacceptable to be fat or overweight at all. This is why a lot of women and some men develop eating disorders. It seems that the past few years celebrities have set the standard very high as to what the normal weight should be. Seeing pictures of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, who are both very attractive, gaining a lot of male attention for thier bodies makes it seem that all women should look like them. It's not just normal, everyday women who think like this though, Jessica Simpson for instance lost a lot of weight (she was never fat) in order to feel more attractive. This shows that all women are influenced and well aware of what the standard norm as far as attractiveness is concerned is.

Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa

I was in elementary school when I first met her. Her name was Nicole. She was a tomboyish girl and played sports a lot, not really me. Her woredrobe consisted of oversized Nike shirts and baggy jeans. She was a pretty girl but was always shy when it came to boys, unless she was beating them up of course. She stayed like this up until high school. She was always a good athlete, she played soccer and field hockey. Her first time picking up a field hockey stick she made the varsity team at our high school which was hard to do even if you've been playing for a long time. She was naturally gifted. And she was smart. She was perfect. I had never noticed her perfection until other people started to point it out. I'd have people coming up to me asking "so you're friends with Nikki? she's so hot! you're so lucky!" i didn't think much of it until my crush started to develop a crush on her. That's when the envy kicked in.

Of course Nicole being Nicole didn't care about the attention. She was just being herself. And she was always modest about how well she did something. She never would take credit for anything she did on her own, it was always because of someone else, which I admired. However, when I heard about my crush liking her I became very jealous. I noticed everything about her, and the sad part was I was trying to find imperfections and faults but I couldn't find any. So I decided I would try and be like her. I wore my hair the same way, dressed the same, and tried to excel at soccer but nothing could ever match up to who she was. And that's when it hit me, I shouldn't be jealous or envious of her at all. She was being herself. I should be admiring her, not trying to be her. And that's what I did. I admired her for who she was and not caring what others thought. She was perfect.

Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts

The political beliefs of both Grant and Lee were two very different yet extreme views. Grant was, I guess in this century, more of a liberal. He was ready to change the United States and was vicious in doing so. He seemed to be a much stronger person mentally than Lee only because he grew up in a rougher environment which makes me think he was a stronger and more concrete(?) leader. Lee on the other hand represents more of the conservative political party. He doesn't think the United States needs change and was content with the state that it was in. He doesn't seem like he was going to sit back and let Grant take over his country but he doesn't seem like he was as strong willed as Grant either.

In today's society no one is really "this" way or "that" way. I don't really think that you can be. Every political party has faults within it and I don't think they really satisfy every party member/supporter, even though they are more for them than the opposing parties. For example, a person might support the Republican party for the most part, but might not agree with their decision on the War in Iraq. Obviously, one must choose one way or the other when voting however you might not agree with everything that party stands for. It's different moreso in other countries where you have extreme supporters who are willing to blow themselves up for democracy or whatever they might be protesting. I don't think American citizens are that politically concerned(?) enough to blow themselves up for their political party.

Comparison and Contrast

There are many uses for comparison and contrast. In an argument in which you support one thing over another, a careful and detailed comparison and contrast may be convincing. In an sxpository essay, it can demonstrate that you understand your subject well. A good compare and contrast essay has one of two purposes: to show each of two subjects distinctly by considering both side by side OR to choose between to things.

Make sure that the subjects you are comparing have something significant in common. sometimes you can use an analogy to explain one subject in terms of the other.

The basis for comparison will eventually lead to the thesis of your essay. The thesis is the claim you have to make about the similarities and differences of two things or about one thing's superiority over the other.

There are two ways to arrange a comparison essay: subject by subject or point by point. Subject by subject describes one subject at a time, and then sums up their similarities and differences. Point by point means you consider one point at a time using both subjects.

Use an outline as a guideline but be flexible as to how to write you paper. Remember to cover both subjects thoroughly.