English

Geoffrey Colvin’s article “What it takes to be great” is about how “success” or “talent” is really the outcome of hard work, tremendous practice, and mental approach, and not because of innate intelligence or natural talent. This applies to sports, school, business, and the arts. In a well-developed essay, citing specific examples from the text, discuss 1) what steps Colvin suggests (or implies) we should take, and 2) explain 1 or 2 real-life, detailed examples that show how you have, or have not, applied this principle of hard-work-equals-success.

*Please note, I’m looking for you to explain Colvin’s argument. What is specific to Colvin’s point? Colvin mentions specific keys (“deliberate practice,” adopting a new mind-set, etc.). Your discussion of Colvin needs to specific to his principles, not a general hard work equals success. Consider what Colvin tells his reader that is different than what you’ve heard before.

Things to keep in mind while writing:

  1. Carefully select one of the intro types to start your essay.
  2. Include the author and title of the article in your introduction.
  3. Provide a thesisthat identifies the steps Colvin suggests we take andexplains what you have achieved/not achieved and how it relates to what you’ve learned from the reading.
  4. Part I of the prompt requires you to explain Colvin’s theory. Your reader needs to see that you can identify and explain Colvin’s argument. (It doesn’t matter if you agree with his argument; you must show you can identify and discuss his argument. This is both a reading and writing skill that your audience will be looking for.)
  5. Part II of the prompt requires you to apply Colvin’s theory to your life. Provide detailed, real-life examples that discuss what you have achieved because of this hard-work-equals-success principle or what you have failed to achieve because of your lack of this hard-work-equals-success principle.
  6. Use concrete rather than abstract language– help the reader live your experience.
  7. Connect your experience/ideas back to Colvin’s text.Strive to reach a balance in this essay. 50% Colvin and 50% your experience is ideal, but 40%-60% is acceptable.
  8. Include at leastfour quotes from the reading and be sure to use correct MLA citations.
  9. Alldiscussion must come from the text or your personal experience. Do not use any other sources. (Starting lines are the only exceptions.)
  10. Do not use outside resources. Your reader expects to see that you read the text and can use it for support. Do not use the Internet or any other resources with this essay.
  11. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies one main point.
  12. Each paragraph must develop the topic sentence, be developed around one idea, and must be a complete unit with a transition.
  13. Your conclusion must restate your thesis and tie your ideas together. Remember- no new ideas in the close.
  14. Proof read for grammatical errors and run spell check.When you use the title of an article, be sure to use quotation marks.

Your final draft should be between 3 ½ and 4 pages in length. Use 12 point Times New Roman and double-space your paper. Put your name, instructor’s name, course and section, and date in the upper left hand corner. SeePocket Keys for specific MLA format (spacing, margins, etc.) This essay is worth 130 points.

In order to be eligible for a revision, you must: 1) Have a complete essay – at least 3 ½ pages in length. 2) Have Attempted to follow the above rubric. 3) Included at least a 40%-60% balance between your discussion of Colvin and your personal example. When your graded essay is returned, you will receive a grade along with suggestions for revision. The suggestions will include how many additional points you could earn based on the level of revision completed; in most cases, the additional points available will allow you to raise your essay grade by 10%. So although you can revise for a higher grade, it’s imperative that you submit your best possible work on the first draft of the essay. (In other words, don’t rush through the essay just to get something in; an essay that fails will not be able to move from an F to a C on revision.)

Use this model to help you brainstorm and organize your essay.

Task 1: Identify two or three concepts of Colvin’s that contribute to his hard-work-equals-success principle. (These concepts must be specific points of Colvin’s discussion – not just hard work equals success.)

Task 2: Find a section in the text where each concept is discussed. Each time you use an example from the text, you will have to integrate it ethically. This means you will need to use MLA Style to introduce and/or cite the source in your essay.

Task 3: Brainstorm an example(s) from your own life when you have exemplified this quality (or when you failed to).

Although there are many ways you can organize your essay, you might want to try a point by point arrangement. A point by point arrangement will go back and forth between what Colvin suggests we do and what you did (or failed to do). It is up to you whether you want to discuss two or three of his principles; this sample outline shows how you might want to organize your essay with a discussion of three principles. If you choose to only discuss two principles you can eliminate the extra paragraphs. Here is a general/suggested outline following a point by point arrangement:

  1. Intro
  2. Provide an interesting starting line to draw the reader in.
  3. Name the author and title of thearticle.
  4. Give background/general information on the topic.
  5. End the intro with your thesis statement. Thesis: identifythe steps Colvin suggests we take

and explain what you have achieved/not achieved and how it relates to what you’ve

learned from the reading.

  1. Colvin’sSuggestion1
  2. Topic Sentence:Identify one step Colvin suggests we take in the topic sentence.
  3. Explain thestep and why it is important.
  4. Discuss an example from the text.
  5. Connect the example to theColvin’s theory.

III. Personal Reflection

  1. Name a time (oran example)from your life where you applied (or failed to apply) this particular principle.
  2. Explain how theprinciple worked or failed to work for you.
  3. Connect you experience back to Colvin’s text.
  4. Conclude the paragraph by explaining the advantage gained byincorporating this theory (or the disadvantage of not incorporating this theory).
  5. Colvin’s Suggestion2
  6. Topic Sentence:Identify a second step Colvin suggests we take in the topic sentence.
  7. Explain thestep and why it is important.
  8. Discuss an example from the text.
  9. Connect the example to theColvin’s theory.
  10. PersonalReflection
  11. Name a time (oran example)from your life where you applied (or failed to apply) this particular principle. (Note: this can either be a continued discussion of the last personal reflection paragraph showing how you also applied this principle or it can be a separate example.)
  12. Explain how theprinciple worked or failed to work for you.
  13. Connect you experience back to Colvin’s text.
  14. Conclude the paragraph by explaining the advantage gained byincorporating this theory (or the disadvantage of not incorporating this theory).
  15. Colvin’sSuggestion 3 (if needed)
  16. Topic Sentence: Identifya third step Colvin suggests we take in the topic sentence.
  17. Explain thestep and why it is important.
  18. Discuss an example from the text.
  19. Connect the example to theColvin’s theory.

VII. Personal Reflection (if needed)

  1. Name a time (oran example)from your life where you applied (or failed to apply) this particular principle. (Note: this can either be a continued discussion of the last personal reflection paragraph showing how you also applied this principle or it can be a separate example. Use no more than two different examples, so if you’ve already given two different examples, this paragraph will need to be a continued discussion of one of the previous examples.)
  2. Explain how theprinciple worked or failed to work for you.
  3. Connect you experience back to Colvin’s text.
  4. Conclude the paragraph by explaining the advantage gained byincorporating this theory (or the disadvantage of not incorporating this theory).

VIII. Conclusion

  1. Restate the thesis statement.
  2. Restate the main ideas from paragraphs IIthrough VII.
  3. End with a starting line to keep your reader thinking about your topic.