Sample Essay

Emily Miller

Emily Miller

ENG 091

6 December 2010

The Worst Apartment Ever

            When my husband and I were first married, we were excited to find a centrally located studio apartment with rent that was just a little over four hundred dollars a month. We were starry eyed when we came home from our honeymoon to our own little apartment. It didn’t take long, however, before the rose-colored glasses came off. Our apartment at Bridge Point was the worst place I ever lived because of the broken appliances, because of the poor management, and because of the terrible location.

            First of all, our apartment was a terrible place to live because of all the broken appliances. In just our first week living at Bridge Point, the handles fell off both our fridge and our microwave. Luckily, we were able to screw the handle back on the fridge without much of a problem, but the microwave was trickier. We ended up putting in a work order with the management to have it replaced, but it took months to get any kind of response. Also, our garbage disposal was a total disaster. Whenever I tried to put leftover food down the disposal, the food ended up falling directly onto the floor underneath the sink, which attracted all kinds of bugs. To make matters worse, there wasn’t a dishwasher. I had to wash all of our dishes by hand, and because of the broken disposal, all of the food scraps had to go in the garbage. Not only did this exacerbate the bug problem, we had to take out the garbage constantly or live with the smell.

            The second reason I hated our apartment so much is that the management was terrible. Like I said before, when we put in a work order to have our microwave fixed, we had to wait months before the management did anything about it. Even then, I’d be willing to bet that the only reason they sent anyone out is that my husband complained to the front office religiously once a week. Another issue with the management was that they wouldn’t reimburse us for our hotel stay when the gas went out. In my previous apartment there was a flood, and the landlord paid for my roommate and me to stay at a hotel while he took care of it. The management at Bridge Point, however, refused—so we had to pay out of pocket. One final issue was that the management didn’t keep us well informed. During our seven-month stay, the water and gas went out three different times. The management never kept us updated on what was going on or when the problem was expected to be resolved. That was frustrating!

            A third reason I disliked our apartment was that the location was terrible. At first, we really liked the location because it was close to where we both worked, but we soon realized that the neighborhood was not safe. It seemed like every time we turned on the news, there was a story about some terrible crime that had happened within just a few miles of where we were living. This was very unsettling, especially since my husband often worked overnight shifts and I was left home alone. Similarly, I sometimes felt nervous coming home late at night. I remember one night in particular when all of the lights in the parking lot and complex were out. I arrived home late, and I was a little frightened to have to walk from my car to my apartment in the dark.  To make matters worse, some of our neighbors were what you might call “unsavory characters.” For example, we often smelled marijuana coming from the next-door apartment. One day when we were in the front office, we found out that he had been arrested for dealing drugs.

            Faulty appliances, poor management, and a dangerous neighborhood don’t exactly make for a great place to live. That is why my apartment at Bridge Point was such a terrible place to live. I will never sign an apartment lease again without investigating more closely.

Description Paragraph: In-Class Writing

The Phoenix Zoo

            The Phoenix Zoo is a great place to visit, and I would recommend it to anyone. When you first enter the zoo, you are greeted by many sounds, sights, and smells. Last time I visited the zoo, the first thing that I was aware of was the sound of a gibbon, which makes a loud whooping sound that can be heard throughout the zoo. My girls and I enjoyed watching the gibbon swing from the trees on his island in the lake, while making his loud whooping sound. In addition to the gibbon, there are many more exotic animals to see, including zebras, giraffes, elephants, camels, and flamingos, to name just a few. As you visit the different animal exhibits, you get to observe the animals running, eating, and playing in habitats that simulate their natural homes. Even though you might expect a place with so many animals to smell terrible, the scent of the animals isn’t overwhelming, and you can enjoy a pleasant walk. If you get hungry, there are many options to satisfy your taste buds, including snow cones, sandwiches, pizza, and a variety of drinks. If you’re feeling adventuresome, there are even opportunities to interact with the animals in the petting zoo, through camel rides, and by touching the sting rays (for an extra fee). The only down side to the zoo is the expense, but if you can afford to pay $18 for admission, I heartily recommend it!

Division-Classification: In-Class Writing

Three Attitudes toward Learning in My Wednesday Night Class

            In my Wednesday night class, I see three different student attitudes: proactive, semiengaged, and totally uninterested. The first student attitude that I see is a proactive; these students are a pleasure to have in the class. One example of a proactive student is Alex. He always arrives a few minutes early so that they can get a head start on the quiz. When it is time for class discussion, I can always count on Alex to raise his hand and participate. During the lecture, he listens carefully and takes notes. If he doesn’t understand something, he asks a question and clarifies. A second student attitude in my Wednesday night class is semiengaged; the majority of students fall into this category. One semiengaged student is Alyssa. Alyssa attends class every week, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say anything. She is usually paying attention during the lecture, but sometimes I catch her doing other things, like homework or texting or surfing the Web. She completes all of her assignments, but she doesn’t do anything extra to make herself stand out. A final student attitude is uninterested. One example of an uninterested student in my Wednesday night class is Neal. He misses class regularly, and he turns his assignments in late every time. He never participates in discussions, and during lectures he is often texting or checking Facebook. This is unfortunate, because it really affects his grade. Proactive, semiengaged, and uninterested students can be found in almost any classroom, and my Wednesday nigth class is no exception.

Division-Classification Paragraph

Parenting Styles

            There are at least three different parenting styles, which Barbara Coloroso calls brick wall, jellyfish, and backbone. First, a brick wall parent is in control and has all the power. He or she makes all the rules, which are non-negotiable. If the rules are broken, the result is punishment—often overly severe punishment. Brick wall parents often govern their household by fear. For example, a teenage daughter of a brick wall parent is fifteen minutes past curfew. Her parent is waiting at the door and very angry. He yells at her and grounds her for a whole month, even if teen has a good excuse. Another example: the six-year-old son of a brick wall parent steals a pack of gum from the grocery store. When the parent finds out, he yells, spanks him angrily, and threatens to call the police in order to scare him. The second parenting style is referred to as jellyfish parenting. A jellyfish parent is one that has no control and just goes with the flow. A jellyfish parent either has no rules or does not enforce them. Children of jellyfish parents often run wild and are terrors in the neighborhood or at school because they haven’t learned about consequences. For example the teenage daughter of a jellyfish parent is out until 3:00 a.m. There is no punishment; in fact, the jellyfish mom doesn’t even notice because she is asleep and doesn’t require the teenager to check in. Another example: the six-year-old son of a jellyfish parent steals pack of gum; when the jellyfish mom finds out, she only says, “Stealing is bad. You shouldn’t do that.” Finally, the best parenting style is called backbone parenting. The backbone parent sets rules and establishes consequences. He or she is consistent in administering consequences, but is also reasonable and flexible. For example, backbone parents establish with their teenager the rule that a broken curfew means that the teen will be grounded for one evening. When the teenage daughter then gets home fifteen minutes late the parents and teen talk about broken rule and review the pre-established consequences together. In the example of the six-year-old who steals pack of gum, a backbone parent would talk with the child about it, explaining why stealing is bad. Then he or she would take the child to the store to return the gum or pay for it with allowance money. These are just three of the many parenting styles out there. It is best to avoid the extremes of being a brick wall or a jellyfish and try to be a backbone parent. [442 words]

Definition Paragraph: Princess Lottie

Princess Lottie

            One of the main characters of the Disney movie “The Princess and the Frog” is Charlotte “Lottie” Le Bouff, a total princess. A princess is a girl who is adored by her father, is incapable of doing anything wrong in his eyes, and is given everything she wants. First of all, a princess is adored by her father. This is obviously true of Lottie. Throughout the movie, Lottie and her father always call each other by terms of endearment that show how much they adore each other. Mr. Le Bouff always calls Lottie “Princess,” and Lottie always calls her father “Big Daddy.” Secondly, a princess is incapable of doing anything wrong in her father’s eyes. Again, this is obviously true of Lottie. She never get into trouble. For example, in the beginning of the movie when they are eating pastries in the café, Lottie interrupts her father multiple times. Despite the many interruptions, Big Daddy Le Bouff doesn’t get mad at Lottie, he just gives her a pastry so she’ll stop talking and he can finish a sentence. Finally, a princess is given everything she wants. This is perhaps Lottie’s most obvious princess quality. In the opening scene of the movie, the audience sees her many, many princess dresses that her father has bought for her. When she is older, he pays hundreds of dollars more to give her a fancy catered ball and invites the prince to stay at their mansion so that he will want to court his daughter. No matter what Princess Lottie wants, she gets it. As can be seen from these examples, Lottie Le Bouff is the perfect example of a princess because she is adored by her father, is incapable of doing anything wrong in her father’s eyes, and is given everything she wants. [311 words]

Comparison or Contrast Paragraph

The Mealtime Dilemma: Arby’s or McDonald’s?

            When it comes to choosing a fast food restaurant, Arby’s and McDonald’s are two good options. It is important to keep in mind, though, that while Arby’s and McDonald’s are similar in many ways, they are also very different. Three major differences are their value meals, their fries, and their hours. First, one major difference between Arby’s and McDonald’s is their values meals. Both Arby’s and McDonald’s have a value meal that allows you to buy certain food items for about a dollar. Arby’s value meal includes things like junior roast beef sandwiches, value fries, value drinks, value shakes, and turnovers. McDonald’s dollar menu includes the McDouble burger, fries, drinks, hot fudge sundae, and fruit ‘n yogurt parfaits. The menu offerings are similar at both restaurants, but one difference is that when I order a sandwich off the Arby’s value menu, I’m still hungry. The junior roast beef sandwich from Arby’s is only 87 grams, while the McDouble is 151 grams. That’s almost twice as large! Another difference between Arby’s and McDonald’s is their fries. Arby’s offers spicy curly fries, while McDonald’s offers traditional French fries. While the fries at both restaurants taste good, the curly fries are more fun to play with because they are curly—just like the name says. The fries are also different nutritionally. A value curly fry from Arby’s contains 240 calories, while a small fry from McDonald’s contains 380 calories. One final difference between Arby’s and McDonald’s is their hours. McDonald’s is open pretty much around the clock, while Arby’s doesn’t open until 11:00 a.m. McDonald’s even has a dollar menu for breakfast, with items like sausage biscuits, breakfast burritos, hash browns, etc. To conclude, both Arby’s and McDonald’s are excellent options for eating out, you just have to consider their differences when making a decision.

Cause and Effect: Friendly Letter

                                                                                    October 5, 2010

Dear Mom and Dad,

            I want to thank you for always helping Scott and me with our condo, for babysitting Elizabeth, and for taking care of our family for so many years. First, thank you for everything you do to help Scott and me with our condo. I appreciate you taking time last night on your way home from the airport to install the new crib and fix the electrical outlet. We are so excited to get the nursery fixed up before the new baby comes! Also, thank you for installing the safety gates several weeks ago. It makes life a lot easier when I don’t have to chase Elizabeth out of the kitchen all the time. Second, thank you for your willingness to babysit Elizabeth. It’s so great that Scott and I can leave the baby with someone we trust while we go out on our dates, and Elizabeth loves to go for walks with you to see the animals at the barn, to play with the blocks and other toys at your house, and to have Dad show her all the pictures. Finally, thank you for taking care of our family for so many years. Dad, thank you for working so hard for thirty years to support our family financially. And Mom, thank you for staying home with us, cooking our meals, and taking care of the house for more than twenty-eight years now. Now that I’m a parent, I am beginning to understand the many sacrifices that you made for us. I love you both; thank you so much!

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Emily

                                                                                    Emily

Process Paragraph

How to Plan a Trip to the Grocery Store

You can save time and money when grocery shopping if you just follow a few simple steps. The first step is to purchase a subscription to the Sunday newspaper. The Sunday newspaper contains hundreds of grocery coupons, and a subscription costs only one dollar a week. Even if you don’t read the newspaper, it’s worth the money to subscribe just for the coupons. Pull the coupons from the newspaper and save them for when you plan your shopping trip. The next step is to check your mail on Tuesday and save the weekly ads to the various grocery stores, like Safeway, Albertson’s, and Fry’s. Then, before you go to the store, the next step is to plan menus for the entire week. Outline what you plan to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner between now and the next time you plan to shop. Once you have your menus planned, then you should come up with a shopping list. List all of the ingredients you will need in order to make the planned menu items, and cross of all of the ingredients that you already have. Everything left over is what you need to buy this week. Now it is time to really study the coupons and the weekly ads that you have saved. Search the coupons and ads for the items you are planning to buy. For example, if you plan to make several meals with chicken, look at the ads to determine which store has the best deal on chicken. (This week, Albertson’s has the best deal on chicken: $1.67 per pound.) Be sure to clip coupons for any items that you plan to buy, and be sure to take them with you. The last step is just to be sure to stick to your grocery list. Don’t make impulsive buys at the store, just because something looks good. That can end up costing you a lot of money! If you simply follow these steps, you can save hundreds—even thousands—of dollars on groceries every year.

Process Paragraph: How to Flirt

There are several steps that you should follow when flirting. First, you need to pick a target--it should be someone that you're interested in. Don't flirt with someone you're not attracted to, because they could get the wrong idea and develop a crush on you, and that can be messy. Next, smile a big, open smile and greet him with a big, "Hey! How are you?" Keep in mind that you want to make eye contact while talking, but be careful not to overdo it and make them feel uncomfortable. The next step is to talk about something lighthearted, like the football game or something funny that happened in class. Whatever you do, don't talk about something boring or serious. Finally, the most important step is to laugh a lot (at appropriate times, of course) and lightly touch the guy's arm while laughing. The physical contact will help clue him in that you're interested if the laughing doesn't do the trick. If you follow these steps, you'll send a message to the guy that you like him, and if he flirts back there's a good chance that he's interested in you too.

Exemplification Paragraph: Rachel the Musician

                   My sister Rachel is a very talented musician. First of all, she is very involved in Mesa High’s music department, as both a pianist and a vocalist. After a highly selective audition process, Rachel was placed in Mesa High’s top two choirs: Chamber’s and A Cappella. Only twenty students on campus make it into both choirs, and Rachel has been a member of both for two years now.  And not only does she sing in the choirs, she accompanies Chamber’s on a regular basis. She has even been paid to play for the school musical for the last two years in a row. Rachel receives high marks at Arizona State University adjudications. Each spring for the last nine years, Rachel goes before a judge at ASU and plays technical exercises as well as four challenging piano pieces, from memory, and takes a theory test. Over the last nine years she has received eight “superior with honors” scores (the highest possible score) and one “excellent with honors” score. Finally, Rachel has received regional recognition for her talents. During this year’s regional auditions, Rachel accompanied more than fifteen other students’ vocal solos. She also auditioned herself (which involved sight reading and performing a learned piece), and was named “first alto” in the regional choir, meaning that she was the best alto to try out from this region (made up of several different high schools). Rachel is so good that she has been offered a music scholarship to Northern Arizona University!

Is the United States a Health Conscious Nation?

I am of the opinion that, overall, the United States is not a health conscious nation. I believe this for three reasons. First, Americans eat way too much junk food. One especially dangerous category of junk food is fast food. Americans spend $148.6 billion a year on fast food, which comes out to almost $500 per person on average. While fast food chains are coming out with more healthy options, the majority of fast food is not good for you. Fast food staples include french fries, sugar-sweetened drinks, red meats and processed meats, sweets and desserts, refined grains, and fried foods--all of which have been found to contribute to weight gain. As long as Americans are such huge consumers of fast food, I don't believe they can be considered health conscious.  The second reason Americans as a whole cannot be considered health conscious is because they consume huge quantities of soda and other beverages that are high in calories and low in nutritional content. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 450 calories a week from sugar-sweetened drinks (the equivalent of three cans of soda per week), but the CDC found that the average male consumes 175 calories per day from these drinks--which adds up to 1,225 calories per week, or almost three times the maximum limit. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the average American drinks 526 twelve-ounce sodas per year. If he or she were to cut the soda and drink water instead, that would lead to a reduction of 6,000 calories per month, or twenty-one pounds of weight loss a year! Americans really need to cut back on soda and other sugary drinks in order to improve their health. Finally, in order to be considered healthy, Americans needs to put a greater emphasis on exercise. Most Americans do not get enough exercise. This can be evidenced by the fact that schools are cutting physical education programs due to budget cuts and reducing recess time to improve academic performance. Add to that the fact that many children would rather watch TV and play video games than play outside, and it becomes apparent that we are grooming a generation of couch potatoes. For these reasons, I think that the United States cannot be considered a health-conscious nation.

How to Study for an Exam

There are four steps that I follow when I study for an exam. First, I attend every class lecture and take notes on what the teachers says in class For me, a helpful technique is to make an outline of the most important information presented. Next, I complete all assigned readings. While I read, I highlight the most important points and write notes in the margins of the book. I try to do my readings on time so that I don't have to cram the day before the test. Then, I complete the study guide or attend a study session if the teacher provides them. This usually helps me zero in on the most important points that will be covered on the exam. Finally, I will review all of my notes, the highlighted textbook, and my completed study guide shortly before the exam. For me, it's important to find a quiet place without distractions as I compplete this last step. When I follow these steps I usually do really well on the test.

Introduction

My name is Mrs. Emily Miller. I am an English instructor at Mesa Community College. I love to write, and I love to teach. I'm looking forward to a wonderful semester with my ENG 091 students!