Dr. Yvonne Reineke/Dr.

Belinda Ramos
Yvonne.reineke@cgc.edu (contact me via email)
ENG101/PSY101
SPRING 2017

First Major Essay: Becoming Your Best You

Purpose: to inform and persuade readers about your experience with and research about the psychological
benefits of walking and ONE other activity you have chosen from the list found in your PSY101 Self-
Discovery Journal location on Canvas. You may use I in this essay.
Audience: People outside this classroom who do not know you and are not necessarily familiar with this
research. You may choose to conceive of your audience more narrowly as college students outside this class
who would benefit from knowing about your experience and research.

ESSAY STRUCTURE:
Introductory Paragraph: Your introduction should use one of the introduction strategies we will look at
next Monday. The idea, though, is to hook your readersto make them want to read your essay. Your thesis
statement (and it can be more than one sentence) should be at the end of your introductory paragraph. Your
introductory paragraph should most likely be about to of a page.

Background paragraph describing work in psychology on stress and health (you may draw on
paraphrased/summarized material from Chap. 10 and possibly Ch. 1 from Wood, Wood, and Boyd:
this paragraph will be after your introduction. A good length for the paragraph is probably between 6-10
sentences.

Body paragraphs: four to six body paragraphs for the body. Two to three paragraphs could discuss different
benefits/insights from your walk and incorporate information from the articles, This is your brain on nature
and relevant information from the scholarly article, Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual
prefrontal cortex activation. Your paragraphs should be about 6-10 sentences. You can organize the main
point of each paragraph by considering one major benefit (there are several, so one per paragraph and tie in
your experience/research). Use sensory details to develop your experience: sight, taste, touch, smell, hearing
(help your reader experience with youmake it concrete). Your body paragraphs will usually use the PIE
paragraph format: example to be handed out/looked at next week. Writing Center can help with this!

Another two-three paragraphs can discuss your insights regarding your other chosen activity. Again you
would both describe and entice the reader into considering trying it by sharing what you gained/learned and
how the scientific psychological research supports that. Again, paragraphs should be about 6-10 sentences.

Conclusion: Your essay should conclude thoughtfully and encourage the reader. Do not say, In conclusion
and it should not repeat the thesis. It should help the reader to reflect on how they can incorporate these
practices in their own life or you end with yourself as inspiration (without telling readers what to do). Show
themmake them want to try something new.
ESSAY CHECKLIST
1. Five-nine paragraphs.
2. Sources must be used in essay and cited in APA References page (textbook, Brain on nature,
Nature walks and rumination, and source for your chosen activity)
3. APA essay/documentation format (in-text and References)
4. Title designed to hook the reader and which indicates direction/focus of essay
5. Thesis/PIE paragraphs

DRAFT DUE: Wed., February 1. You will upload your draft to ENG101 Assignments Canvas
FINAL DUE: Wed. Feb. 15.