Descriptive Prompts

1. Think about your favorite season, and then write an essay describing that season. Include sensory details so that a reader can imagine what it is like to experience the season, and make sure it is clear from your description why this season is your favorite.  

2. Think of a time when you experienced a rainstorm. In a composition, use sensory details to

describe what the rainstorm was like so that a classmate could clearly imagine the experience.  

3. Most people have a place where they feel comfortable and relaxed. Think of a place where you feel comfortable and relaxed. Picture it in your mind. In a composition, describe this place for your classmates so that they can imagine what it is like and how you feel there.  

How-To Prompt

1. Your friend wants to get a part-time job after school or on weekends. Write a composition in

which you tell your friend all the steps he or she should take in order to get a part-time job.  

Expository/Informative Prompts

1. A television network is looking for ideas for a new television series for teenagers. Write a

letter to the president of the network explaining your idea for the new television show. Include all

the information that will help the president evaluate your idea, including the show title, what

kind of show it is (such as reality, comedy, music, game, or sports), specific details or features of

the show that would be appealing to teenage viewers, and an example of what viewers might see in a typical episode.  

2. Write an essay explaining the importance of being able to see a situation from another person's point of view.  

3. Write an essay explaining why it is important to forgive.  

4. Music plays an important role in every culture and in every individual's life. Write an essay

explaining the role music plays in your culture or in your own life.  

5. Write an essay explaining what makes a great leader.  

6. Some people feel that the public school system does not adequately prepare students for the real world. Identify one improvement you think schools need to make in order to better prepare

students for life after high school. Write a letter to the school board in which you describe this

improvement and explain why it is needed.  

7. Write an essay explaining why a decision you made was the right one.  

8. You are serving on a committee that will design a new high school for your community. Choose one feature for the new high school that you will suggest to the design committee. Write a report to the committee, explaining what this feature is and why it is beneficial.  

9. In order to survive, people have been known to go to great lengths and to do things they would not ordinarily do. Write an essay for your teacher that explains the lengths to which people will go in order to survive. You may use examples from real life, books, movies, or television shows to support your essay.

Cause and Effect Prompt  

1. At a recent conference at the University of Chicago , David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family presented a paper titled “ Video Game Violence and Public Policy.”  

The paper stated that “79% of American children now play computer or video games on a regular basis.Children between the ages of seven and 17 play for an average of eight hours a week.”  

“The growth of electronic games has not been without controversy, however. The subset of games that feature violence, gore, and antisocial behavior has raised concern among parents, educators, child advocates, medical professionals, and policy makers.”  

According to Walsh, research shows reason for concern:  

“Exposure to violent games increases physiological* arousal. . . .Heart rate . . . and . . . blood

pressure all increase when playing violent games. . . . These are the same types of physiological reactions bodies have when engaged in a fight.”  

“Exposure to violent games increases aggressive emotions.” In one study, “students who were

more ‘addicted’ to video games were significantly more likely to be in a bad mood before, during,

and after play than were non-addicted students.”  

“In a study of 8th and 9th graders, students who played more violent video games were also more likely to see the world as a hostile place, to get into frequent arguments with teachers, and to be involved in physical fights.”  

*physiological: relating to the body’s normal functions and processes.  

Using the information presented in the paper, experiences from your own life, and/or other information you have read, write an article for your school newspaper about the negative effects of playing violent video games.  

As you write your article, remember to:  

• Focus on the negative effects of children playing violent video games.  

• Consider the purpose, audience and context of your article.  

• Organize your ideas and details effectively.  

• Include specific details that clearly develop your article.  

• Use standard grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  

Definition Prompt

1. Perseverance is a steady effort to maintain a course of action, purpose, or belief, often in spite of difficulty. Write a speech for a school assembly about the meaning of perseverance as it applies to personal success. You may use the following information as well as your own experiences, observations, and/or readings.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall.  

Nelson Mandela  

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will

subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.  

Lance Armstrong  

I would go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it would split in two, and I knew it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.  

Jacob A. Riis  

Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. Remember no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. Sometime, somewhere, somehow we shall find that which we seek.  

Helen Keller  

It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.  

Albert Einstein  

If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or

work around it.

Michael Jordan  

As you write your speech, remember to:  

• Focus on the meaning of perseverance as it applies to personal success.  

• Consider the purpose, audience and context of your speech.  

• Organize your ideas logically and effectively.  

• Include specific details that clearly develop your speec.  

• Edit your speech for standard grammar and language usage.