DefinitionEssay:Volunteerism
Readthefollowingquotationsandusethemtohelpyouwriteanessayinwhichyoudefine
volunteerism:
“Everyonecanbegreatbecauseanyonecanserve.Youdon'thavetohaveacollegedegreetoserve.
Youdon'tevenhavetomakeyoursubjectandyourverbagreetoserve...Youonlyneedaheartfull
ofgrace.Asoulgeneratedbylove...”
ReverendMartinLutherKingJr.(AmericanMinisterandCivilRightsActivist,1929-1968)
“Neverbeforehasmanhadsuchagreatcapacitytocontrolhisownenvironment,toendhunger,
povertyanddisease,tobanishilliteracyandhumanmisery.Wehavethepowertomakethebest
generationofmankindinthehistoryoftheworld.”
th
JohnF.Kennedy(Politicianand35 UnitedStatesPresident,1917-1963)
“Servicetoothersistherentyoupayforyourroomhereonearth.”
MuhammadAli(AmericanBoxerandOlympicGoldMedalist,1942-present)
“Avolunteerisapersonwhocanseewhatotherscannotsee;whocanfeelwhatmostdonotfeel.
Often,suchgiftedpersonsdonotthinkofthemselvesasvolunteers,butascitizens-citizensinthe
fullestsense:partnersincivilization.”
st
GeorgeH.W.Bush(Politicianand41 UnitedStatesPresident,1924-present)
BasicRequirements:
• Introductionparagraphwiththesisstatement(HINT:Thisthesisstatementwillpropose
yourdefinitionofthewordvolunteerism.)
• 2-3bodyparagraphsthatcorrelatewithyourthesisstatementandsupportyour
definition
• Aconcludingparagraphthatremindsmeofyourkeypointsandeffectivelyarguesyour
definition
Asyouwriteyouressay,youmust:
• Focusondefiningtheconceptofvolunteerism.
• Effectivelyorganizeyourideasusingtheprovidedgraphicorganizer.(Afive-paragraph
essayisnotnecessary;however,youdoneedadefiniteintroduction,bodyand
conclusion.)
• Includeideasfromanyofthefollowingsources:
§ Thedictionaryandorpersonaldefinition
§ Synonymsandantonyms(compare/contrast)
§ Ananecdote
§ Anyideasstimulatedbytheabovequotations
§ Otherhistoricalevidence
§ Evidencefromrelevantliteraryworks
• Includeampleandappropriatedetails.
• Edityouressayforstandardgrammarandlanguageusage.
• PROOFREAD,PROOFREAD,andPROOFREAD!