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15.3: Sample Student Essays

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• Page ID 126010

The essays below are intended as models for students' own writing in college.

• Sample summary "Spread Feminism, Not Germs" in PDF with margin notes     
• Sample summary "Spread Feminism, Not Germs" accessible version with notes in parentheses     
• Sample summary "Typography and Identity" in PDF with margin notes  
• Sample summary "Typography and Identity" accessible version with notes in parentheses

Summary and Assessment Essays (Critical Analyses)

• Sample assessment "Spread Feminism, Not Germs" in PDF with margin notes     
• Sample assessment "Spread Feminism, Not Germs" accessible version with notes in parentheses     
• Sample assessment "Typography and Identity" in PDF with margin notes  
• Sample assessment "Typography and Identity" accessible version with notes in parentheses  

Summary, Assessment, and Response Essays

• Sample response paper "Spread Feminism, Not Germs" in PDF with margin notes     
• Sample response paper "Spread Feminism, Not Germs" accessible version with notes in parentheses     
• Sample response paper "Typography and Identity" in PDF with margin notes  
• Sample response paper "Typography and Identity" accessible version with notes in parentheses  

Compare-and-Contrast Essays

The essay "Contested Territory" compares and contrasts two arguments on immigration: "Wouldn't We All Cross the Border" by Anna Mills and "The Weight of the World" by Saramanda Swigart. Annotations point out how the author structures the comparison.

• Sample compare-and-contrast essay "Contested Territory" in PDF version with margin notes
• Sample compare-and-contrast essay "Contested Territory" accessible version with notes in parentheses

Argument Analysis Essays (Rhetorical Analysis)

The brief essay "Henig's Perspective on the Gender Revolution" by student Jun Stephens can serve as an example of argument analysis.

• Sample argument analysis essay "Henig's Perspective on the Gender Revolution" in PDF with margin notes
• Sample argument analysis essay "Henig's Perspective on the Gender Revolution" accessible version with notes in parentheses

The essay "Argument Analysis of Cory Doctorow’s 'Why I Won’t Buy an iPad (and Think You Shouldn’t, Either)'" can serve as an example.

• Sample argument analysis essay "Argument Analysis of Cory Doctorow’s “Why I Won’t Buy an iPad (and Think You Shouldn’t, Either) " in PDF with margin notes
• Sample argument analysis essay "Argument Analysis of Cory Doctorow’s “Why I Won’t Buy an iPad (and Think You Shouldn’t, Either) " accessible version with notes in parentheses

Visual Argument Analysis Essays

The essay "An Image Is Worth a Thousand Calls to Arms" by Saramanda Swigart analyzes a visual argument.

• Sample visual argument analysis essay "An Image Is Worth a Thousand Calls to Arms" in PDF with margin notes
• Sample visual argument analysis essay "An Image Is Worth a Thousand Calls to Arms" accessible version with notes in parentheses

Research Papers

Research-based definition arguments.

• Sample definition essay "Defining Stereotypes" in PDF version with margin notes
• Sample definition essay "Defining Stereotypes" accessible version with notes in parentheses . 
• “ Trust ” by Chris Thurman . This five-paragraph student essay defines the concept of trust and discusses its fragility and complications.  (CC BY-SA)
• “ Mass Incarceration: The Real Trends of the United States Justice System ” by Darius Porter. This nine-paragraph student essay defines the concept of justice through the lens of America’s war on drugs resulting in mass incarcerations. The author discusses the impact of mandatory sentencing laws designed to target people based on race and/or income level in order to enrich the current private prison industry. Source:  Successful College Composition  by   Kathryn Crowther et al., provided by Galileo, Georgia's Virtual Library.  CC-NC-SA-4.0 .

Research-Based Evaluation Arguments

• Sample evaluation essay "Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States" in PDF version with margin notes
• Sample evaluation essay "Universal Health Care Coverage for the United States" accessible version with notes in parentheses

“ The Story of My Working Thesis Malfunction ” by Amanda Kenger. The author walks the reader through her process of writing a thesis on Janet Jackson’s 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction. The author wrote four essays trying to define the focus of the final essay: A proposal essay, a critique essay, an antithesis essay, and a categorization essay. The author discusses the development of research skills and evaluates the writing process and final thesis. (CC BY-NC-SA)  

Research-Based Causal Arguments

The article "Climate Explained: Why Carbon Dioxide Has Such Outsized Influence on Earth’s Climate" by Jason West, published in The Conversation , explains why scientists are convinced that carbon dioxide causes climate change. Annotations point out how the author uses several causal argument strategies.    

• Sample causal essay "Climate Explained: Why Carbon Dioxide Has Such Outsized Influence on Earth’s Climate" in PDF version with margin notes
• Sample causal essay "Climate Explained: Why Carbon Dioxide Has Such Outsized Influence on Earth’s Climate" accessible version with notes in parentheses

“ Effects of Video Game Addiction .” This six-paragraph student essay focuses on the potential negative impact of excessive video game playing. Concerns mentioned are disruption in the player’s career, decline in overall health and hygiene, and a loss of valuable socialization. While video game players may perceive that they are involved in e-based communities, the author points out that these forms of communication rarely translate to face-to-face social interaction. ( English Composition I: Rhetorical Methods-Based,  CC BY-NC-SA) 

“ Crossing the Line: Remembering September 11 ” by Theresa Henkes. This seven-paragraph student essay discusses the negative impact of commercialization of September 11th by the entertainment industry. The author mentions special features, movies, magazines, and video games all designed to make money rather than help the nation mourn and heal. In contrast, voluntary and reverent memorials and museums offer the opportunity to reflect on the tragedy without the motive of financial gain. ( Excelsior OWL , CC BY 4.0)

Research-Based Proposal Arguments

The sample essay "Why We Should Open Our Borders" by student Laurent Wenjun Jiang makes a brief, general proposal argument. Annotations point out how Jiang uses several proposal argument strategies.    

• Sample proposal essay "Why We Should Open Our Borders" in PDF with margin notes
• Sample proposal essay "Why We Should Open Our Borders" accessible version with notes in parentheses
• “ Rethinking Recycling: Why Reusing Needs to Be User Friendly ” by Emily Hanna. This seven-paragraph student essay, in APA format, proposes colleges and communities adopt a recycling approach currently being used by the University of Maryland. This approach uses numerous color-coded bins, in a uniform manner across the entire campus, making the process of recycling easier thereby attracting more participants. Citing the cost of resources to produce new materials and the lack of landfill space, the author encourages other colleges to adopt a similar recycling approach. ( Excelsior OWL , CC BY 4.0)

Attributions

List and essay descriptions by Cynthia Spence and Anna Mills, licensed CC BY NC 4.0 .

Can you trust 2024 election polls on Donald Trump and Joe Biden? Here's how to cut through the noise.

Love them or hate them, political polls aren’t going anywhere. As the 2024 presidential election kicks into high gear, the internet will be flooded with surveys tracking the horserace between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Keeping track of the numbers can be daunting: Who's ahead in national polls? Who's ahead in state-level surveys? Figuring out which numbers to pay attention to – and whether any of it actually matters – can be even more challenging.  

Luckily, the USA TODAY Network has got you covered. Here’s a refresher on why polls matter, whether you can trust them and what to look out for this year.  

What do polls tell us about the election?  

Think of polls as quick snapshots rather than crystal ball readings.  

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

They don’t necessarily predict the results of an election. Rather, they’re used to gauge how people feel about a race during a specific period. Pollsters may ask questions about the future, but surveys have more to say about the voters' current temperature.

Polls also tend to have a short shelf life. Public opinion can shift quickly, meaning that the results of polls are often only a reliable measure of the state of a race during the time they were taken. 

A survey taken two months ago won’t reflect the state of a race today, and a poll fielded tomorrow won’t tell us who is going to win the presidential election in November.

However, that doesn't mean polls captured at the beginning of a campaign cycle don't matter. The insights from early polls tease out the major issues voters are thinking about that could shape the race.  They also help trace the trendlines of how a candidate is performing – whether they’re gaining traction, stagnating or losing support. 

Pollster John Zogby likened the importance of looking at early polling to checking benchmarks while trying to reach an exercise goal.  

“Am I going to get on the scale the day before to see how I did?” said Zogby. “No, I get on the scale every so often to say what am I doing? How am I doing? What am I doing right?” 

Conducting polls early in a race and often throughout the course of an election allows political scientists, journalists and the public to track trends and spot major inflection points in campaigns.  

Beware of two-candidate polls  

Not all polls are built the same. The way a survey is designed, from how questions are worded to the demographics of the participants chosen, can influence the accuracy of its results.  

David Paleologos , director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said political polls are most accurate when they replicate as closely as possible the questions and options voters will see on their ballot.

For instance, he said that polls on the 2024 presidential election should include choices beyond the two major party candidates – Trump and Biden – because most ballots will contain third-party and independent candidates who will garner some support.  

“If the polls only show a binary choice, between Trump or Biden, you're not getting the full picture,” Paleologos said.

He pointed to close margins in critical swing states, including Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia, during the 2020 election as an example. Trump lost in those states by fewer votes than Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen received.  

If Jorgensen had not been in the race, the results in those battlegrounds, and possibly the outcome of the election nationally, could have looked markedly different, Paleologos said.

The Libertarian Party hasn’t yet chosen its candidate for the 2024 election. But early polls that include the party and other independent candidates as options are likely to more accurately show how disaffected voters are looking at their options, he explained.

Suffolk University and USA TODAY have a partnership collecting polling data and insights.

Who's being polled?

Another factor that can impact a poll’s accuracy is the sample population surveyed. Polls randomly select a small sample of people designed to represent the broader views and attitudes of a larger population. But every organization uses different methodologies to create their samples.  

For instance, some election polls take the temperature of the general population, while others only include active voters or likely voters. They also may weigh demographic information, such as the ratio of Democrats to Republicans, differently.  

In the 2024 race, Zogby, author of the forthcoming book "Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should," suggested that the most accurate polls include only likely voters, the pool of people already planning to cast a ballot in November.

“A likely voter today may not be a likely voter on October 31,” Zogby said, but capturing these voters allows political scientists to better understand the Americans who will choose the next president.

Should I pay attention to national polls or state surveys?

Pollsters were lambasted in 2016 for projecting that then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would win the election over Trump.

But national polls , which are supposed to reflect the popular vote across all states, were technically right. Overall, Clinton won nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump.  

So, what went wrong? Many analysts overstated Clinton’s lead in national polls, and few organizations conducted state-specific polls in former Democratic strongholds, such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, that Trump was able to capture. His wins in those states ultimately landed him the electoral college victory.  

That’s not to say that national polls are inferior to state polls, but you should think of them differently.

“National polls are more valuable to understand what the issues are impacting likely voters,” Paleologos said, while state polls better represent the horserace.

He and other polling experts told USA TODAY that Biden needs to lead Trump by three to four percentage points in a national poll to be tied with the Republican in the electoral college . That's because large liberal-leaning states like California and New York tend to tilt the results of national polls in Democrats’ favor, whereas the "electoral college these days skews Republican," Zogby said.

In other words, a national poll showing Biden and Trump tied would tell a similar story to a swing state poll that shows Trump leading Biden by a few points.  But generally, experts warn against comparing national and state surveys, which are built off of different methodologies, against one another.

Can you trust the polls?  

Mostly. Because polls are analyzing a myriad of shifting factors, they'll always have some level of uncertainty baked in, regardless of the specific election. Organizations also don’t collaborate on what states they plan to poll, or when, which means there’s always potential for blind spots, like in 2016. 

Some political observers rely on poll averages, such as a tally from Real Clear Politics. These are generally reliable, but they can miss trends.

But when interpreted properly, polls often provide an accurate portrait of the state of an election. 

“There are folks that will say, ‘Oh, you missed the election by two points,’” Zogby said. "Well, two points – that showed the ballpark of what was going to happen.” 

And the more polls there are, the easier it is to evaluate the race.