in a three-page, formal essay.Since it is your essay reacting to Mailer’s book, your opinion is what matters here, using Mailer’s text as a resource. This is not a book report, so your job is not to summarize Why Are We at War? but provide a commentary about a specific aspect of it.
Your essay should concentrate on the local, rather than the global. This means that you should resist commenting on parts of this issue that do not directly affect your life. You might address how the Iraqi war impacts your community, the significance it has for Central Georgia, or how it has influenced your attitudes toward America and the world. Keep your observations and evidence local.
Be sure you can support your opinion with evidence from the text.
The structure of your essay should follow this guideline:
- Title: be sure it’s catchy and descriptive
- Introductory paragraph: Introduce the issue you intend to cover. The last sentence should contain a thesis statement that actually answers one of the questions above
- First body paragraph: Address those who might hold a contrary position; explain why that position(s) may not be as tenable as yours
- Subsequent body paragraphs: Develop and support your thesis using specific evidence from Mailer’s book
- Conclusion: Suggest ways that this issue might effect America in the long run — how it might effect humanity
Be careful to watch your tone: you are writing an essay, not a rant or a lecture. Be sure that your essay contains all of the required parts of an essay that we have discussed in class, like the title, formatting, diction, etc.
