General Direction: Choose ONE of the following prompts and write a well-organized, well-developed essay (introduction with a clear thesis statement, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph). You should come up with a catchy title for the essay that attracts the attention of the reader. (Essay Length: 250 words or more) 

Prompts: (CHOOSE ONE) 

1. In 1976, an artist sang the following words: “Wake up everybody, no more sleepin' in bed/No more backward thinkin' time for thinkin' ahead/The world won't get no better/If we just let it be/The world won't get no better/We gotta change it, yeah, just you and me.” Write an essay in which you argue the extent in which these are still lyrics socially and culturally relevant today? 

2. As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate. Write an essay in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

3. Many people would rather spend hours on a cell phone and communicate through social media or instant-messaging than in person. Some people believe that this is good because it helps shy people communicate more openly with others. Others believe that too much time on cell phones prevents some people from developing interpersonal skills and limits people’s ability to have meaningful relationships with others. In a thesis driven essay, use specific reasons and examples to show why communicating through social media helps people gain better interpersonal skills and relationships than face to face communication (or vice versa).

4. The paragraph below comes from a 1979 essay by African American writer James Baldwin. Read the paragraph carefully. Then, in a thesis-driven essay, take a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies Baldwin’s ideas about the importance of language as a “key to identity” and to social acceptance. Use specific evidence from your observation, experience, or reading to develop your position. 

“It goes with saying, then, that language is also a political instrument, means, and proof of power. It is the most vivid and crucial key to identity: It reveals the private identity, and connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger, public, or communal identity (or his/race culture and/ or culture. There have been, and are, times, and places, when to speak a certain language could be dangerous, even fatal.”—James Baldwin