The Morals of a Prince (Precis)

Niccolò Machiavelli wrote “The Morals of a Prince” (1513), which asserts that the ideal prince who can keep his subjects united and loyal is not “prince charming” from Disney fairy tales, but rather a man who knows when to lie, when to be cruel, and when to be feared – but not hated. Machiavelli uses evidence from historically famous rulers such as Pope Julius II, Caesar, and Alexander to back up his claims on stinginess, whether to be loved or hated, and how Princes should keep their word. He uses these historical examples in order to educate the next prince on how to stay in power. In “The Morals of a Prince”, Niccolò Machiavelli is advising the future prince on how to stay in power and how to reunite Italy after a long period of warring states.

Synthesis Essay Draft (2.3)

Intertwine hook throughout the piece

Synthesis Essay

Draft 2

Picking up leaves and trash off of the side of a highway for some miscreant deed is what many people stereotype as community service. Currently education systems are torn as to whether or not community service hours should be required to graduate high school. (same sentence length) Although community service is useful not only on applications, but in real world experience, it should not be required for graduation, instead good works should be emphasized through in class learning, and the tools to complete community service should be readily available to students who wish to participate. (GOOD) The coercing of service, like the picking up of trash,  depreciates the experience that a student receives when done on ones own initiative and devalues the true meaning of community aid. Also, students' lives are too busy to participate in mandated service; if they decide that they have time for such activities then they shouldn't be pressured into them.

Community Service provides many benefits to high school students, but as a requirement it would detract from the student’s future roll in their community and could take away from the ideal of volunteerism. Many schools, such as The Dalton School (a small private high school), believe in the building of character through community service. However, in “Mandatory Volunteerism”, an article in Psychological Science, Mark Snyder, Arthur Stukas, and E. Gil Cary argue that community service demands take away from students' willingness to volunteer in their future. (ADD SOMETHING HERE + TRANSITION) A club titled the “Willie Grothman Club” was recently founded in Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. (Bahrampour) The club’s purpose was based around community service, but it had an ulterior motive (cliche?) as well: give as many officer positions to as many members as possible. Why?- To make their community service look good on college applications. (Bahrampour) Should America allow students to further their future by using volunteerism as a tool rather than as a source of personal enrichment? (INSERT TRASH METAPHOR) The Breeze (source 6) presents the issue of volunteering in a simple cartoon. Volunteerism is presented as a “hip” energy drink that is “easy to use” and “convenient”.  By portraying the volunteering as an energy drink that (A quick fix) slowly rots out the teeth of Americans The Breeze mocks the way America teaches it's youth that doing community service is "cool", just like drinking a popular energy drink, but in reality it is destroying the base of American's views of good works. This is not the way you should want the future of America to view volunteerism; the youth should view community service as a moral obligation onto themselves to help their community.

High school is a busy time for students, especially their senior year; students should not be forced to perform extra hours after school in order to earn their diploma. Last summer I signed up for the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership program. After a four day intensive seminar they left us with one challenge: to complete one hundred hours of community service within the next year. Excited and inspired I set to work to get my hours logged. My summer job conflicted with many service opportunities and once school started I had no extra time to participate in good works for the public. Whether it is jobs, homework, or athletics, most teenagers lives are flooded with activities. One 13 year old, according to source 3, was hooked on volunteering with an assisted living home, said that when he got into high school he would not let marching band practice get in the way of his visits to the home.  But I say that his visits would be getting in the way of his practice. School and jobs take up too much of students’ lives today; you do not need to add more pressure and hours to our loaded schedule. (GOOD)        

talk about CLEAN SWEEP
           For students who do not participate in sports, don't have after school jobs, or simply think that they can take the stress load of more hours in their schedule should be given the tools to participate in community service, but not be compelled to do good works. Young people don’t want to be forced into something that they would already willingly do. For example, I, as a teenager, am much more likely to enjoy cleaning my room of  my own free will (which I actually do) than when my parents require me to clean. Source 7 (title?) is a graph that shows that out of ages 15-25 only the 23-25 year olds who were surveyed had a higher percentage in favor of community service requirements for a high school diploma. This shows that the high school teenage group does not want mandatory service.  Millennials Rising, by Neil Howe and William Straus, states “Surveys show that five of every 6 Millenials believe that their generation has the greatest duty to improve the environment… Millenials would impose extra civic duties on themselves… to achieve results.” Our age already considers it their duty to enact in good community deeds. It does not need to be forced upon ourselves, but rather we, who have time, will choose to participate in being a good citizen because it is the right thing to do. Through our own willing actions we will achieve and enjoy our community service. 


(HOOK)
Many schools have already taken action to incorporate community service into their curriculum.  “two-thirds of all public schools at all grade levels now have students engaged in community work, often… as part of the curriculum.” (Howe, Strauss) However, it is your obligation, as a citizen of your community, to make sure that this does not destroy the youth’s view of service. School systems should form clubs and reward systems that emphasize the positive benefits of freely choosing to be a moral citizen and participate in community service.

Synthesis Essay (Draft 2.2)

Synthesis Essay

Draft 2

Picking up leaves and trash off of the side of a highway for some miscreant deed is what many people stereotype community service as. Currently education systems are torn as to whether or not community service hours should be required to graduate high school. Although community service is useful not only on applications, but also in real world experience, it should not be required for graduation, instead good works should be emphasized through in class learning, and the tools to complete community service should be readily available to students who wish to participate. The coercing of service depreciates the experience that a student receives when done on ones own initiative and devalues the true meaning of community aid. Also, student's lives are too busy to participate in mandated service; if they decide that they have enough time for such activities then they shouldn't be pressured into them.

Community Service provides many benefits to high school students, but as a requirement it would detract from the student’s future roll in their community and could take away from the ideal of volunteerism. Many schools, such as The Dalton School (a small private high school), believe in the building of character through community service. However, in “Mandatory Volunteerism”, an article in Psychological Science, Mark Snyder, Arthur Stukas, and E. Gil Cary argue that community service demands take away from the students willingness to volunteer in their future. A club titled the “Willie Grothman Club” was recently founded in Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. (Bahrampour) The club’s purpose was based around community service, but it had an ulterior motive as well: give as many officer positions to as many members as possible. Why?; to make their community service look good on college applications. (Bahrampour) Should America allow students to further their future by using volunteerism as a tool rather than as a source of personal enrichment? The Breeze (source 6) presents the issue of volunteering in a simple cartoon. Volunteerism is presented as a “hip” energy drink that is “easy to use” and “convenient”.  By portraying the volunteering as an energy drink that slowly rots out the teeth of Americans The Breeze mocks the way America teaches it's youth that doing community service is "cool", just like drinking a popular energy drink, but in reality it is destroying the base of American's views of good works. This is not the way you should want the future of America to view volunteerism; the youth should view community service as a moral obligation onto themselves to help their community.

High school is a busy time for students, especially their senior year; students should not be forced to perform extra hours after school in order to earn their diploma. Last summer I signed up for the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership program. After a four day intensive seminar they left us with one challenge: to complete one hundred hours of community service within the next year. Excited and inspired I set to work to get my hours logged. My summer job conflicted with many service opportunities and once school started I had no extra time to participate in good works for the public. Whether it is jobs, homework, or athletics, most teenagers lives are flooded with activities. One 13 year old, according to source 3, was hooked on volunteering with an assisted living home, said that when he got into high school he would not let marching band practice get in the way of his visits to the home.  But I say that his visits would be getting in the way of his practice. School and jobs take up too much of students’ lives today; you do not need to add more pressure and hours to our loaded schedule.

         
           For students who do not participate in sports, don't have after school jobs, or simply think that they can take the stress load of more hours in their schedule should be given the tools to participate in community service, but not be compelled to do good works. Young people don’t want to be forced into something that they would already willingly do. For example, I, as a teenager, am much more likely to enjoy cleaning my room of  my own free will (which I actually do) than when my parents require me to clean. Source 7 is a graph that shows that out of ages 15-25 only the 23-25 year olds who were surveyed had a higher percentage in favor of community service requirements for a high school diploma. This shows that the high school teenage group does not want mandatory service.  Millennials Rising, by Neil Howe and William Straus, states “Surveys show that five of every 6 Millenials believe that their generation has the greatest duty to improve the environment… Millenials would impose extra civic duties on themselves… to achieve results.” Our age already considers it their duty to enact in good community deeds. It does not need to be forced upon ourselves, but rather we, who have time, will choose to participate in being a good citizen because it is the right thing to do. Through our own wiling actions we will achieve and enjoy our community service.

Many schools have already taken action to incorporate community service into their curriculum.  “two-thirds of all public schools at all grade levels now have students engaged in community work, often… as part of the curriculum.” (Howe, Strauss) However, it is your obligation, as a citizen of your community, to make sure that this does not destroy the youth’s view of service. School systems should form clubs and reward systems that emphasize the positive benefits of freely choosing to be a moral citizen and participate in community service.

My Political Party

Synthesis Essay (Draft 2.1)

Notes: Don't repeat words ... look at grammar

Synthesis Essay

Draft 2

Change hook (touchy subject) On January 31, 1865 the 13^th Amendment was passed; this abolished slavery for good. Now schools have to make a choice about a new kind of slavery: community service requirements.

Currently education systems are torn as to whether or not a certain number of community service hours should be required to graduate high school. Although community service is useful not only on applications, but also in real world experience, it should not be required for graduation, instead community service should be emphasized through in class learning, and the tools to complete community service should be readily available to students who wish to participate. (good! YAY!) 

We will examine how the coerceing (not a word) of community service detracts from the experience that a student receives when done voluntarily and WHAT?!

Community Service provides many benefits to high school students, but as a requirement it would detract from the student’s future roll in their community and would (or could?) take away from the ideal of volunteerism. Many schools, such as The Dalton School (a small private high school), believe in the building of character through community service. However, in “Mandatory Volunteerism”, an article in Psychological Science, Mark Snyder, Arthur Stukas, and E. Gil Cary argue that community service requirements detract from the students willingness to volunteer in their future. A club titled the “Willie Grothman Club” was recently founded in Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. (Bahrampour) The club’s purpose was based around community service, but it had an ulterior motive as well: to give as many officer positions to as many members as possible. Why?; to make their community service look good on college applications. (Bahrampour) Schools use the excuse that community service looks good on college applications as a justification to have mandatory volunteerism. Should you (America?) let students to further their future by using volunteerism as a tool rather than as a source of personal enrichment? The Breeze (source 6) presents the issue of volunteering in a simple cartoon. Volunteerism is presented as a “hip” energy drink that is “easy to use” and “convenient”. ANALYZE! This is not the way you should want the future of America to view volunteerism; the youth should view community service as a moral obligation onto themselves to help their community.

TALK ABOUT HOBY!
High school is a busy time for students, especially their senior year; students should not be forced to perform extra hours after school in order to earn their diploma. As a high school Junior, I can assure you that I do not have any extra time in my schedule to squeeze in anything extra; my school day goes from 8:15 AM to 3:15 PM; then I have a forty-five minute break, in which I try to cram in all of the homework that I possibly can; after that, two and a half hours of athletic practice take place. By the time I get home it is 6:45. I proceed to eat dinner, take a shower, and then crack down on 2 to 3 hours of homework. I finish everything by 9:30 – 10:00 and am ready for bed. At what time am I supposed to fit in an hour of community service? Or am I supposed to work it out during the weekend, the only time in which I am able to enjoy time with my friends, family and complete weekend homework? One 13 year old, according to source 3, was hooked on volunteering with an assisted living home, said that when he got into high school he would not let marching band practice get in the way of his visits to the home.  But I say that his visits would be getting in the way of his practice. School takes up too much of students’ lives today; you do not need to add more pressure and hours to our jam packed schedule.

           
For students who do have time in their schedules, or wish to give up their weekends do not need to be forced...
Young people don’t want to be forced into something that they would already willingly do. For example, I, as a teenager, am much more likely to enjoy cleaning my room of  my own free will (which I actually do) than when my parents require me to clean. Source 7 is a graph that shows that out of ages 15-25 only the 23-25 year olds who were surveyed had a higher percentage in favor of community service requirements for a high school diploma. This shows that the high school teenage group does not want required community service.  Millennials Rising, by Neil Howe and William Straus, states that “Surveys show that five of every 6 Millenials believe that their generation has the greatest duty to improve the environment… Millenials would impose extra civic duties on themselves… to achieve results.” Our age already considers it their duty to enact in good community deeds. It does not need to be forced upon ourselves, but rather we will choose to participate in being a good citizen because it is the right thing to do. Through our own wiling actions we will achieve and enjoy our community service.

Many schools have already taken action to incorporate community service into their curriculum.  “two-thirds of all public schools at all grade levels now have students engaged in community work, often… as part of the curriculum.” (Howe, Strauss) However, it is your obligation, as a citizen of your community, to make sure that this does not destroy the youth’s view of service. School systems should form clubs and reward systems that emphasize the positive benefits of freely choosing to be a moral citizen and participate in community service. (GOOD #YAY#)

Synthesis Essay (Draft 1.3)

Synthesis Essay

Draft 1

On January 31, 1865 the 13^th Amendment was passed; this abolished slavery for good. Now schools have to make a choice about a new kind of slavery: community service requirements. Currently education systems are torn as to whether or not a certain number of community service hours should be required to graduate high school. Although community service is useful not only on applications, but also in real world experience, it should not be required for graduation, instead community service should be emphasized through in class learning, and the tools to complete community service should be readily available to students who wish to participate. We will examine how the coerceing (not a word) of community service detracts from the experience that you receive and what should be offered to students.

Community Service provides many benefits to high school students, but as a requirement it would detract from the student’s future roll in their community and would take away from the ideal of volunteerism. Many schools, such as The Dalton School (a small private high school), believe in the building of character through community service. However, in “Mandatory Volunteerism”, an article in Psychological Science, Mark Snyder, Arthur Stukas, and E. Gil Cary argue that community service requirements detract from the students willingness to volunteer in his or her future. A club titled the “Willie Grothman Club” was recently founded in Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. (source 4) The club’s purpose was based around community service, but it had an ulterior motive as well; give as many officer positions to as many members as possible. Why?; to make their community service look good on college applications. (source 4) Schools are using the excuse that community service looks good on college applications as an justification to have mandatory volunteerism. Should you let students to further their future by using volunteerism as a tool rather than as a source of personal enrichment? The Breeze (source 6) presents the issue of volunteering in a simple cartoon. Volunteerism is presented as a “hip” energy drink that is “easy to use” and “convenient”. This is not the way you should want the future of America to view volunteerism; the youth should view community service as a moral obligation onto themselves to help their community.

High school is a busy time for students, especially their senior year; students should not be forced to perform extra hours after school in order to achieve their diploma. As a high school Junior, I can assure you that I do not have any extra time in my schedule to squeeze in anything extra; my educational school day goes from 8:15 Am to 3:15 Pm; then I have a forty-five minute break, in which I try to cram in all of the homework that I possibly can; after that, two and a half hours of athletic practice take place. By the time I get home it is 6:45. I proceed to eat dinner, take a shower, and then crack down on 2 to 3 hours of homework. I finish everything by 9:30 – 10:00 and am ready for bed. At what time am I supposed to fit in an hour of community service? Or am I supposed to work it out during the weekend, the only time in which I am able to enjoy time with my friends, family and complete weekend homework? One 13 year old, according to source 3, was hooked on volunteering with an assisted living home, said that when he got into high school he would not let practice, of marching band, get in the way of his visits to the home.  But I say that his visits would be getting in the way of his practice. School takes up too much of students’ lives today, you do not need to add more pressure and hours to our jam packed schedule.

            Young people don’t want to be forced into something that they would already willingly do. For example, I, as a teenager, am much more likely to enjoy cleaning my room of  my own free will(which I actually do) than when my parents require me to clean my room for some reason. Source 7 is a graph that shows that out of ages 15-25 only the 23-25 year olds who were surveyed had a higher percentage in favor of community service requirements for a high school diploma. This shows that our age does not want required community service.  Millennials Rising, by Neil Howe and William Straus, states that “Surveys show that five of every 6 Millenials believe that their generation has the greatest duty to improve the environment… Millenials would impose extra civic duties on themselves… to achieve results.” Our age already considers it their duty to enact in good community deeds. It does not need to be forced upon ourselves, but rather we will choose to participate in being a good citizen because it is the right thing to do. Through our own wiling actions we will achieve and enjoy our community service.

Many schools have already taken action to incorporate community service into their curriculum.  “two-thirds of all public schools at all grade levels now have students engaged in community work, often… as part of the curriculum.” (source one) However, it is your obligation, as a citizen of your community, to make sure that this does not destroy the youth’s view of service. School systems should form clubs and reward systems that emphasize the positive benefits of freely choosing to be a moral citizen and participate in community service.

Synthesis Essay (Draft 1.2)

Synthesis Essay

Draft 1

Hook: Is community service REALLY helpful for students? Especially when forced?

Address problem: Currently education systems are torn as to whether or not a certain number of community service hours should be required to graduate high school.

Thesis: Although community service is useful not only on applications, but also in real world experience, it should not be required for graduation, instead community service should be emphasized through in class learning, and the tools to complete community service should be readily available to students who wish to participate.

Order of Development: We will examine how the coerceing (not a word) of community service detracts from the experience that you receive and what should be offered to students.

Refutation

·       Community service gives a sense of community (source  2)

·       Yes but it makes it so that kids don’t want to do it when they are older (source 5)

·      To help the argument of community service requirements many schools point out that it looks good on college applications for seniors.

·      But it is simply being used and is that what your really want the children of the future to see community service as a tool to further their job gain rather than as a source of personal rewardment?

·      (source 6)

Support 1 – community service, when required outside of school hours, takes up much of the student’s time.

·       Source 3 – John Prueter

·       A general school day goes from 8:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon. And then sports. By the time you get home you are exhausted and then have homework you do not have time for community service

·       

Support 2 – The majority of young people don’t want required community service. They believe that they will do it on their own time and willingly; they do not need to be forced.

·      Source 1 – do it on their own time

·      Source 7- people do not want community service

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Call to Action

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Synthesis Essay (Draft 1.1)

Synthesis Essay

Draft 1

Hook: Is community service REALLY helpful for students? Especially when forced?

Address problem: Currently education systems are torn as to whether or not a certain number of community service hours should be required to graduate high school.

Thesis: Although community service is useful not only on applications, but also in real world experience, it should not be required for graduation, instead community service should be emphasized through in class learning, and the tools to complete community service should be readily available to students who wish to participate.

Order of Development: We will examine how the coerceing (not a word) of community service detracts from the experience that you receive and what should be offered to students.

Refutation

·       Community service gives a sense of community

·       Yes but it makes it so that kids don’t want to do it when they are older

·      Community service is good for applications

·      Yes but …

·       

Support 1

·       

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·       

Support 2

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Support 3

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·       

Call to Action

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