Essay Ideas

Classification Essay

Topic: Significant 20th Century Inventions

Principle: Have these new inventions proved truly beneficial in the long run?

Purpose: To determine whether certain modern inventions which at first appeared beneficial are turning out to be detrimental to society.

Classes:

• Have been beneficial since the beginning and remain relatively unaltered.
• Were beneficial at first but are now harming the average consumer's lifestyle due to so-called "improvements."
• Were not at first very efficient, but have experienced improvements.

Thesis:

While many modern inventions have drastically improved the consumer's general quality of life, some have backfired, creating unexpected "side-effects."

Paragraph:

Technology seems to progress in leaps and bounds. Discoveries and breakthroughs are made all of a sudden. Some of these are true boons to the world: they cure diseases, create new forms of communication, and speed up transportation to name a few. Some of these breakthroughs build on previous work, making older product models more efficient, effective, longer-lasting, or perhaps more compatible with a modern, evolving world. The first example that comes to mind is the light bulb: from incandescent to fluorescent to LED, light bulbs have evolved to emit more light while saving energy. The problem with such development lies in the fact that products are often being generated so fast that a certain machine, medicine, or gadget is already widespread before society figures out that it might not really be a good thing after all. A good example of this would be the television. At first, it seems to be a great, captivating means of mass communication: bringing news from around the world, live, in vivid color to you in your living room armchair. Yet therein lies the problem, very few people stay active and watch TV at the same time. Television is one of the greatest contributors to sedentary living. We must be able to discern between invention that leads to improvement and invention simply for the sake of invention. There lies the challenge.


Compare and Contrast Essay

Subjects: Soccer and swimming

Basis of comparison: Which sport offers better health benefits over a lifetime?

Purpose: To compare and contrast soccer and swimming and determine which offers better health benefits over a lifetime.

Points:

• Cardiovascular fitness
• Muscle groups developed
• Trauma to joints
  
• Years the sport can be practiced

Thesis:

Soccer and swimming both provide excellent cardiovascular fitness and each one develops a useful set of muscle groups, but swimming is a better sport because even senior citizens can enjoy it.

Paragraph:

Soccer and swimming are both competitive high school sports. They both produce great endurance. I played outside midfielder on my high school soccer team for two years: that is the position that requires the most running of all, since the zone that the player must cover spans the entire length of the field. It's like playing defense and offense all at once. Just a few games into the season, I could run at least 10 miles without doing anything outside of soccer to practice. This summer I decided on a whim to become certified as a lifeguard. I got a job at the sixth largest YMCA in the nation, where I took full advantage of the pool and swam almost every single day, four to five times a day. I have never in my life experienced such exhaustion as I did those first few days of serious swimming. It was tiring at first just to swim 8 laps; by the end of the summer, however, I had built up enough endurance to the point that 20 laps really didn't bother me. Both sports provide excellent cardiovascular fitness: my breathing and heart rates were down, by blood pressure was a perfect 120/80, and I never felt out of breath. During the soccer season, I never really worked out my upper body. My legs were obviously in great shape, though I did have to deal with the occasional injury or sprain. Shin splints were also a frequent plague, but overall my lower body was in the best shape of my life. As a swimmer however, I experienced no injuries whatsoever. My legs were not as defined, as they are not used in swimming to same degree as in soccer. My upper body, however, was well-toned. An interesting property of water is that is has a variable resistance: the faster I pushed and pulled, the harder it seemed to move my limbs through the water. I would often swim sprints, moving as fast as I possibly could: it worked better than any free weights ever did. My upper body became very developed, just as my legs had in soccer. The most important thing I realized when comparing these two sports, is that soccer will be temporary. The last time I play it with any commitment or regularity will probably be before I'm 25. Swimming, on the other hand, can be a lifelong sport. There is no impact on the joints, thus I would often see 80 year-old men and women cozily, steadily swimming away in the pools I guarded. That is a tie-breaker: fitness should not only last until one's twenties; fitness should be a lifetime goal.