Context
How can two brothers who grew up in the same household in the same environment go down such different paths? In “A Brother’s Murder”, writer Brent Staples explores the conditions in his and his little brother Blake’s lives that contributed to Brent becoming a successful journalist while his brother ended up dead, a victim of the criminal lifestyle he eventually chose.
What caused Brent and Blake to perceive hope in such different ways with Brent being committed to real hope while Blake had surrendered to learned hopelessness? What were the specific outcomes of each brother’s conception of hope?
Prompt
For this assignment, write a 1000-word-minimum essay comparing and contrasting the lives of Brent and Blake in relation to the “Emotional Competency” webpage on hope. Which of the four “zones” of hope does each brother exist within? Analyze the “paths of hope/hopelessness” each brother took in life.
Structure
In your introductory paragraph, summarize “A Brother’s Murder” with an emphasis on the different life paths Brent and Blake each took. End your intro with a thesis that sets up which zone of hope each brother lives within and how that shapes their respective paths of hope/hopelessness. Make sure to practice the skills of attributing to author and text in the setup of the article summary and the webpage material reference. Use the following lead in for your thesis:
According to the research of Leland R. Beaumont, Brent Staples chose a life path of … shaped by a … zone of hope whereas his little brother Blake chose a … lifestyle … determine by a … zone of …
For each of your two body paragraphs, begin with a topic sentencethat connects the main idea previewed in your thesis to your examples about that main idea. Give examples that illustrate the zone and the path each brother exists within.
Finally, write a concluding paragraph (avoid the transitional expression “In conclusion,”) in which you make one final unique point about your analysis.
