Writing – Expository Essay
Grade 8

Throughout their education at LePort, students are asked to think critically about both the world around them and their own ideas. For example, just as we spend time analyzing a poem in literature class, our students are encouraged to thoughtfully consider the movies they watch, the music the listen to, even the gossip magazines they read. Approaching education as an orientation toward the world rather than a classroom-confined activity naturally results in discussions outside the bounds of what would strictly be considered the subjects being taught. Such is the background of this expository essay. During one literature class, it became apparent that students were using the idea of “self-esteem” without any clear idea of its meaning. What could be more important for an eighth-grade class—a class full of students on the cusp of establishing their own identities—than clarity regarding the source of their own self-worth? The need existed, and thus was born the following assignment.