Motivational Emotion Essay

Look at the human motivations below.  Which of these motivations do you consider the most powerful?  Give an answer in an essay. 

Fear – people are most powerfully motivated when they believe they are facing a loss of a necessity or a loss of the lifestyle to which they are adapted. Greed – people are most powerfully motivated when they are tempted with more than what they really need. Anger – people are most powerfully motivated when they believe that they have been wronged. Guilt – people are most powerfully motivated when they believe that they’ve done wrong and that they should do something to make up for it.

Exclusivity – people are most powerfully motivated when they feel that they need to increase their individuality, uniqueness, or distinctiveness. Salvation – people are most powerfully motivated when they feel that they need deliverance, recovery, or escape. Curiosity – people are most powerfully motivated when they want to discover new things and new places. Status – people are most powerfully motivated when they believe they can rise in society. Flattery – people are most powerfully motivated when someone else sweet-talks, praises, or compliments them.

Use this structure to organize your essay: Paragraph 1: Define your chosen emotion.  Show the importance of this emotion.  Give a clear thesis (answer) at the end of the first paragraph Paragraphs 2-4: In each of these paragraphs, give a different example.  Use stories you have read, movies you have seen, events observed from real life, or events learned from history. Your essay must demonstrate evidence that your chosen emotion motivated people.  Provide reasons, explanations, or quotes.  Paragraphs 5: Write a short conclusion reinforcing your main idea.

Five things to check before you turn it in:

1. DON’T write the final sentence and just head for the turn-in basket! Go over it a couple times. Re-read to make sure your sentences make sense. 

2. Absolutely do not turn in your paper with the word “you” unless it appears in a quote.

3. Unless you are writing autobiography, do not turn in your paper with the words “I”, “me”, or “my” unless they appear in a quote. Do not use “I think,” “In my opinion,” and so on.

4. Your title of your essay must be original – it cannot simply be the story. 

5. Check that whenever you have written the title of a short story is in quotation marks, and the title of a longer work (such as a movie or book) is in Italics. Do not put quotation marks around your own title.