Read chapter four in your textbook. Here is your writing assignment from that chapter.

In "The Tucson Zoo" Thomas claims that altruism may be part of our nature -- a primitive and essential component for our survival. Many sociologists, psychologists, and biologists are looking for evidence that altruism is or is not part of human nature. Do you think humans are essentially altruistic or not? Use freewriting, brainstorming, or mapping to gather evidence from your own experience; then use interviews or surveys to find supporting evidence. You might also find a few articles or books which describe the results of research done to try to answer the question. Use information you have gathered to support your opinions in a four or five-page essay (Troiano and Scott 155).

Here are my added directions for this assignment:

Make sure your essay has the three basic parts: introduction, body, conclusion. The introduction should make it clear to the reader what you have done in preparation for the essay and what your purpose is. The introduction should give a clear definition of the word "altruism" so that every reader will know what you are writing about. Your main idea should be stated at the end of your introduction. The introduction should have an interest catcher, something to attract the reader's attention (see pages 172-174).

The body of your paper should present the findings of your research in an organized way. Your main points should be presented in paragraphs with topic sentences(see pages 164-167). Each paragraph should be developed in two ways: 1) Each should give the specific information about altruism from the articles you have read, the surveys you have conducted, and the people you have interviewed; 2) then, each should comment on or interpret this information for the reader. What does it mean? Is it evidence for or against the altruistic nature of humans? Is the behavior you have told about typical or atypical? Does it suggest that altruism is an inherent trait or something learned from the family or social group? Does it suggest that altruism is only apparent and that one's self interest is really the motivation? Are there different degrees and kinds of altruism? These are the kinds of questions you need to address when you interpret your evidence for the reader.

Finally, your essay should have a conclusion that presents what you learned. It should restate your thesis and make any additional observations or point out the importance of what you have discovered in understanding human behavior.

For this assignment, you must use two published sources of information in addition to the essay in your textbook by Lewis Thomas. You must also include information from one interview. All of your sources including your interview must be documented in the body of your essay as well as on a works cited page. Documentation is covered in chapter 21 of your textbook. Follow MLA documentation style for this assignment.

The completed essay must be at least 500 words. There is no limit on length, but all essays should be concise, informative, and correct. Longer essays that multiply errors simply provide more justification for a poor grade. Microsoft Word will tell you how many words there are in a document.

Include a works cited entry for your textbook. See your textbook or follow the link from my web site for help with MLA documentation style.