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Biography of Judith Sargent Murray, Early Feminist and Writer

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Judith Sargent Murray (May 1, 1751–July 6, 1820) was an early American feminist who wrote essays on political, social, and religious themes. She was also a gifted poet and dramatist, and her letters, some recently discovered, give insight into her life during and after the American Revolution. She is especially known for her essays about the American Revolution under the pseudonym "The Gleaner" and for her feminist essay, "On the Equality of the Sexes." 

Fast Facts: Judith Sargent Murray

• Known For : Early feminist essayist, poet, novelist, and dramatist
• Born : May 1, 1751 in Gloucester, Massachusetts
• Parents : Winthrop Sargent and Judith Saunders
• Died : July 6, 1820 in Natchez, Mississippi
• Education : Tutored at home
• Published Works : On the Equality of the Sexes, Sketch of the Present Situation in America, Story of Margaretta, Virtue Triumphant , and The Traveller Returned
• Spouse(s) : Captain John Stevens (m. 1769–1786); Rev. John Murray (m. 1788–1809).
• Children : With John Murray: George (1789) who died as an infant, and a daughter, Julia Maria Murray (1791–1822)

Judith Sargent Murray was born Judith Sargent on May 1, 1751, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to shipowner and merchant Captain Winthrop Sargent (1727–1793) and his wife Judith Saunders (1731–1793). She was the oldest of the eight Sargent children. At first, Judith was educated at home and learned basic reading and writing. Her brother Winthrop, who was intended to go to Harvard, received a more advanced education at home, but when their parents recognized Judith's exceptional abilities she was allowed to share Winthrop's training in classical Greek and Latin. Winthrop went did go on to Harvard , and Judith later noted that she, being female, had no such possibilities .

Her first marriage, on October 3, 1769, was to Captain John Stevens, a well-to-do sea captain and trader. They had no children but adopted two of her husband's nieces and one of her own, Polly Odell.

Universalism

In the 1770s, Judith Stevens turned away from the Calvinism of the Congregational church she was raised in and became involved in Universalism. Calvinists said that only believers could be "saved," and nonbelievers were doomed. In contrast, Universalists believed that all human beings could be saved and all people were equal. The movement was brought to Massachusetts by Rev. John Murray, who arrived in Gloucester in 1774, and Judith and her families the Sargents and the Stevens converted to Universalism. Judith Sargent Stevens and John Murray began a long correspondence and respectful friendship: in this she defied custom, which suggested it was suspect for a married woman to correspond with a man who was unrelated to her.

By 1775, the Stevens family had fallen into serious financial difficulties when the American Revolution interfered with shipping and trade, difficulties that may have been heightened by Stevens' mismanagement of finances. To help out, Judith began writing; her first poems were written in 1775. Judith's first essay was "Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self-Complacency, Especially in Female Bosoms," which was published in 1784 under the pseudonym Constancia in the Boston periodical, Gentleman and Lady's Town and Country Magazine . In 1786, Captain Stevens, to avoid debtor's prison and in hopes of turning his finances around, sailed to the West Indies, but he died there in 1786.

After the death of Captain Stevens, the friendship between John Murray and Judith Stevens blossomed into courtship, and on October 6, 1788, they married. 

Travel and a Widening Sphere

Judith Sargent Murray accompanied her new husband on many of his preaching tours, and they counted among acquaintances and friends many early leaders of the United States, including John and Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin's family, and Martha Custis Washington, with whom they sometimes stayed. Her letters describing these visits and her correspondence with friends and relatives are invaluable in understanding the daily life in the federal period of American history.

Throughout this period, Judith Sargent Murray wrote poetry, essays, and drama: some biographers suggest the loss of her son in 1790 and her own survival of what would be called postpartum depression today spurred a burst of creativity. Her essay, " On the Equality of the Sexes ," written in 1779, was finally published in 1790. The essay challenges the prevailing theory that men and women are not intellectually equal, and among all of her writings, that essay established her as an early feminist theorist. She added a letter including her interpretation of the biblical Adam and Eve story, insisting that Eve was equal, if not superior, to Adam. Her daughter, Julia Maria Murray, was born in 1791.

Essays and Drama

In February, 1792, Murray began a series of essays for the Massachusetts Magazine titled "The Gleaner" (also her pseudonym), which focused on the politics of the new nation of America as well as religious and moral themes, including women's equality. One of her common early topics was the importance of educating female children—Julia Maria was 6 months old when her mother began her column. Her novel, "The Story of Margaretta," was written in a series among "The Gleaner" essays. It is the tale of a young woman who falls prey to a sinister lover and rejects him, and she is portrayed not as a "fallen woman" but rather as an intelligent heroine who is capable of forging an independent life for herself.

The Murrays moved from Gloucester to Boston in 1793, where together they founded a Universalist congregation. Several of her writings reveal her role in shaping the tenets of Universalism, which was the first American religion to ordain women.

Murray wrote drama first in response to a call for original work by American writers (also directed to her husband, John Murray), and though her plays did not find critical acclaim, they did achieve some popular success. Her first play was "The Medium: or Virtue Triumphant," and it opened and quickly closed on the Boston stage. It was, however, the first play dramatized there by an American author.

In 1798, Murray published a collection of her writings in three volumes as "The Gleaner." She thereby became the first American woman to self-publish a book. The books were sold on subscription, to help support the family. John Adams and George Washington were among the subscribers. In 1802 she helped to found a school for girls in Dorchester.

Later Life and Death

John Murray, whose health had been frail for some time, had a stroke in 1809 that paralyzed him for the rest of his life. In 1812, her daughter Julia Maria married a wealthy Mississippian named Adam Louis Bingaman, whose family had contributed somewhat to his education while he lived with Judith and John Murray.

By 1812, the Murrays were experiencing painful financial issues. Judith Murray edited and published John Murray's letters and sermons that same year, as "Letters and Sketches of Sermons." John Murray died in 1815, and in 1816, Judith Sargent Murray published his autobiography, "Records of the Life of the Rev. John Murray." In her last years, Judith Sargent Murray continued her correspondence with her family and friends; her daughter and husband supported her financially in her later life, and she moved to their home in Natchez, Mississippi in 1816.

Judith Sargent Murray died on July 6, 1820, in Natchez at the age of 69.

Judith Sargent Murray was largely forgotten as a writer until late in the 20th century. Alice Rossi resurrected "On the Equality of the Sexes" for a collection called "The Feminist Papers" in 1974, bringing it to wider attention.

In 1984, Unitarian Universalist minister, Gordon Gibson, found Judith Sargent Murray's letter books in Natchez, Mississippi—books into which she kept copies of her letters. (They are now in the Mississippi Archives.) She is the only woman from that period of time for whom we have such letter books, and these copies have allowed scholars to discover much about not only Judith Sargent Murray's life and ideas, but also about daily life in the time of the American Revolution and early Republic.

In 1996, Bonnie Hurd Smith founded the Judith Sargent Murray Society to promote Judith's life and work. Smith provided useful suggestions for details in this profile, which also drew on other resources about Judith Sargent Murray.

• Field, Vena Bernadette. "Constantia: A Study of the Life and Works of Judith Sargent Murray, 1751-1920." Orono: University of Maine Studies, 2012.
• Harris, Sharon M., ed. "Selected Writings of Judith Sargent Murray." New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Murray, Judith Sargent [as Constancia]. "The Gleaner: A Miscellaneous Production, Volumes 1–3." Boston: J. Thomas and E.T. Andrews, 1798.
• Rossi, Alice S., ed. "The Feminist Papers: From Adams to de Beauvoir." Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1973.
• Smith, Bonnie Hurd. "Judith Sargent Murray and the Emergence of an American Women's Literary Traditions." Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Researcher Guide, 2018.
• Kritzer, Amelia Howe. “ Playing with Republican Motherhood: Self-Representation in Plays by Susanna Haswell Rowson and Judith Sargent Murray .” Early American Literature 31.2, 1996. 150–166.  
• Skemp, Sheila L. "First Lady of Letters: Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female Independence." Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
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Essay Papers Writing Online

A comprehensive guide to essay writing.

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• Introduction: Start your essay with a hook to grab the reader’s attention. Provide some background information on the topic and end with a thesis statement that outlines the main argument of your essay.
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Thirty-Six Judith Sargent Murray (1751–1820)

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Born in Massachusetts, Judith Sargent Murray wrote essays arguing for education that is accessible to all, regardless of sex. In one such essay, “Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of encouraging a degree of Self-Complacency, especially in Female Bosoms,” published in 1784, Murray challenged the prevalent imagery of helpless, seduced young women found in the popular novels at the time and insisted that properly educated young women would not easily fall to flattery and seduction. In another essay, “On the Equality of the Sexes” (1790), she blamed differential access to education as the reason for differences between the sexes and argued for gender equality. This chapter features both essays.

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Collection Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789

1779 to 1782.

The British Attack in North and South. Fighting continued in both the northern and southern states. In the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania, Loyalists and Indians led by Mohawk Joseph Brant attacked American settlers. The Loyalists soon were defeated, and Americans went on to destroy many Native American villages whose residents were fighting on the side of the British.

Spain Joins the War. Spain asked Britain for Gibraltar as a reward for joining the war on the British side. When Britain refused, Spain joined with France in its war against Britain, although refusing to recognize American independence.

The British Take Charleston, South Carolina. After a brief fight, the British took Charleston, capturing 5,400 men and four American ships in the harbor. It was the worst American defeat of the war.

A Mutiny in the Continental Army. When the value of Continental currency sank to a new low, Congress had problems supplying the American army. Great shortages of food led to a short-lived mutiny among some Connecticut soldiers at Washington's camp in New Jersey.

The Treason of Benedict Arnold. American General Benedict Arnold, frustrated and ambitious, began dealing with British General Sir Henry Clinton. After he was promised the command at West Point by General Washington, Arnold told Clinton that he would give the strategic American fortification to the British. But when British Major John André, acting as messenger, was captured, Arnold fled to a British ship, revealing his involvement in the treasonous plan. André was executed as a spy, and Arnold was made a brigadier general in the British army.

Congress Creates a Department of Finance. American finances were in such dire straits that Congress saw the need for a separate department of finance. Robert Morris was appointed superintendent of finance.

The Articles of Confederation Are Ratified. With the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, under discussion since 1777, Congress assumed a new title, "The United States in Congress Assembled."

The Battle of Yorktown. French and American forces joined at Yorktown, on land and at sea, and attacked British fortifications. Key British points were soon held by the Americans and French, and British General Cornwallis soon surrendered, giving up almost 8,000 men. With this defeat, Britain lost hope of winning the war in America.

Peace Negotiations Begin in Paris. British, French, and American commissioners met in Paris to discuss peace. The United States sent Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. By November, the commissioners had drafted a peace treaty. Its terms called for Great Britain to recognize American independence and provide for the evacuation of all British troops. Great Britain also gave up its territory between the Mississippi River and the Allegheny Mountains, doubling the size of the new nation.

Letter to John Jay by Alexander Hamilton, March 14, 1779

Before ever penning his share of The Federalist Papers, before championing the Constitution for a new nation, before laying the foundations of American fiscal policy, Alexander Hamilton was a vocal and “passionate critic” of the practice of slavery. [1]

In March 1779, in the throes of the American War for Independence, Hamilton wrote to his friend and fellow New Yorker, John Jay, to endorse an effort proposed by Colonel John Laurens of South Carolina to recruit and employ black slaves in the Continental Army.  Jay was sympathetic to Hamilton’s abolitionism, and several years later the two men would work together in founding the New York Manumission Society to campaign against slavery through lectures, essays, and a registry to keep free blacks from being sent back into slavery.  But in 1779, Jay was then president of the Continental Congress, and could be influential in gaining congressional and state support for Colonel Laurens’ plan.

As Hamilton outlined briefly to Jay, Colonel Laurens hoped “to raise two, three, or four battalions of negroes” [2] to join the revolutionary forces in the fight against the British.  In exchange for their service, black slaves would gain their emancipation.  The plan no doubt was controversial and opposed, and it ultimately failed; but to Hamilton it promised several “very important advantages.” [3]

First, the Crown’s military operations in South Carolina were “growing infinitely serious and formidable,” and Hamilton worried that the Continental Army lacked sufficient forces to address the British threat. [4]   A seasoned soldier and General Washington’s aide-de-camp, Hamilton knew that more battalions of men were needed and that the freed slaves would add significantly to the American ranks and bolster their beleaguered forces.  Hamilton believed–and not without controversy–that under Colonel Laurens’ zealous leadership “the negroes will make very excellent soldiers.” [5]   Here, Hamilton did not hide his abolitionist colors.  He took the opportunity of Colonel Laurens’ effort to dispute the common objection at the time that “negroes . . . are too stupid to make soldiers.” [6]   To Hamilton, such prejudicial and self-interested notions were “founded neither in reason nor experience.” [7]   As a recent Hamilton biographer has explained, Hamilton “had expressed an unwavering belief in the genetic equality of blacks and whites–unlike Jefferson, for instance, who regarded blacks as innately inferior–that was enlightened for his day.” [8]

Second, Hamilton makes the rather obvious and practical point that if the Americans will not enlist the black slaves, “the enemy probably will.”  Either the blacks can fight for the colonies or they will fight against them, so, Hamilton argued, they might as well fight for us.

Finally, the philosophical key to Laurens’ plan was the promise of emancipation.  This, of course, was the most controversial element in Laurens’ proposal, but Hamilton did not shy from it.  “Give them their freedom with their muskets,” Hamilton boldly declared, for “[t]his will secure their fidelity, animate their courage, and I believe will have a good influence upon those who remain, by opening a door to their emancipation.” [9]   Here, with the fate of the colonies still very much in doubt, Hamilton is already sowing the seeds of black emancipation and looking for ways to “open a door” to their freedom.

As our own President and Congress today take up the controversial issue of firearms in our society, it is perhaps worth remembering that Hamilton, Jay, and Colonel Laurens well-understood that that the door to freedom–for blacks and whites–could be opened and defended with arms.  Blacks in the South were a disarmed society–forbidden by their masters to bear arms lest they secure “their freedom with their muskets.”  Arming black slaves and training them in the ways of military discipline and tactics could only mean the immediate emancipation of some and the future emancipation for all blacks in the South.  And it was to this hope and the “dictates of humanity” that Hamilton appealed in calling on Congress to support arming black slaves in order that they, too, might join in the fight for freedom.

Read Alexander Hamilton’s Letter to John Jay here:  https://constitutingamerica.org/?p=4060

Nathaniel Stewart is an attorney in Washington, D.C.

April 16, 2013 – Essay #42 

[1] Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton , 307.

[2] Alexander Hamilton, Letter to John Jay, March 14, 1779.

[8] Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton , 210.

[9] Alexander Hamilton, Letter to John Jay, March 14, 1779.

Sadly, bearing arms is the ONLY way to protect our freedoms against the tidal wave of tyranny that seems to be building in DC right now. You take away our 2nd amendment right, and the rest of the freedoms will fall away much easier.

Excellent essay and very enlightening. This and the essays from last week do show that contrary to the politically correct history being taught and the thought process, the Founders and framers were not heartless slave owners but gave this much thought and truly agonized over this. the needs of the many, at least with regards to slavery and the forming of our union, did out weigh the needs of the few. And this cruel institution of slavery was abolished in time.

It is worthy of note that during the revolutionary war, and then later again in the attrition leading up to the War of 1812 known as “James Madison’s War”, England did induce the slaves to revolt and attempted to provide arms. But the slaves wholly did not as the slaves especially had not forgotten the ghastly horrors of how the British merchants hunted them like animals in the Congo, wrested them from their families and tribes, interred them with chains in diseased, rat-infested and famine ridden ships, and often flogged before being sold. Had the US had some other enemy of war that attempted to coax the slaves to revolt, then a great revolt may have arisen to the ruin of the US; but since the slaves had not forgotten who it was that created the institution in the first place, they understandably distrusted the intents of the enemy with the risk of being impressed into the British army or even boarded up on deplorable ships again.

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The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence 1775–1783

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Background Essay: Life in Early America

Directions:

Keep these discussion questions in mind as you read the background essay, making marginal notes as desired. Respond to the reflection and analysis questions at the end of the essay.

Discussion Questions

• Prior to 1800, how might women have exercised political influence without the right to vote?
• List some possible reasons for restricting the right to vote to property owners.
• List some possible reasons for denying the right to vote to women.

In early America, free women almost always had essentially the same legal status as children. But despite their many legal restrictions, women neither viewed nor conducted themselves as non-entities. They exercised their responsibilities of citizenship by raising future citizens of a republic and through their powers of persuasion—private and public. Though the suffrage movement was almost a century away, initial strides toward women’s equality can be found in the early republic. The women highlighted in this essay are but a few of the countless numbers who took their responsibilities as citizens seriously, even in a society that did not treat them as legal equals.

Margaret Brent of Maryland

Margaret Brent was born into a wealthy family in Gloucester, England in 1601. She and her siblings emigrated to Maryland in 1638, holding letters from Lord Baltimore Cecil Calvert in England entitling them to large grants of land. She was the first woman in Maryland to own land in her own name. An independent and entrepreneurial woman, Margaret Brent purchased additional tracts of land and became a trusted assistant of Maryland Governor Leonard Calvert, brother of Lord Baltimore. The provincial court appointed her Lord Baltimore Cecil Calvert’s attorney as well. In 1647, Leonard Calvert on his deathbed appointed Brent executor of his will. She managed his estate, argued cases before the provincial assembly, and quelled a disturbance by hiring soldiers to put down William Claiborne’s rebellion against the Calverts.

The following year, because of her service to the colony, Brent requested membership in Maryland’s colonial legislature, along with two votes, one as Cecil Calvert’s attorney and one for herself as a major landowner. She may have been the only woman in what came to be the United States to personally request an appeal before a session of a colonial assembly. However, Governor Thomas Greene refused her request. Lord Baltimore Cecil Calvert in England disapproved of her “scandalous…avaricious… presumptuous” behavior, writing to her, “Further, we are inflicted by your indelicacy in demanding a voice and vote in our Assembly there on our behalf. This mortification might well be brought upon us by the spouse of a fishmonger; that one of your high birth should so publicly forget her position gives us embarrassment and great vexation of spirit.” Calvert then named his friend William Stone as his family’s new attorney and governor of the colony.

Stone recognized the value of Brent’s work to preserve the colony and wrote to Lord Baltimore, “It was better for the colony’s safety at that time, in her [Margaret Brent’s] hands, than in any man’s else in the whole Province after your brother’s death.” Nevertheless, offended at Calvert’s refusal to recognize her contribution to the survival of the colony, Brent moved to Virginia in 1651, where she bought more large land holdings. She settled in Westmoreland County, a woman of great wealth and influence in her community, and died there in 1671.

Expetations Regarding Women’s Roles

Margaret Brent’s story is unusual, but not only because she was a courageous, resourceful immigrant who became a powerful business woman and landowner. Any woman who chose to emigrate to the raw Maryland settlement in the 1630s would have required a sense of adventure, strength, courage, and adaptability. What made Brent’s story exceptionally rare was that she achieved wealth, leadership, and influence in her own name as a single woman and not as an accessory of her husband or brothers.

When thinking about women’s lives in early America, it is important to remember that women were not a single homogeneous group. Slavery was legal in every colony, and enslaved women’s work was often as physically demanding as that expected of men. The vast majority of married women of European descent spent most of their days caring for children, cooking, making and mending clothing, and other domestic tasks. In addition, they were co-laborers on the family farms that made up 90% of the economy of early America. White women in the North were more likely than those in other areas to be literate and informed about politics, though it was socially unacceptable in most places for women to attend public meetings or speak in public events. The early 1800s saw the rise of the ideal of Republican Motherhood. This ideal, based on the supposed moral superiority of women over men and the greater amount of time that small children spent with their mothers, was that it was the special responsibility of mothers to raise children who would grow up to be good citizens of a republic. Because of that responsibility, education gradually became available to females, especially those who were middle- or upper-class whites.

Yet, free married women had the legal status of children. English legal theorist, William Blackstone, explained the doctrine of coverture in his Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-1769): “The very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least incorporated or consolidated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protection and cover she performs everything.” In other words, when a man married a woman, she was entirely under his authority. His legal, social, and economic status covered or concealed hers. She no longer had her own identity—her property and protection were his responsibility. While Quakers in Pennsylvania gave women some additional legal rights, women were mostly excluded from public life. Women were seen as weaker and more likely to be ruled by their emotions, and so it was considered unwise to give them power to make political decisions, and it was inappropriate for women to speak in public. Families were seen as “little commonwealths” in which the man, as head of the family, represented their needs in the community as a whole. Wives would influence their husbands, but women’s duties and participation in the community were domestic. The idea that a wife would even think about politics for herself was ludicrous and a wife’s vote would simply echo the opinion of her husband. And yet, the status of a woman in most colonies changed radically if she became a widow. After her husband’s death, she could execute his will, own property, and make legal decisions for her children. But they still were not permitted to participate in political matters other than those related to schools.

A similar rationale was behind denying the vote to men without property. Specifically, poor men were vulnerable to being manipulated by the rich. John Adams wrote in a 1776 letter that men who have no property talk and vote “as they are directed by some Man of Property, who has attached their mind to his interest.”

And yet, women did have opinions and influence in public life despite their many legal restrictions. As British policies moved away from the benign neglect of the early period and interfered with the autonomy of the colonies by the 1760s, some women joined in the protests of British policies. Just as they had contributed to the survival and wealth of the establishment of the colonies, they participated in the movement toward separation from England and the American Revolution.

George Stubbs, Haymakers, 1785, Tate Britain.

Hannah Griffitts (1727-1817)

Poet Hannah Griffitts was one of these women. As a Quaker she did not support violent revolution, but she encouraged her fellow citizens to boycott British goods while working for reconciliation. In a 1768 poem called “The Female Patriots,” Griffitts wrote:

“Let the Daughters of Liberty nobly arise And tho’ we’ve no Voice but a negative here The use of the Taxables, let us forbear…. Rather than Freedom, we’ll part with our Tea….”

Griffitts took part in the conversation that moved America toward independence, attempting to exert a moderating influence. She called Common Sense author Thomas Paine a “snake beneath the Grass,” accusing him of inflaming the public and drowning out more reasoned dialogue.

Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814)

Mercy Otis Warren was a wealthy, politicallyconnected writer who also influenced the colonies toward independence. In the years leading up to the Declaration of Independence, Warren criticized the colonial governor of Massachusetts and other British leaders in dramas including Defeat (1773) and The Group (1775). After independence was won, Warren continued to be involved in politics. As an Anti-Federalist, she opposed the ratification of the Constitution. Later, Warren became the first American woman to publish a non-fiction book, a history of the American Revolution: History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution (1805).

Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784)

A decade before Griffitts was writing, an eightyear-old girl was kidnapped in West Africa and brought to Boston on a slave ship. She was purchased by John Wheatley, and, as was custom, took her master’s name, becoming Phillis Wheatley. At a time when enslaved people had no access to formal learning, Wheatley’s master and his wife made the unusual decision to educate her. She learned theology, literature, Latin, Greek, ancient history, and other subjects. She went on to become an accomplished poet, publishing her first poem when she was only 13. Her 1773 volume Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was the first book published by a slave. Wheatley’s master freed her soon after this book was published. As the nation approached independence, Wheatley supported the Patriot cause. She dedicated poems to Commander of the Continental Army George Washington, who invited her to meet with him in 1776.

Abigail Adams (1744-1818)

Abigail Adams is best known as First Lady, the wife of the second president, John Adams. With a keen business sense and formidable intellect, she ran the family’s household (as was customary for wives when their husbands were away). She managed their farm and raised their children— including future President John Quincy Adams— mostly on her own while her husband traveled extensively.

Like her friend and correspondent Mercy Warren, Adams was determined to have a voice in the new republic. She wrote many letters to her husband John, including one in which she pointed out the hypocrisy and evil of slavery:

“ I have sometimes been ready to think that the passion for Liberty cannot be Eaquelly Strong in the Breasts of those who have been accustomed to deprive their fellow Creatures of theirs. Of this I am certain that it [slavery] is not founded upon that generous and christian principal of doing to others as we would that others should do unto us.” (1776)

She also wrote to him about women’s voice in government:

“ I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” (1776) 

Her tone was lighthearted, but her letter is seen today as an early stride on the journey toward women’s equality and suffrage.

Suffrage at the Founding

At the time of independence, all the colonies but one limited suffrage to white, Protestant, landowning men. The Founding generation believed that men represented the entire family. Only landowners could vote because landowners were the most invested in the community. Those who owned land worked for themselves—which means their vote was less likely to be influenced by a wealthier man. And since the general belief was that the woman’s political identity was covered by her husband’s, it wasn’t necessary— nor, the argument went, did it make sense—for women to vote.

As Abigail Adams demonstrated in her 1776 correspondence with her husband, not everyone agreed with these social and political restrictions. Further, Abigail Adams, like other influential writers of the time, addressed the superficial education opportunities for girls. Judith Sargent Murray wrote of the injustice in assumptions about education for boys and girls in 1779 (published 1790)

“ The one is taught to aspire, and the other is early confined and limited. As their years increase, the sister must be wholly domesticated, while the brother is led by the hand through all the flowery paths of science. ”

Founder Benjamin Rush, recognizing the power that women exercised in the home, wrote in 1787,

“ The equal share that every citizen has in the liberty, and the equal share he may have in the government of our country, make it necessary that our ladies should be qualified to a certain degree by a peculiar and suitable education, to concur in instructing their sons in the principles of liberty and government. ”

Under the new Constitution in 1789,

states maintained their power to set voting qualifications, and most kept property requirements in place. Because land was relatively inexpensive, historians estimate that 75% of white men were eligible to vote. This amounted, however, to less than 20% of the total population.

The outlier for this period, the only place in the world where some women could vote, was New Jersey. That colony’s constitution (1776) read: “all inhabitants of this colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds…and have resided in the county, in which they claim a vote for twelve months…shall be entitled to vote.” And some New Jersey women did vote. However, the practice was short-lived: the state amended its constitution in 1807, limiting suffrage to men. Historians note that the change was not motivated by the desire to deny women equality, but by party politics: Federalists pushed to disenfranchise women because females tended to vote Democratic-Republican.

Equality and Suffrage

However, suffrage itself soon became the subject of a growing conversation regarding the position of women in a free society. In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (1792), British philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft argued that a society that kept women “from a participation of the natural  rights of mankind” was immoral, and she expressed the connection between voting and those natural rights. Wollstonecraft’s work was influential beyond England and inspired many other advocates for women’s equality

Judith Sargent Murray was influenced by Wollstonecraft’s work, and was among the first to argue that men and women were equal in every way.

In her essay “On the Equality of the Sexes” in 1790 she argued that men and women were naturally equal, but women were disadvantaged by their need to focus their energies on domestic tasks, which Murray viewed as less creative and fulfilling.

The political, social, and economic status of women in society affected their access to suffrage. Since a married woman was considered to be represented by her husband, she did not need to vote. Voting was limited to those men who had a financial stake in a community, and a married woman could not own property. But despite these restrictions, it is clear that women neither viewed nor conducted themselves as non-entities. They exercised their responsibilities of citizenship by raising future citizens of a republic and through their powers of persuasion—private and public.

REFLECTION AND ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

• The ideal of Republican Motherhood reveals a cultural awareness of the difference between what it means to be a citizen in a republic versus a subject in a monarchy. Describe those differences.
• What was the legal doctrine of coverture?
•  Summarize the ways each of the women described in this essay participated in public life. Other than overlapping life timelines, what, if anything, did they have in common?
• How free were women in this social system?
• How did each woman’s legal status affect her ability to participate in public life? Her ability to impact society?
• Choose one of Abigail Adams’s letters quoted in this essay and write a brief reflection explaining how it touches on principles of liberty, equality, and/or republican government.
• Principles: equality, republican/representative government, popular sovereignty, federalism, inalienable rights
• Virtues: perseverance, contribution, moderation, resourcefulness, courage, respect, justice.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, getting college essay help: important do's and don’ts.

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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In an essay writing in 1779 Judith Sargeant Murray promoted

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

In an essay writing in 1779, Judith Sargeant Murray promoted the cause of women's education .

Đáp án đúng: D

Lời giải của tự học 365.

Giải chi tiết:

Dùng quá khứ phân từ để rút gọn mệnh đề quan hệ mang nghĩa bị động.

Sửa: “writing” => “written”

Dạng đầy đủ: In an essay which/ that was written in 1779, Judith Sargeant Murray promoted the cause of women's education.

Dạng rút gọn: In an essay written in 1779, Judith Sargeant Murray promoted the cause of women's education.

Tạm dịch: Trong một bài luận văn được viết vào năm 1779, Judith Sargeant Murray đã đưa ra nguyên nhân của việc giáo dục phụ nữ.

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Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

A lot of research in medical science has been to improve human health.

The success of the company in such a market is remarkable.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress in each of the following questions.

There has been growing public concern about the use of chemicals in food recently.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.

Last week, we an interesting film about the animal world.

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Harmful environmental factors can the development of certain diseases.

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In an essay (A) writing (B) in 1779, Judith Sargeant Murray promoted the cause of (C)   women's education . (D) 

Choose word or phrase that needs correcting. 

Câu 228076: In an essay (A) writing (B) in 1779, Judith Sargeant Murray promoted the cause of (C)   women's education . (D) 

A. In an essay

C. the cause of   

D. women's education

• Xem lời giải

Kiến thức: mệnh đề quan hệ

Giải chi tiết:

Giải thích: 

Trong mệnh đề quan hệ :

Ta có thể rút gọn mệnh đề quan hệ bằng một V-ing khi mệnh đề mang nghĩa chủ động và V-ed khi mang nghĩa bị động. Câu này mang nghĩa bị động nên dùng V-ed.

Sửa : writing -> written

Tạm dịch :  Trong một bài viết được viết năm 1779, Judith Sargeant Murray đưa ra nguyên nhân của việc giáo dục của phụ nữ.

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How to Write an Essay Outline + Essay Outline Examples

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How to Write an Essay Outline + Essay Outline Examples 

Writing an essay can seem like a daunting task, but one of the best ways to tackle this challenge is to organize your ideas into a well-structured essay outline. This guide will walk you through the process of creating an essay outline, complete with essay outline examples, to ensure your next essay is a masterpiece.

We’ve compiled a variety of essay outline examples to help you understand how to structure your own essay. We'll cover persuasive essays, narrative essays, descriptive essays, expository essays, and even provide a sample research paper outline. Each example will provide you with an idea of how to lay out the structure and details for each type of essay.

Looking for a printable list of essay outline examples? Our printable PDF features essay outline examples and templates that your students can use as examples when writing research papers, or as a supplement for an essay-writing unit

Why write an essay outline? 

An outline serves as the skeleton of your essay, giving you a clear and organized path to articulate your thoughts. Not only does it make writing an essay significantly easier, but it also allows you to present your arguments coherently and effectively.

An essay outline will help you organize your main ideas and determine the order in which you are going to write about them.

Types of essay outlines

Several types of essay outlines can be used when writing an essay. The two most common types are the alphanumeric outline and the decimal outline.

An alphanumeric outline typically uses Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals, and lowercase letters, in that order. Each level provides a different level of specificity. This structure is a very effective way to think through how you will organize and present the information in your essay. It also helps you develop a strong argumentative essay.

Alternatively, a decimal outline uses only numbers, and each subsection is a decimal subdivision of the main section. This type of outline is often used in scientific papers.

Persuasive essay outline example 

In the following section, we'll explore a persuasive essay outline example on competitive swimming. The purpose of a persuasive essay is to convince the reader of a particular point of view or idea, using compelling arguments and evidence.

In this case, the argument is that competitive swimming is an ideal sport for kids. The essay will present a series of arguments to support this view, demonstrating the various benefits of competitive swimming for children.

Competitive Swimming, an Ideal Sport for Kids

Introduction

Start your argumentative essay outline by stating your point of view and/or presenting your persuasive argument.

Thesis: Competitive swimming is a great alternative to other youth sports.

Body Paragraph 1

Introduce your primary persuasive argument and provide supporting details in your argumentative essay outline.

Topic Sentence:   Competitive swimming provides the same benefits as other sports.

• Detail Sentence 1:   It is good exercise and builds muscular strength.
• Detail Sentence 2:   It promotes cooperation among team members, especially in relays.

Body Paragraph 2

Introduce a secondary argument and provide supporting details.

Topic Sentence:   Competitive swimming provides some unique additional benefits.

• Detail Sentence 1:   Swimming is an important skill that can be used forever.
• Detail Sentence 2:  Swimming poses a reduced risk of injury.
• Detail Sentence 3:   Each swimmer can easily chart his or her own progress.

Conclude your essay writing with a summary of the thesis and persuasive arguments. Brainstorming details that support your point-of-view is a great way to start before creating your outline and first draft.

Concluding Sentence:   There are many reasons why competitive swimming is a great alternative to other youth sports, including...

Narrative essay outline example

In the following section, we will examine a narrative essay outline example titled "How Losing a Swim Meet Made Me a Better Swimmer." Narrative essays aim to tell a story, often about a personal experience, to engage the reader and convey a particular point or lesson.

In this case, the narrative revolves around the author's personal journey of improvement and self-discovery through swimming. The essay will illustrate how an initial setback served as a catalyst for significant improvement and personal growth.

How Losing a Swim Meet Made Me a Better Swimmer

Introduce the subject of your narrative essay using a thesis statement and a plan of development (POD).

Thesis: The first time I participated in a competitive swim meet, I finished in last place. With more focused training and coaching, I was able to finish 2nd in the State Championship meet.

Plan of development:   I was very disappointed in my results from the first meet, so I improved my training and fitness. This helped me swim better and faster, which helped me to greatly improve my results.

Set the scene and provide supporting details. Again, start by brainstorming different ways to begin; then go ahead and craft an outline and a first draft.

Topic Sentence:   I was embarrassed at finishing last in my first competitive swim meet, so I began working on ways to improve my performance.

• Detail Sentence 1:   I spent extra time with my coach and the team captains learning how to improve my technique.
• Detail Sentence 2:   I started running and lifting weights to increase my overall fitness level.

Provide additional supporting details, descriptions, and experiences to develop your general idea in your essay writing.

Topic Sentence:   Over time, my results began to improve and I was able to qualify for the state championship meet.

• Detail Sentence 1:   My technique and fitness level made me faster and able to swim longer distances.
• Detail Sentence 2:  I steadily got better, and I began winning or placing in the top 3 at most of my meets.
• Detail Sentence 3:  My results improved to the point that I was able to qualify for the state championship meet.

Body Paragraph 3

The next step in the writing process is to provide additional supporting details, descriptions, and experiences. You can then divide them up under different headings.

Topic Sentence:   With my new confidence, techniques, and fitness level, I was able to finish 2nd at the state championship meet.

• Detail Sentence 1:   I was able to swim well against a higher level of competition due to my training and technique.
• Detail Sentence 2:  I was no longer embarrassed about my last-place finish, and was able to use it as motivation!

Conclude the narrative essay with a recap of the events described or a reflection on the lesson learned in the story. Briefly summarize the details you included under each heading.

Concluding Sentence:   I used my last-place finish in my first competitive swim meet as motivation to improve my performance.

Descriptive essay outline example

We will now delve into a descriptive essay outline example. Descriptive essays aim to create a vivid and detailed description of a person, place, object, or event to paint a picture for the reader. The intention is to immerse the reader in the subject matter fully.

In this case, the essay provides an in-depth description of a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The essay will use sensory and descriptive details to create a vivid and memorable experience for the reader.

Visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame

Introduce the subject of your descriptive essay with a thesis statement covering the person, place, object, etc. you are writing about.

Thesis: The Hockey Hall of Fame is full of sights, sounds, and experiences that will delight hockey fans of all ages.

Set the scene and provide factual details.

Topic Sentence:   The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Canada and features exhibits from amateur and professional hockey.

• Detail Sentence 1:   The Hall is located in downtown Toronto and is visited by 1 million people every year.
• Detail Sentence 2:   You can see exhibits ranging from the early beginnings of the sport to the modern NHL and Olympics.

Provide additional sensory details, descriptions, and experiences.

Topic Sentence:   There are many types of exhibits and shows, including activities you can participate in.

• Detail Sentence 1:  Player statues, plaques, and jerseys decorate the walls in every room of the Hall.
• Detail Sentence 2:  Many of the exhibits have movies and multimedia activities that make you feel like you're part of the game.
• Detail Sentence 3:  You can even practice shooting pucks on virtual versions of some of the game's greatest goalies!

Conclude the essay with a paragraph that restates the thesis and recaps the descriptive and sensory details.

Concluding Sentence:   The Hockey Hall of Fame is an experience that combines the best sights, sounds and history of the game in Toronto.

Expository essay outline example

In the following section, we will explore an example of an expository essay. An expository essay aims to explain or describe a topic using logic. It presents a balanced analysis of a topic based on facts—with no references to the writer’s opinions or emotions.

For this example, the topic is "Why The School Year Should be Shorter". This essay will use logic and reason to demonstrate that a shorter school year could provide various benefits for students, teachers, and school districts.

Why The School Year Should be Shorter

Introduce the primary argument or main point of an expository essay, or other types of academic writing, using a thesis statement and context.

Thesis: The school year is too long, and should be shortened to benefit students and teachers, save districts money, and improve test scores and academic results. Other countries have shorter school years, and achieve better results.

Describe the primary argument and provide supporting details and evidence.

Topic Sentence:   A shorter school year would benefit students and teachers by giving them more time off.

• Detail Sentence 1:   Students and teachers would be able to spend more time with their families.
• Detail Sentence 2:  Teachers would be refreshed and rejuvenated and able to teach more effectively.

Provide additional supporting details and evidence, as in this essay outline example.

Topic Sentence:  A shorter school year would save school districts millions of dollars per year.

• Detail Sentence 1:   Districts could save money on energy costs by keeping schools closed longer.
• Detail Sentence 2:  A shorter school year means much lower supply and transportation costs.
• Detail Sentence 3:  Well-rested and happy students would help improve test scores.

Provide additional or supplemental supporting details, evidence, and analysis, as in the essay outline example.

Topic Sentence:   Shortening the school year would also provide many benefits for parents and caregivers.

• Detail Sentence 1:   A shorter school year would mean less stress and running around for parents.
• Detail Sentence 2:  Caregivers would have more balance in their lives with fewer days in the school year.

Conclude the essay with an overview of the main argument, and highlight the importance of your evidence and conclusion.

Concluding Sentence:   Shortening the school year would be a great way to improve the quality of life for students, teachers, and parents while saving money for districts and improving academic results.

Sample research paper outline

Now let’s dive into a research paper outline. Unlike a typical essay, a research paper presents a thorough and detailed study on a specific topic. However, it shares the same foundation with an essay in terms of structuring the ideas logically and coherently. The outline for a research paper includes an introduction, a series of topic points that cover various aspects of the main topic, and a conclusion.

This research paper will explore the background of Mt. Everest, the major explorers who attempted its summit, and the impact of these expeditions on Mt. Everest and the local community.

The Conquest of Mt. Everest

• Location of Mt. Everest
• Geography of the Surrounding Area
• Height of the mountain
• Jomolungma (Tibetan name)
• Sagarmatha (Nepalese name)
• The number of people who have climbed Everest to date
• First to reach the summit (1953)
• Led a team of experienced mountain climbers who worked together
• Norgay was an experienced climber and guide who accompanied Hillary
• Sherpas still used to guide expeditions
• Leader of the failed 1996 expedition
• Led group of (mainly) tourists with little mountain climbing experience
• Loss of trees due to high demand for wood for cooking and heating for tourists.
• Piles of trash left by climbing expeditions
• Expedition fees provide income for the country
• Expeditions provide work for the Sherpas, contributing to the local economy.
• Introduction of motor vehicles
• Introduction of electricity

The Everest essay outline template is based on a research paper submitted by Alexandra Ferber, 9th grade.

Happy writing!

Writing an essay outline is a crucial step in crafting a well-structured and coherent essay. Regardless of the type of essay - be it persuasive, narrative, descriptive, expository, or a research paper - an outline serves as a roadmap that organizes your thoughts and guides your writing process. The various essay outline examples provided above serve as a guide to help you structure your own essay. Remember, the key to a great essay lies not just in the content but in its organization and flow. Happy writing!

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• How to structure an essay: Templates and tips

How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates

Published on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body.

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Table of contents

The basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure.

There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body.

Parts of an essay

The three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.

Order of information

You’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here.

The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.

For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.

The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body.

The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance.

The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach.

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The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go.

A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure.

Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.

• Thesis statement
• Discussion of event/period
• Consequences
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement
• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press
• Thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation
• High levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe
• Literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites
• Consequence: this discouraged political and religious change
• Invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
• Implications of the new technology for book production
• Consequence: Rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention
• Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation
• Consequence: The large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics
• Summarize the history described
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period

Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments.

There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method.

Alternating

In the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph.

The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.

• Synthesis of arguments
• Topical relevance of distance learning in lockdown
• Increasing prevalence of distance learning over the last decade
• Thesis statement: While distance learning has certain advantages, it introduces multiple new accessibility issues that must be addressed for it to be as effective as classroom learning
• Classroom learning: Ease of identifying difficulties and privately discussing them
• Distance learning: Difficulty of noticing and unobtrusively helping
• Classroom learning: Difficulties accessing the classroom (disability, distance travelled from home)
• Distance learning: Difficulties with online work (lack of tech literacy, unreliable connection, distractions)
• Classroom learning: Tends to encourage personal engagement among students and with teacher, more relaxed social environment
• Distance learning: Greater ability to reach out to teacher privately
• Sum up, emphasize that distance learning introduces more difficulties than it solves
• Stress the importance of addressing issues with distance learning as it becomes increasingly common
• Distance learning may prove to be the future, but it still has a long way to go

In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first.

The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.

• Point 1 (compare)
• Point 2 (compare)
• Point 3 (compare)
• Point 4 (compare)
• Advantages: Flexibility, accessibility
• Disadvantages: Discomfort, challenges for those with poor internet or tech literacy
• Advantages: Potential for teacher to discuss issues with a student in a separate private call
• Disadvantages: Difficulty of identifying struggling students and aiding them unobtrusively, lack of personal interaction among students
• Advantages: More accessible to those with low tech literacy, equality of all sharing one learning environment
• Disadvantages: Students must live close enough to attend, commutes may vary, classrooms not always accessible for disabled students
• Advantages: Ease of picking up on signs a student is struggling, more personal interaction among students
• Disadvantages: May be harder for students to approach teacher privately in person to raise issues

An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach.

This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution.

The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.

• Introduce the problem
• Provide background
• Describe your approach to solving it
• Define the problem precisely
• Describe why it’s important
• Indicate previous approaches to the problem
• Present your new approach, and why it’s better
• Apply the new method or theory to the problem
• Indicate the solution you arrive at by doing so
• Assess (potential or actual) effectiveness of solution
• Describe the implications
• Problem: The growth of “fake news” online
• Prevalence of polarized/conspiracy-focused news sources online
• Thesis statement: Rather than attempting to stamp out online fake news through social media moderation, an effective approach to combating it must work with educational institutions to improve media literacy
• Definition: Deliberate disinformation designed to spread virally online
• Popularization of the term, growth of the phenomenon
• Previous approaches: Labeling and moderation on social media platforms
• Critique: This approach feeds conspiracies; the real solution is to improve media literacy so users can better identify fake news
• Greater emphasis should be placed on media literacy education in schools
• This allows people to assess news sources independently, rather than just being told which ones to trust
• This is a long-term solution but could be highly effective
• It would require significant organization and investment, but would equip people to judge news sources more effectively
• Rather than trying to contain the spread of fake news, we must teach the next generation not to fall for it

Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows.  It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas.

The essay overview

In longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section.

The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what  comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

Transitions

Transition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow.

Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example.

Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich.

Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one.

… Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Writing Experience — The Essential Elements of Writing an Essay

The Essential Elements of Writing an Essay

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Students' Morphological Errors in Using Word Formation in Writing an Essay

Annisha Dyuli Adha 1 and Rahma Dania 1

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd Journal of Physics: Conference Series , Volume 1779 , 2nd Bukittinggi International Conference on Education (BICED) 2020 14-15 September 2020, BukitTinggi, West Sumatera, Indonesia Citation Annisha Dyuli Adha and Rahma Dania 2021 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1779 012026 DOI 10.1088/1742-6596/1779/1/012026

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1 Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Putra Indonesia YPTK, Padang, Indonesia

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This research was aimed to find out students' morphological errors in using word formation in writing an essay. Word formation that was found in the students' writing are derivation and inflection. The type of this research was descriptive qualitative research. The source of data was the English Department students of Universitas Putra Indonesia Yayasan Perguruan Tinggi Komputer ( UPI YPTK) Padang who were in the fourth semester that consist of 23 students. The data were gotten through writing test. The finding of this research showed that the students made morphological errors in using derivation and inflection in writing the essay. Errors in derivation were 10 data, while errors in inflection were 83 data. Based on those findings, the students still made errors in using word formation in their writing.

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‘inside out 2’ writer reflects on the anxiety of writing a movie about anxiety.

Dave Holstein, who faced immense pressure penning a sequel to the beloved 2015 hit, pens an essay reflecting on the personal and professional questions he grappled with along the way: "Where was Joy in all this?"

By Dave Holstein

Dave Holstein

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It’s a practical joke to ask a screenwriter to write about anxiety.

The very nature of the occupation is to walk around constantly asking yourself: What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen in this moment? To this character? To someone the character loves? To someone I love? To me?

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It had been a dream of mine to write at Pixar. Six years ago I had interviewed with director Dan Scanlon to write  Onward , but the timing didn’t work out when Showtime greenlit my Jim Carrey-starring series  Kidding.   Now, here I was again, passing beneath the giant Luxo lamp, getting the writer baton passed to me by the first movie’s author, the brilliant and incomparable Meg LeFauve, who had to leave the project to focus on a live action film she’d been working on with her husband. 

Not only would I be writing in her shadow but also the incredibly long shadow of a part cat, part elephant, part dolphin who cries candy. And although the Newtonian physics inside the world of Riley‘s mind are negotiable, perhaps the one scientific truth is that Bing Bong can only die once. 

So when I landed at Pixar’s campus in Emeryville there was a specific orange tang in my mouth — a flavor of anxiety created by looking up at this high bar and constantly wondering: Is the only successful version of this movie a somehow more perfect film that also has to clear $1 billion at the box office and also bring Pixar audiences back to theaters and also make you laugh and also cry and also answer a big philosophical question around minute 79 that you didn’t even know you needed? Also why is my hair turning gray? Will my six year old son watch it? Will he think it’s better than Cars? Can a movie truly compete with itself if you can only kill Richard Kind once? 

Those aren’t coat hangers hanging in Anxiety’s closet. Those are question marks. 

My father-in-law was the closest thing I had in this world to the character of Joy. He made friends in line at the grocery store. His kindness was Covid-contagious. His thick Maine accent and deep lexicon of regionally specific verbiage meant he could’ve easily pulled off a line like “jiminy mother-lovin toaster strudel” — even giving Amy Poehler a run for her money. 

We lost him in January after a long battle with mesothelioma — a lung cancer brought on by asbestos exposure from working in a steam plant in his 20s, an experience he said he would repeat if given the chance because it was how he met his wife. 

In the same 12 month period while writing this film I also lost the final three of my grandparents, including my grandmother, Audrey. The only reason I have a career in Hollywood is because 50 years ago she bought a house next door to the creator of  Family Ties  and asked if her sons could help on set. 

These are sad and stressful things, and perhaps too dark of a backdrop for writing the script for an animated family film — yes, even one for Pixar, whose siphoning of humanity’s tear ducts over a generation of heartfelt moviemaking could fill a sixth Great Lake. But they helped me answer the question I needed to answer. 

My original question of “Where is Joy in all this?” became “What happens to Joy as we get older?” Does Anxiety just take over? Does the dark stuff just add up and overwhelm you? Does the pressure to live up to the original film bury you under so many peppermints and gum drops? 

As we grow up, does Joy stop driving? Is the character’s pain just that? In the last movie she discovered the value of Sadness. In this movie, does she need to see the value of herself drifting away with time? But like, in a funny way? 

I remember looking over to our fearless director Kelsey Mann one day in the story room. He had more pressure on him than any of us – this was his first feature – and yet I never saw him crack once. I never saw him get angry or lose his patience or control. I saw him choose Joy. I saw him choose Joy every day. 

Now Joy isn’t always a choice. And Joy is definitely not an easy thing to create. But if the process of making this film has taught me anything it’s that she  begins  as a choice. And as we get older, Joy becomes more valuable, not less, because of the effort it takes to make that choice.

I hope audiences, young and old, experience this film without feeling the anxiety that it took to write, but rather the joy it took our entire team to complete. And I hope they leave the theater wanting to check-in with their own Joys. Their own Anxieties. And ask them how they’re doing.

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Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms

By Vivek H. Murthy

Dr. Murthy is the surgeon general.

One of the most important lessons I learned in medical school was that in an emergency, you don’t have the luxury to wait for perfect information. You assess the available facts, you use your best judgment, and you act quickly.

The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor. Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours . Additionally, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.

It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe. Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior. When asked if a warning from the surgeon general would prompt them to limit or monitor their children’s social media use, 76 percent of people in one recent survey of Latino parents said yes.

To be clear, a warning label would not, on its own, make social media safe for young people. The advisory I issued a year ago about social media and young people’s mental health included specific recommendations for policymakers, platforms and the public to make social media safer for kids. Such measures, which already have strong bipartisan support, remain the priority.

Legislation from Congress should shield young people from online harassment, abuse and exploitation and from exposure to extreme violence and sexual content that too often appears in algorithm-driven feeds. The measures should prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from children and should restrict the use of features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use.

Additionally, companies must be required to share all of their data on health effects with independent scientists and the public — currently they do not — and allow independent safety audits. While the platforms claim they are making their products safer, Americans need more than words. We need proof.

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2024’s violent tornado season has been one of the most active on record − a meteorologist explains the weather behind the outbreaks

Professor of Atmospheric Science, Iowa State University

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Spring 2024 was unnerving for people across large parts of the U.S. as tornado warnings and sirens sent them scrambling for safety.

More than 1,100 tornadoes were reported through May − a preliminary number but nearly twice the 30-year average at that point and behind only 2011 , when deadly tornado outbreaks tore across the southeastern U.S.

The U.S. experienced several multistate outbreaks in 2024. Tornadoes damaged homes from Texas to Minnesota and east to West Virginia and Georgia . They caused widespread destruction in several towns, including Greenfield, Iowa ; Westmoreland, Kansas ; and Bartlesville, Oklahoma . Barnsdall, Oklahoma, was hit twice in two months .

In May, at least one tornado occurred somewhere in the country almost every day .

What causes some years to have so many tornadoes? I’m a meteorologist who studies tornadoes and thunderstorms . Here’s what created the perfect conditions for these violent storms.

2 key tornado ingredients, on steroids

The hyperactive season has been due to an abundance of two key ingredients for tornadoes: wind shear and instability.

The jet stream − a band of strong upper-level winds that mostly blows west to east, flowing between warm air to its south and cool air to its north − plays an important role in how and where weather systems evolve, and in wind shear.

During April and May 2024 , the jet stream often dipped southward in the western U.S. before turning back to the northeast across the Plains. That’s a pattern favorable for producing tornadoes in the central U.S.

In the area east of the jet stream’s southern dip, air rises. That creates a strong low-pressure system, which causes winds near the ground to blow from a different direction than winds higher up, contributing to wind shear.

Making this year even more active, persistent record heat waves were common over Mexico and Texas, while the Rockies and far northern United States stayed cool. The sharp temperature difference created a stronger jet stream than normal, leading to strong changes in wind speed with elevation. As a result, wind shear has been on steroids.

The change in wind speed with elevation can cause air to have a rolling motion . The rapidly rising air in a thunderstorm can then tilt the rolling motion to create a spinning thunderstorm that can concentrate the spin into a tornado.

The Gulf of Mexico was also much warmer than normal , producing abundant heat and moisture that could be transported northward to fuel thunderstorms. That creates atmospheric instability , the other key ingredient for tornadoes.

El Niño’s weakening was a warning

This perfect combination of ingredients for tornadoes wasn’t a complete surprise.

El Niño and La Niña – opposing climate patterns centered in the Pacific Ocean – can affect winds and weather around the world. A 2016 study found that when El Niño is shifting to La Niña , the number of tornadoes in the central Plains and Upper Midwest is often larger than normal.

That’s exactly what was happening in spring 2024 . The tornadoes mostly occurred in the traditional Tornado Alley, from northern Texas to South Dakota, with an extension across the Corn Belt through Iowa and as far east as Ohio, matching the findings of that study.

How is tornado activity changing?

The active spring in the Great Plains was a bit unusual, however. Studies show a long-term trend of decreasing tornado numbers in this region and an increase in tornadoes farther east , near or just east of the Mississippi River.

That shift is consistent with what climate models suggest is likely to happen throughout the remainder of the century as global temperatures rise.

The expected decline in the number of tornadoes in the Plains is likely related to increasing heat over the high ground of the desert Southwest and Mexico. That heat flows over the Great Plains a few thousand feet above ground, creating a cap, or lid. The cap lets heat and moisture build up until it punches through to form a thunderstorm. This hot, moist air is why the central U.S. is home to the most violent tornadoes on Earth.

One theory is that, with climate change, the cap will likely be harder to break through, reducing the number of tornadoes in the Plains. At the same time, increasing heat and moisture elsewhere will fuel more tornadoes in the East.

Long-term trends and climate model predictions also suggest that more tornadoes are occurring during the cooler months , particularly in the Southeast . Tornadoes are also occurring on fewer days each year, but on the days when they do form, there is more likely to be an outbreak with several tornadoes

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The Supreme Court’s New Leaked Abortion Draft Reeks of Cynicism

On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court inadvertently released a draft of its decision in Moyle v. United States , a major case about emergency abortions. First obtained by Bloomberg News , the draft shows the court planning to punt the case, sending it back down to the lower courts without any decision on the merits. It also reinstated an injunction requiring Idaho to permit abortions in the case of major health crises.

This outcome reeks of a cynical compromise, secured by the more tactical conservative justices, to push this explosive issue past this fall’s election. The Republican Party’s position—that states may force patients to the brink of death before allowing them to terminate a failing pregnancy— is politically toxic . A Supreme Court decision allowing states to impose such a draconian policy could hurt Republicans, and Donald Trump specifically, in November. The three less-extreme conservative justices may have therefore figured out a way to punt the case. Yet they also gave us good reason to believe that when it comes back around next year, they will side with the red states that wish to enforce their abortion bans against patients in extreme medical distress.

Moyle revolves around the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA, which Congress enacted in 1986. The law requires hospitals that accept federal funding to provide stabilizing care for any “emergency medical condition” that poses “serious jeopardy” to a person’s health. Abortion is the standard of care for many pregnancy-related conditions, and hospitals have long provided the procedure when necessary to stabilize a patient. At least half a dozen states, however, have enacted abortion bans so stringent that they conflict with EMTALA’s commands. Idaho, for instance, criminalizes abortion except when it is necessary to prevent a patient’s death. (Doctors who perform an abortion before the patient is close enough to death face a mandatory minimum of two years’ imprisonment.)

Joe Biden’s Department of Justice sued Idaho, alleging that EMTALA preempts state law. A district court agreed, issuing an injunction that required Idaho to allow abortions when a patient’s health (but not necessarily her life) was in serious jeopardy. The Supreme Court halted that injunction and took up the case before the appeals court could issue a decision on the merits. As soon as SCOTUS intervened, Idaho doctors had to start airlifting pregnant patients to neighboring states to obtain emergency abortions that were illegal under Idaho law.

If the draft opinion is accurate, then the Supreme Court has decided that it should not have intervened in the first place. It reached this conclusion by a 5–4 vote: Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor joined with Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts, to dismiss the case as “improvidently granted,” with a one-line per curiam opinion. These justices also voted to lift the stay on the injunction that had protected Idaho patients, and they were joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on that front. (Jackson would have decided the case against Idaho rather than dismissing it.) The compromise seems obvious: Kagan and Sotomayor agreed to dismiss the case in exchange for a reinstatement of the stay in Idaho.

Barrett wrote to explain her vote, joined by Roberts and Kavanaugh. Her draft concurrence should throw cold water on anyone tempted to call this move a victory for reproductive rights. The justice makes two key points. First, she claimed that Idaho has expanded access to emergency abortions beyond what it initially represented, while the DOJ has narrowed EMTALA’s scope beyond what it initially claimed. She cited concession by Idaho’s attorney during oral argument that the state would allow abortions in an emergency situation in which death is not inevitable, like preeclampsia and preterm premature rupture of the membranes. In light of this shift, Barrett wrote, it’s unclear how state and federal laws conflict, requiring further lower court proceedings. And she voted to lift the stay not because she agrees with the DOJ’s interpretation of EMTALA but because, “even with the preliminary injunction in place, Idaho’s ability to enforce its law remains almost entirely intact.”

Second, and more ominously, Barrett cited an alarming constitutional theory that Idaho brought at the eleventh hour. Congress enacted EMTALA pursuant to the spending clause, under which the federal government may offer (or withdraw) funds with certain strings attached. Idaho alleges that Congress cannot mandate funding conditions that force recipients to violate states’ criminal laws. If that’s true, then even if EMTALA requires emergency abortions when a patient’s life is at risk, it must yield to state bans that criminalize such care. In her draft concurrence, Barrett called this novel theory “difficult and consequential,” urging the lower courts to address it. Her opinion reads like an invitation for Idaho to develop this concept more fully and present it next term, when she—and Roberts and Kavanaugh—will be less prone to the pressures of an impending presidential election and thus likely more amenable to it.

As with any Barrett opinion, a casual reader may find herself nodding along, persuaded by the clear writing and smooth reasoning. But ponder this draft concurrence for more than a few minutes and it falls apart. Yes, the Department of Justice and Idaho have whittled down the scope of their disagreement—but so what? The conflict is still there, in the text of the respective laws and in their potential applications. The Idaho Supreme Court has already provided its definitive interpretation of the state ban, declaring that it permits abortion only when necessary to prevent death, not to protect a patient’s health more broadly. Yet Barrett credited the unfounded assertions of the midlevel state lawyer, Joshua Turner, who argued the case before them. Turner’s legally meaningless thought bubbles will not protect a doctor accused of violating the ban. As Jackson wrote in her partial dissent: “Some of my colleagues latch onto the bald representations of Idaho’s counsel, using them as an escape hatch that justifies our dispensing with having to issue a merits ruling in these cases.”

If Barrett were even remotely inclined to interpret EMTALA as a protection for abortion patients, she would not have performed this casuistic jujitsu. For the Supreme Court’s purposes, all that matters is the existence of a conflict, which even Barrett had to acknowledge while fudging its contours. That conflict gave the justices an opportunity to decide the foundational question: Does EMTALA override the most extreme applications of state abortion bans? SCOTUS could have said yes, then sent the case back down for the lower courts to apply it on the ground. The district court could have sussed out the precise scope of the clash between state and federal laws and delineated the point at which EMTALA supersedes Idaho’s ban. Barrett’s refusal to take this course of action suggests that she is not prepared—indeed, will never be prepared—to enforce EMTALA against the states.

So, why the punt? A generous explanation is that Barrett could not swallow the consequences of a decision for Idaho. Justice Samuel Alito’s draft dissent, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, is unyielding in its cruel disregard for women’s health; he acknowledged, for instance, that Idaho’s ban may require doctors to stand by and wait for a pregnant patient to develop “infection and serious risk of sepsis” before terminating her failing pregnancy. This borderline sadistic position may have been too much for Barrett to accept. Perhaps she would rather wait to embrace Idaho’s legalistic theory about the spending clause to obscure the human suffering this approach would unleash.

A cynic, though, might assume that Barrett, along with Kavanaugh and Roberts, wants to push this issue past the presidential election. Biden has centered his campaign on reproductive rights, highlighting women who were nearly killed by abortion bans and laying the blame at Trump’s feet. A decision freeing states to continue denying emergency abortions to patients in distress would vividly illustrate the devastating fallout from the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade . It would remind voters that Trump created this court, stacking it with surefire votes against abortion rights, and raise the stakes for reproductive freedom in the run-up to November. Now the court that Trump made is planning to quietly duck out of the limelight on this issue.

But it can’t stay away for long. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5 th Circuit has already ruled against the Biden administration’s interpretation of EMTALA, subjecting millions of women to far-reaching bans on emergency abortions. This issue will boomerang back up to SCOTUS, and it will have to make a decision. As Jackson wrote in her draft opinion, “Storm clouds loom ahead.” How far ahead? Maybe not even a year—maybe until just after November. Until then, patients in Idaho have some semblance of protection in an injunction. And tens of millions of others face the harrowing uncertainty that the Supreme Court just indefensibly prolonged.

This is part of  Opinionpalooza , Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court this June. Alongside  Amicus , we kicked things off this year by explaining  How Originalism Ate the Law . The best way to support our work is by joining  Slate Plus . (If you are already a member, consider a  donation  or  merch !)