Monday, February 1, 2016

Sample Informational Essay by Adeleigh W.

As you can see, there is still revision and editing to be done, but this is a good example of an informational essay. 

[Introduction]
     Who is Garfield? What is he famous for? James Abram Garfield (not the cartoon cat) was an important president. "He was one of the four so-called Forgotten Presidents of the late 1800's" ( Biography Reference Center). He did not mean to be elected for president, but after he was, he helped hundreds of people during his time of being president before he died. He only got to be president for less than for months before he died from a bullet in his back. Everybody was very sad when their president, who helped a lot of people, died. James Abram Garfield was an amazing president. 

[Body paragraph beginning with a transition and  a topic sentence]
     In the first place, James Abram Garfield became the 20th president of the United States on accident. According to "Presidential Administration Profiles for Students" is states "When James Garfield went to the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in 1880, he had no intention of running for president. In fact, Garfield went to the convention to try to help John Sherman of Ohio win the nomination." When people were voting for the three top contenders, the contenders never received enough votes to win. Soon people started to suggest that James Abram Garfield break up with John Shermon and try to become president. "Garfield refused to do so, but delegates began casting votes for him anyway" (Presidential Administration Profiles for Students).

[Body paragraph beginning with a transition and  a topic sentence]
    Second, Garfield was very nice to other people looking for jobs. According to "World Book Student" it states "Whenever a new president came in thousands of people were fired. He gave the fired people new jobs." His was very eager to please a lot of people. "But his eagerness to please everyone sometimes led him into questionable dealings with unscrupulous people." (World Book Student). He still was a very nice person. Almost everybody liked him.

[Body paragraph beginning with a transition and  a topic sentence]
     Additionally, a few facts about Garfield are Garfield was the last president of the United States to be born in a log cabin. Garfield narrowly won the election for being president. "He spoke and wrote well, read widely, and even composed poetry. He occasionally entertained his friends by writing Greek with one hand and at the same time writing Latin with the other" (World Book Student). 

     President James A. Garfield died by a bullet in his back. Some people were not happy with him being president and back then they did not have bodyguards to guard the president back then so he was not protected.   He was walking in Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. when a guy called Charles J. Guiteau, who did not like Garfield at all, shot him in the back. He was sent to Elberon, New Jersey. He slept in a bed waiting to heal and everybody waited, hoping that Garfield would live also. The doctors could not ever get the bullet out and he died eleven weeks later (got information from Wikipedia). It was a very sad day for everyone. Garfield did not deserve to die such a horrible death. He very sick and died less than four months of being elected for president. Garfield was the fourth president to die in an office.

[Conclusion]
After that, James Abram Garfield was not president for very long, less than four months! How did he die? By a bullet in his back! 
As shown above, Garfield was a very important president. He helped a lot of people. He did his best, was outgoing and he was very lucky to become president. He did lots of weird and amazing things throughout his lifetime. He is not a well-known president.  [but] More people should know about him. He suffered a very painful death and sickness. He still tried his best to help his people. James Abram Garfield was an amazing president. He changed the lives of a lot of people, in a good way.