WRITING EXERCISE: THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF BEING AN ONLY CHILD

 The following exercise has been designed to help you grasp the basics of essay organization. In each case, the introduction and the conclusion will be provided along with notes for the development. Read the introduction carefully and make sure you understand the reason for the organization of the essay. Then write the development in accordance with the suggestions provided. You may need to do research to expand on the points. A word of warning: this not the only way of organizing this essay but it is one that works.

In the past, due to lack of birth control, the existence of large rural communities where manpower was an advantage and custom, large families with a dozen or so children were quite common. Infant mortality was high and some would pass away but others survived to till fields and plough the land. In the modern world, over population, the widely publicized disadvantages of a large young population, changing life styles and the existence birth control have shrunk families with only children becoming ever more common. In China, it is forbidden by law to have more than one child. Although this is the current trend, it doesn’t mean being an only child has only advantages; there are disadvantages as well.

First developmental paragraph: advantages

·         Material benefits ( good schools, more possessions, holidays, opportunities to study abroad, being the parents only heir and the like)

·         The focus of parents love and attention

Second developmental paragraph: disadvantages

·         The need to carry parents responsibility alone in old age

·         No uncles, aunts, cousins and the like

Note to the student: not learning to share and being spoilt have not been included for the reason that most modern kids go to kindergarten very early on and siblings are replaced by peers.

In conclusion, smaller families with only children are becoming more and more common in the modern world as people marry later after completing their higher education and gaining the wherewithal to make a home.  Once married, couples both continue with their active careers making large families impractical.  Whether for good or bad, extended families have now been replaced by friends and a social circle though many will often think back on the good old days of larger families.