A Guide for Writing an Enduring Issues Essay

Writing an enduring issue essay can feel like taking your first step as a baby; difficult and scary. But just like any other activity, you must learn how to write it, especially as a student. This essay is administered as part of the Global History and Geography II Regents Exam at the end of Global I and Global II courses. You will be given documents about five documents and asked to write an essay about an enduring issue identified in the documents. For this reason, you must learn how to write an enduring issue essay that is flawless.

This guide will show you how to write an enduring issue essay. You will also find steps for identifying an enduring issue and tips for writing a seamless essay.

What is an Enduring Issue?

Before defining an enduring issue, let's look at these two words individually. Enduring means lasting over time. An issue, on the other hand, is a challenge for debate. So, when put together, an enduring issue is a challenge or a problem debated over time and historically significant. Something historically significant has affected lots of people and has long-term effects.

You might encounter daily issues that are difficult to solve or deal with. A society might have attempted to solve them but with limited success because of various factors. Nonetheless, an enduring issue doesn't have to be a problem. It could have positive and negative effects; for instance, technology has both positive and negative impacts.

Therefore, what is an enduring issue essay? An enduring issue essay is a paper that analyzes and discusses a historically significant issue that has existed over time, even if it has been addressed with mixed success results.

The following are examples of common enduring issue essay topics in society.

• Access to proper housing(homelessness)


• Gender inequality


• Hunger


• Inflation


• The Great Depression


• Climate change


• Pollution


• Overfishing


• Child and adult obesity


• HIV/Aids


• Israel-Palestine War


• Russian-Ukraine War


• Women rights


• Private prisons


• Private armies


• Global wars


• Poverty


• Child labor


• Threats to privacy


• Poor governance


• Migration issues


• Terrorism


• Gun violence


• Discrimination


• Unemployment

Before writing an enduring essay, you have to identify the enduring issue. You should look for the following elements to know you are dealing with an enduring issue.

• It has existed over time.


• It is a presenting challenge or a problem.


• Lots of people have been affected by it.


• It is listed in historical documents.

How to Identify an Enduring Issue

If you can't seem to figure out which is an enduring issue in the given documents. Use these tips:

• Find Supportive Proof: The issue you choose must be supported by evidence from at least three documents you are reviewing. Do this by identifying a challenge and evidence to support them, then picking out an issue based on what you have found out.


• Don’t Focus on List: If you identify evidence of an enduring issue in the documents that are not part of a list of issues but still an enduring issue, choose it. Don't limit yourself to a list of enduring issues. For instance, if you identify evidence of hunger as an enduring issue but not on the list of known issues, it is an enduring issue.


• Be Specific: An enduring essay must be specific as possible. So whichever issue you choose, narrow it down as much as possible. For instance, if you have hunger as your issue, a more specific enduring issue could be Acute malnutrition among children under 5.


• Identify its Cause and Effects: After narrowing down your issue, find its cause and effects. For instance, your cause of malnutrition could be poor diet, and the effect is reduced cardio-respiratory function. Once you have identified it, write like this, acute malnutrition among children under five has led to reduced cardio-respiratory.

Remember that enduring issues are historically significant and affect generations of people no matter how much time has passed. Furthermore, one can see the evidence of these issues around them. So, to show readers that the issue you have chosen is historically significant, provide evidence showing its causes and long-term effects on societies.

Steps for Writing an Enduring Issue

The following is a step-by-step guide for writing an effective enduring issue essay.

Step #1: Identify and Describe an Enduring Issue

You can’t write an enduring issue essay without an issue. So, the first step to writing the essay is identifying an enduring issue in the given documents. Read through the historical documents, annotate them, and pick a main idea and a likely enduring issue that has a global impact. Use the following instructions to analyze the given documents:

• Draw a table with three columns, label the left, center, and right, "MI" for the main idea, “E.I." for the possible enduring issues, and “O.I." for outside information, respectively.


• Go over and annotate the given documents


• Write a sentence or two about the main idea section


• Identify and write the possible enduring issue in the documents, including any challenges the societies face.


• If there is any outside information, write it on the right-hand side of the table.

Ensure there is enough proof to show that it is an enduring issue. Also, choose an issue you are passionate about, as this will make the process much more enjoyable and lead to a compelling essay.

Once you have selected an enduring issue, write everything you know about it. For instance, if you have selected malnutrition among young children, write down some of the things happening worldwide concerning the issue. These could be the subtopics you would like to discuss. Research widely on this to gather as much information as possible.

Step # 2: Develop a Thesis Statement

A good thesis statement involves two parts; one that establishes your claim and the other which shows the topics to be discussed. This statement is necessary because it tells the reader what you will discuss and why it’s important. To develop a thesis statement, start by analyzing the essay prompt given. The prompt provides directions on what needs to be added to your essay.  

The formula for coming up with an enduring issue essay thesis is THESIS=CLAIM+TOPICS.

To develop a claim, ensure you respond to all the sections highlighted in your prompt. For instance, Consider the following prompt.

Enduring Essay Prompt

An enduring issue is a challenge or problem that has existed for a long time.

In your essay

• Identify and describe an enduring issue in the following

documents.

• Using your knowledge of Social Studies and evidence from the

documents, show how and why the issue or challenge selected is important and

how it has endured over a while.

Then make sure you do the following:

• Identify the enduring issue by accurately interpreting at least three documents.


• Using facts from the three documents, define the enduring issue


• Discuss why the issue is important and how it has endured over a long period by showing how people have been affected by it and how it has continued to exist over a long period


• Include relevant information from your social studies knowledge and evidence from the documents.

Therefore, to come up with a thesis;

• Identify the enduring issue


• Show why the issue has endured over a long period of time


• Identify the topic to be discussed in the essay to show why the enduring issue has existed over time

So, if we use acute malnutrition among children under five as an example, our thesis statement would be:

Acute malnutrition among children under 5 is a significant enduring issue because many people are unaware of the nutritional quality of foods and have inappropriate feeding habits, leading to a weakened immune system and death.

Step # 3: Create an Outline

An outline for an enduring essay identifies all the relevant components of your paper and helps you clarify your thoughts when writing. Structuring an essay also helps present all your ideas and arguments and support them with relevant evidence. Thus, if you are writing an enduring issue essay, use the following format.

Introduction Paragraph

• Define and summarize the enduring issue and how it relates to the history of society.


• Establish a claim that points out the enduring issue and say why it is relevant. Make sure you identify the topic you will discuss, showing why the issue is relevant.

Body paragraphs

• This is where you discuss the topics that show why your enduring issue has existed over time. The paragraphs could be between 3-5 or depending on the instructions given by your instructor. Each paragraph should follow this format:

1. Topic sentence- identify the main idea of the paragraph and link it to the thesis statement


2. Identify the evidence -Provide facts and evidence of the event or person under discussion. For instance, who was involved in the issue, the location where it happened, why and what happened.


3. Analyze the available evidence. Highlight why and how the event happened. Use the following questions to guide you:


4. Why was it essential,


5. How and why the society was impacted by it


6. How the event changed history


7. How and why those effects have lasted over a long time


8. Concluding sentence- the last sentence should summarize the ideas in the paragraph and transition smoothly to the next topic.

Each paragraph should follow the above format.

Conclusion

The last part of the essay is the conclusion. It should restate your claim and summarize how and why your issue has existed over time and how it has changed. Also, show how the issue is significant and enduring.

Step # 4: Write Your Enduring Issue Essay

Now that you have a thesis statement, get down to work. Learning how to write an enduring issue essay requires a keen eye. Remember that an enduring issue essay asks you to discuss and elaborate on an ongoing issue and why it has existed for so long. So, you must pick a specific issue you can work on without much struggle.

Follow the written outline when you can’t understand how to write an enduring issue essay, as it will guide you on what to include and where. Start by writing an engaging introduction in an emotional tone to create a connection with the readers. Do this by writing a personal story or an event that happened that made you feel so strongly about the enduring issue. Also, provide some background information about the issue so that readers can know what to expect in the body of the essay. Use an inverted pyramid to write your introduction. This means starting with a general sentence and being more specific as you move forward.

When you get to the body paragraphs, ensure each elaborates on the topics and shows the cause and effects of the enduring issue. When describing how people have been affected by the ending issue, list examples to solidify your arguments and show the seriousness of the matter. Additionally, explain how the problem has evolved over the years.

The number of your body paragraphs will depend on the number of documents you have been given to analyze. As you write, focus on the requirements of your prompt and connect all the information with the chosen enduring issue.

Wondering how to write a conclusion for an enduring issue essay? Just like an introduction, a concluding paragraph should be specific and to the point. An introduction paragraph aims to summarise what you have discussed in the essay clearly and concisely. Don't introduce new information or repeat what you discussed in the body paragraph.

Step # 5: Edit Your Essay

Proofreading and editing your work is an essential step before submitting your paper. You must go through your work to ensure that you have included all the relevant information and that there are no errors. Ask someone to go through your work and give you feedback. You can also use online editing tools such as Hemingway Editor, Ginger, or Grammarly for editing and proofreading the task. Equally, you can hire our essay editors to help you streamline, format, and polish your paper.

Tips for Writing an Enduring Issue Essay

Figuring out how to write an enduring issue essay can be challenging. These tips can keep you on track and ensure you develop a perfect paper.

• As you review the given documents, ensure you pick relevant evidence and rephrase them in your own words.


• Cite the information even if you have written it in your own words.


• Provide a comprehensive explanation of why the essay is relevant by answering the following.


• Explain your essay using enough information. Do this by assuming that the reader knows nothing about what you are discussing.


• Ensure you stick to your theme and thesis statement throughout your essay.


• Don’t overthink. Just keep your essay short and sweet.


• Don’t use personal pronouns when writing an enduring issue essay.

As Everything Settles …

An enduring issue essay discusses a historically relevant issue that has existed over time. Writing one requires that you first analyze the given documents to identify the issue that is enduring. If you are not provided with any documents, you should research widely and deeply to ensure that you have strong points for the essay. Also, ensure the issue is supported by credible evidence from the given documents and outside sources. And finally, make sure you show the historical relevance of the issue you’ve selected in your essay. If you are struggling with writing an enduring essay or do not know where to start, you can hire our writers to help.