Rationale

Lydia Sedy

English 102 - T/TH 1:00 pm

Prof. Sonia Apgar Begert

1 June 2015

Rationale

I begin my paper announcing my topic and exploring the problem of sleep in America. I will use an academic study and the National Sleep Foundation to help establish my topic as an issue that should be considered seriously, and hopefully pique the reader’s interest. This first section of my introduction will also serve the purpose of defining terms I will use frequently in my paper, such as fragmented sleep and sleep debt. The second part of my introduction concerns more of America’s sleep habits. I do this to clear any misconceptions about what the “norm” is in our nation and stress that it is not just the length of sleep that causes problems. And of course, putting my thesis statement at the end of my introduction meets academic expectations.

The first section of my paper explores the role of sleep in learning and memory. I start with one study and review it quite extensively, as it is a long, broad article. The scientific background of this article will give my paper and particularly this more recently discovered section credibility. A second study focuses closely on sleep and consolidating memories, both giving a supporting voice for the first study and giving the reader more faith in my claim. The last part of this section explores two more studies, one specifically on interrupted sleep and the other on sleep length and working memory performance, adding more voice and evidence to the role of sleep in memory.

I transition from memory and learning to academic performance, for if sleep really does have an affect on learning, it would make sense to see a correlation in academic performance. The first study I look at deals with many variables on academic achievement. I start with this study because it shows how sleep has a greater negative effect than variables such as working or strenuous activity. This identifies the seriousness of sleep and academic performance to the reader. The next source has to do with trouble falling asleep and GPA. The next three studies are all similar, and deal with slightly different angles to the sleep/GPA question. All three report similar findings and so support each other, giving credibility and soundness to my project.

The next section of my paper explores sleep’s role in behavioral functioning. The first study I report on is the last one in my previous section. This will help to transition between topics. The correlations between sleep and behaviors are looked at closely in two more studies, both by the same team (Sadeh, Gruber, and Raviv). The benefit of looking at studies by the same authors allows the information to be closely repeated and refined. The last study in this section is a preliminary study on sleep loss and delinquency. I’ve mentioned this study to a few different people and they think it’s crazy, so presenting it in an unbiased, completely informative way will be crucial to give my readers faith in its credibility.

The last section I talk about is sleep’s role in health. One study explores depressive and physical symptoms in college students. I have a couple studies and sources after this to give a broad range of consequences of poor sleep. I will need to be creative when presenting this information, as the list (heart disease, stroke, depression, etc) doesn’t sound very impactful. I could employ some emotional strategies here to really get the reader to care about sleep.

I will conclude my paper with some simple sleep hygiene tips. Again, the importance of sleep will be stressed, however it should be quite obvious by this point in the paper. I will encourage my readers to take action in their lives and adjust their sleep schedules as needed.