9

th

grade English
WRITING: Writes a variety of text types, including summaries of texts, using appropriate grammatical forms
C35a
a-b

Reading and Writing for Self-discovery

Pursuing an Ambition
Identifying with a writer’s expressed
passion

You recently read the article: ‘Stalking the Mountain Lion’. In it, the author clearly expresses his love and
passion for what he does: being outdoors to stalk and study mountain lions.

Did his article cause you to think about any life desires or ambitions you have? Did it make you identify with his
desire to pursue a passion?

Directions:
Think about something you would really love to do in life? It could be an adventure, a career, a cause,
etc.
Make a list of three possibilities, and then choose one.
Finally, write a short essay (200 words minimum) that describes this desire or ambition.
Follow the outline offered below.
Use excellent spelling, grammar, punctuation, and first line indentations in each paragraph.

Outline model:

I. Intro (Creatively grab the interest of your reader.)

II. Body
A. What (details)
B. Why (purpose)
III. Conclusion

Sense you are talking about a hypothetical future, you will probably use prompts such as the following:
In the future, I see myself as (doing such and such)
My life’s ambition is to one day (do such and such)
Someday, I would like to
My passion in life is to eventually be able to
I hope to eventually
If I could pursue any career in life, it would be (Second conditional for hypothetical future)

Task 1
Three possibilities. Your narrowed topic of choice:

1. Travel around the world

2. Be a tattoo artsist

Become a reconstructive surgeon

3. Become a reconstructive surgeon

Title: ..

Name: ________________________________________ Group: __________________ Date: __________

9
th

grade English C35b

a-b

Name: ________________________________________ Group: __________________ Date: __________