Sleep Deprivation

Essay by VogelGirlCollege, UndergraduateA+, October 2004

download word file, 6 pages 1.0

Purpose: To inform my audience of the dangers and consequences of not getting enough sleep.

Open Intro: "How many of you get so much sleep at night you can hardly stand it?"

(When no one raises their hands start singling people out and ask them why THEY, personally, did not go to bed in time to get the sufficient 8 hours. You will get answers like, 'I had to stay up and finish my homework' to 'I stayed out with some friends of mine and got plastered... we didn't make it home until 3am.')

No matter what the outcome, STATE FACT: Nearly 65% of Americans DO NOT get enough sleep! This is causing Americans to be drowsy, lazy, dumb, sick, and ... fat!

GO INTO ACTUAL SPEECH:

Introduction: McKenzie O'Brien's alarm clock buzzes at 3am. An hour later, the co-anchor of American Morning is perched at her desk at CNN preparing to greet her viewers.

When asked how she stays alert enough to grill heads of state and First Ladies before the rest of us have our Folgers's Crystals, McKenzie (who DOESN'T drink caffeine) answer's vibrantly that she's generally in bed by 9:30 pm. For anyone doing the math, that's still just five and a half hours of sleep... and only later does she confess she could probably use a whole lot more. "I love to sleep. I aim for nine hours... of course, I never get it." Admits. She isn't the only one that's not getting enough rest at night. A resent study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation concluded that over 68% of Americans say that they do not get enough sleep and an astonishing 37% get fewer than 4 hours.

Blueprint: A. Boasting on little sleep.

1. America, as a society, tends to boast about not receiving...