Contains a collection of six critical essays that debate the issue of self-mutilation, and includes model essays and writing exercises designed to help students research, outline, draft, edit, and write essays.

Introduction : Self-mutilation around the globe -- section 1: Opposing viewpoints on self-mutilation. Teenagers mutilate themselves to cope with stress and depression / Sari Grossman and Sandy Fertman Ryan -- Girls are prone to self-mutilation / T. Suzanne Eller -- Plastic surgery is a form of self-mutilation / Sheila Jeffreys -- Body art is a form of self-mutilation / Wendy Lader -- The Internet encourages self-mutilation / Mary A. Fischer -- The Internet can help some people recover from self-mutilation / Janis Whitlock, Wendy Lader, and Karen Conterio -- section 2: Model essays and writing exercises. Preface A: The five-paragraph essay -- Preface B: The narrative essay -- Essay 1: What drives America's teens to hurt themselves? -- Exercise 1A: Create an outline from an existing essay -- Exercise 1B: Create an outline for your own essay -- Essay 2: Self-injurers can find support online -- Exercise 2A: Identifying and organizing components of the narrative essay -- Exercise 2B: Examining introductions and conclusions -- Essay 3: Under the knife : when the quest for perfection becomes self-mutilation -- Exercise 3A: Practice writing a scene with dialogue -- Final writing challenge: write your own narrative five-paragraph essay -- section 3: Supporting research material. Appendix A: Facts about self-mutilation -- Appendix B: Finding and using sources of information -- Appendix C: Using MLA to create a works cited list -- Appendix D: Sample essay topics -- Organizations to contact.