• Write an essay about person, place, event, or career. you need to interview one or more people connected to your topic and you need to spend two or more hours in observation of your topic. your interview and observations notes are your prewriting, and they are due with the final essay. present what you have learned in a way that both informs and engages readers, citing any people you interviewed. the final draft should be 650-850 words. the following criteria will be used to review your essay: unity: there is a clear point being made about the person, place, event or career being profiled, and that point is set up in a thesis statement. the paragraphs supporting the thesis have a topic sentence to unify them as needed.