Subject: English.
Topic: Essay 1 Final Draft: Flow States in Extreme Sports Athletes
Academic Level : Professional.
Paper details;

Read the following chapters from Steven Kotler’s Rise of Superman (Amazon link to
ebook or hard copy).
(Links to an external site.)
• Preface: The Why of Flow
• Introduction: Before the Flow
• Chapter 1 “The Way of Flow” on skateboarder Danny Way jumping the Great
Wall of China
• Chapter 2 “The Wave of Flow” on big wave surfer Laird Hamilton
• Chapter 3 “The Where of Flow” on free solo rock climber Dean Potter
• Chapter 6 “Outer Flow” on extreme solo kayaker Doug Ammons in the Stikine
In your introduction paragraph (1 page):
• Start with a hook that grabs the reader’s interest and introduces the essay topic.
• Next, provide a detailed description of at least 5 qualities that psychologist Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi says are characteristic of a flow state on pages 29-30.
• Then provide a personal example of a flow experience of your own in the form of
a detailed story. The flow experience does not have to be about a sport.
Students have written about being in flow while dancing, driving, listening to
music, and even at work.
• A transition sentence that defines “extreme sport” and credits Kotler’s book by his
full author name and title.
• End with your introduction paragraph with a 1 sentence thesis statement that is
specific, concise, clear, and arguable.
In your thesis answer the following question:
• In Chapter 2 of Rise of Superman, Kotler describes 10 flow state characteristics
identified by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Of those 10, analyze which 2 specific flow
qualities you think are the most important for helping extreme sport athletes
succeed at death-defying challenges.
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Avoid choosing non-flow ideas for thesis
For your Essay 1 thesis, I am concerned that some of you may be off-topic
because you are choosing to write on 2 ideas that are not specific enough to flow
as Kotler describes it in this week’s readings. Please choose your flow qualities
from pages 29-30 in Rise of Superman.
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In your body paragraphs:
• Very Important Requirement: Provide examples from the stories of at least 3
of the athletes featured in assigned chapters of Kotler’s Rise of Superman:
Danny Way, Laird Hamilton, Dean Potter, Doug Ammons, and Shane McConkey.
• No other outside sources besides Kotler’s Rise of Superman and the video Your
Brain on Flow should be used in your essay.
• In each body paragraph, provide at least 2 quotations from the assigned chapters
of Rise of Superman.
In your conclusion
• Restate your thesis using new wording and phrasing so you are not simply
cutting and pasting.
• End with some interesting reflections on the topic that go beyond merely
repeating what you said earlier. For example, you can answer the following
question. Has learning about flow raised the bar on what you assumed to be the
limits of human potential?