Directions: Analyze the following passage. Identify the main idea, major details, and minor details.
Topic: Suicide Among College Students
Compared to nonstudents of the same age, the suicide rate among college students is somewhat higher. Why is this so? For one thing, among the younger college students who commit suicide (ages 18-22), a common thread is the inability to separate themselves from their family and to solve problems on their own. College presents many of these younger students with the challenge of having to be independent in many ways while remaining dependent on family in other ways, such as financially and emotionally.
Several other characteristics of the college experience may relate to suicide. A great emphasis is put on attaining high grades, and the significance of grades may be blown out of proportion. A student may come to perceive grades as a measurement of his or her total worth as a person, rather than just one of many ways a person can be evaluated. If a student is unable to achieve expected grades, there may be a total loss of self-esteem and loss of hope for any success in life.
In the college setting, where self-esteem can be tenuous, the end of a relationship can also be devastating. A student who has recently lost a close friend or lover can become so deeply depressed that suicide becomes an attractive alternative. The problem can be compounded when depression interferes with coursework and grades slips.
Text adapted from Curtis O. Byer and Louis W. Shainberg, Living Well. Sadbury MA: Jones&Barlett Publisher, 1997,42.