So far you've argued that weightlifting is good for athletes, and we can all agree with that. The key, IMO for this essay is to state why athletes from different sports should be doing snatches, cleans etc instead of just squats, leg extensions, leg curls and so on like some of the HIT people would argue. Since it is for an English class not a PE class I wouldn't dwell on the details of specificity, etc too much but I would try to find some sources and properly quote them/include them in your references. I think that is what an English prof would look for. You are on the right track with examples of weightlifters that display impressive explosiveness and athletic ability. One could argue that those guys were already athletic, or that is wasn't specifically olympic lifting that made them that way. There may be peer reviewed articles published that compare the effects of different training methods with regards to improving vertical leap or other things an athlete might value. The section about diet really isn't relevant to your argument. It's a different topic (how an athlete should eat).
Hey Alex,Here is a proposal I put together for the fitness club I work at that argues the benefits of olympic lifting. Many of the arguments you are using are probably covered, but the important part is that it includes research. So feel free to get a hold of the research I have referenced at the end and use it for you paper. I also know for a fact there is research out there that deals with greater improvement in verticle with programs that emphasized cleans over just squatting but you will have to find them I don't remember the citations. On a side note, in this paper you will see a lot of word pay on the name of olympic weightlifting (ie it is not actually used) this was because the owner doesn't look favorably on our "big weightlifter types" so we played word games to sneak it past her :P