Argument Essay Debrief Common Problems

General Issues MLA Format means: 1” Margins Double Space 12 point Times New Roman Font THROUGHOUT No Italics, Bolding, Underlining, or Supersizing of your title Speaking of Title: Your ORIGINAL title is NOT “Argument Essay” or “Final Essay”

Thesis Statements Thesis statements must be Complex Qualified Claims based

3 Student Examples Being an outsider is universal because at one point in life everyone will feel that they don’t belong in their society. Being an outsider is universal when one is new to a different culture because their culture can be very different from the people around them. The experience of being an outsider is universal, and though it can prove temporarily detrimental to the impacted, it is ultimately necessary to advance our individual societies and enhance our understanding of one another.  This argument is too simplistic  This argument has qualifications ^ This argument has more specific qualifications

Intro Paragraph Hook Bridge Complex Thesis Introduce the works you are analyzing Give some context of what those texts are about (Most of you forgot this part) Transition into why your thesis is relevant to the texts you are analyzing (Most of you forgot this part, too) Complex Thesis

Student Example 1 Social isolation, outcasts, and facing the unknown are commonly seen in stories, historical events, and in the lives of ordinary people. The three short texts, “Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century,” “The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog,” and “Sonnet with Bird” each center around the idea of an outsider in one way or another. “Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century” shows how people have interacted with foreign people for the first time. The myth of “The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog” follows an American Indian boy who starts out as an outcast to his own people. The story of “Sonnet with Bird” is about an American Indian man who faces his struggle with social isolation. (Transition) Being an outsider is universal so long as there is diversity in the world, so an outsider doesn’t necessarily have to be an outcast, but there will always be differences that set one person apart from another.

Student Example 2 An outsider can be defined as someone who does not belong to a particular group. Throughout many stories, poems, articles, and tales, we see examples of “outsiders” and how they are treated. In the story “The Doll’s House,” the sonnet “Sonnet with Bird,” and the legend “The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog,” one can get a glimpse into how each person in each story feels and lives their lives on the outside. This feeling may not define all of them in their whole life, but at some time, any one of them could become an outsider. Being an outsider is universal to all people at some point in their life when one feels isolated and experience setbacks and obstacles.

Topic Sentences Topic sentences are sub-claims of your Thesis Statement, and thus must REFERENCE your thesis This means they are also answering your PROMPT In this case, that means you are answering the question “Is the experience of being an outsider universal?” Many of you completely forgot this fact, and focused on answering the question of how people BECOME labeled as outsiders Make sure you answer the question in your topic sentences and tie your each TS back to the prompt!

Last Notes Some of you forgot how to integrate quotes Many of you summarized instead of analyzing in your CMS Several of you forgot the standard paragraph format… Lead in (context!) + quote (content!) TS CD CM CS  Those of you who remembered Conclusion Sentences and Conclusion paragraphs MOSTLY just copied/pasted Topic Sentences “In conclusion, this proves that (insert topic sentence here),” and generally also copied/pasted Intro Paragraphs. (Some of you at least paraphrased… which was… better? I guess?)

Essay Revision Assignment due 1/17 Follow the directions, paying attention to the notes from today, to complete a partial revision of your essay I will not be reassessing your essay as a whole You will write an additional paragraph explaining how your changes should raise your grade BASED ON THE RUBRIC