Warm-Up Write about a conversation you have had with someone. What made it interesting or noteworthy? What makes for a good conversationalist?

Ladder of Abstraction Topic (can be stated as one word or phrase) Big Ideas : Argument, Thesis statement, Main claim Smaller Ideas : Analysis of a text, Interpretation of text, Close reading Evidence (paraphrase d or quoted directly) An academic essay will have sentences that align with all levels of this graph. A body paragraph or “academic paragraph” (like your Assignment 1.3) will have big idea sentences, small idea sentences, and evidence sentences. Reread your of Assignment 1.3. Your topic sentence should be a “big idea” sentence. Can you identify the other types of sentences in your draft?

Sample Paragraph Edmundson chooses to open his essay with self-criticism to both establish trust with the reader and lay a foundation for what behavior should be desirable within the educational arena. First, Edmundson gains his readers' trust by demonstrating his own shortcomings, priming them to temper what could be an indignant response to his later criticisms. Edmundson admits that he has tried to use entertainment as a “lead-in to stronger stuff” (279), but “the affability and the one-liners often seem to be all that land with the students”; this essay is his attempt to reflect back on his own method. Edmundson further establishes trust through a description of his students' reviews of his teaching and his own reaction to them. He somewhat hesitantly admits, “I do not much like the image of myself that emerges from these forms... When someone says she ‘enjoyed’ the course... I feel encroaching self-dislike” (278-9). The word “encroaching” reverses the associations we have with the student’s “enjoyment,” suggesting that there is something ominous in all of this seemingly positive feedback. By further elaborating on these undesirable traits – being “interesting,” “relaxed,” and “tolerant” (278) – while implying desirable ones – honesty, self-reflection, individuality, and rigorous self-improvement – Edmundson constructs a framework for self-evaluation, hoping that this will prime his readers to respond appropriately (with self-reflection and honesty) to his criticisms of them. He thus establishes criticism itself as a necessary process of learning. This frames his later potentially-estranging critique of his students as a demonstration of his respect for those who can withstand criticism and respond to it constructively.

Hot Words A word or set of words that indicate an idea, opinion, or claim. Always within an idea sentence (and the most contentious words in an idea sentence) The part of the idea sentence where the writer sets up what she will prove The least objective part of the idea sentence Words that are carry the weight of interpretation, or that betray how you feel about something

Hot words, cont. Hot words create a contract with the reader. You’re telling the reader what you intend to show him. Identifying your own hot words will show you what you need to prove / how you will need to analyze your evidence. Each hot word contains a whole association of meanings. Choose them carefully!