1. Jr. Research Essay 2017 Writing Workshop
English 11
Perry High School

2. HOOK Your Reader In “Hook” your readers (capture their imagination)
Add a quote and brief explanation.
Hook the reader with an interesting short anecdote.
Start with an interesting question (not a simple one).
HOOK Your Reader In

3. Vampires are a perennial favorite around Halloween, but they can be found year-round in movies and on television, in books and on blogs. The public's thirst for vampires seems as endless as vampires' thirst for blood. But upon reflection, it seems difficult to define and, more importantly, determine if vampires actually do exist.
Hook Example

4. Provide a BACKGROUND (or HISTORICAL CONTEXT)
If writing about a conspiracy theory, provide a background for the topic.
This part of the essay may feel like a expository essay because this is where writers share what they learned about the topic (without actually creating an argument).
This part of the essay sounds like a report on the topic; it provides the reader with the context of the topic.
Provide a BACKGROUND (or HISTORICAL CONTEXT)

5. The vampires most people are familiar with (such as Dracula) are revenants — human corpses that are said to return from the grave to harm the living; these vampires have Slavic origins only a few hundred years old. But other, older, versions of the vampire were not thought to be human at all but instead supernatural, possibly demonic, entities that did not take human form (Radford). The first mention of vampires dates back to …
Background Example

6. Make sure your thesis is clear, concise and able to be supported
Make sure your thesis is clear, concise and able to be supported. This is CRITICAL!
Create a thesis statement that starts with the counter- argument.
Add a great THESIS

7. “Although many feel vampires are a working of an overactive imagination, vampires are not only real, they are “alive” and frequently haunt people today.”
“While many argue that vampires roam our world and terrorize our children at night, vampires are nothing but a creative attempt to tap into the fears and imaginations of people.”
THESIS Examples:
Pro-Vampires
Anti-Vampires

8. “While many argue that vampires roam our world and terrorize our children at night, vampires are nothing but a creative attempt to tap into the fears and imaginations of people. Scientific evidence, mathematical impossibility and a lack of biological data refute the notion of vampires being a real entity.”
Thesis + PLAN
Thesis
Plan

9. THREE body paragraphs with TWO examples of textual evidence (SEEsets).
ARGUMENT Paragraphs

10. Topic Sentence SEEset #1 SEEset #2 Conclusion Sentence Statement
Evidence
Explanation/Elaboration
SEEset #2
Conclusion Sentence
Argument Paragraph #1

11. One reason vampires are fictional is that it is clear that the term “vampire” is difficult to define clearly.
Despite the fact that people believe in vampires, gaining a clear, consistent image of vampires has proven to be challenging.
For example, Benjamin Radford in Vampires: Fact, Fiction and Folklore, argues that “while most people can name several elements of vampire lore, there are no firmly established characteristics. Some vampires are said to be able to turn into bats or wolves; others can't. Some are said not to cast a reflection, but others do. Holy water and sunlight are said to repel or kill some vampires, but not others. The one universal characteristic is the draining of a vital bodily fluid, typically blood.” T S E

12. Because it is so difficult to define the characteristics of a vampire, it makes it difficult to believe that vampires exist. Why do people insist on believing in something that cannot be proven empirically? Why is there such a lack of evidence of such vampires?
Surely, this is because vampires do not exist and they are merely figments of overactive imaginations. E
Concluding Sentence
Comes after the second SEEset

13. Another reason vampires are not authentic is that ________________.
SEEset #1
Statement
Evidence
Explanation/Elaboration
SEEset #2
Conclusion Sentence
ARGUMENT Paragraph #2

14. Concession/ Refutation Paragraph
Concede to an Opposing Position
Refute the Opposing Position
Concession/ Refutation Paragraph

15. Concede to the Opposing Position:
Some believe that vampires are authentic blood- thirsty demonic beings that have attacked many people over the years. There seems to be no shortage of stories, anecdotes and testimonies of vampire attacks and sightings. It appears that many of these accounts come from credible sources who truly believe in what they witnessed. It is quite possible that the sheer number of vampire accounts gives credence to the notion that vampires are a real entity.

16. Refute the Opposing Position:
And although it is clear that a good number of people believe in vampires, an overwhelming amount of evidence concludes that vampires are the manifestations of fantasy and imagination. The fact that [briefly insert some evidence here that refutes the opposition] .

17. Restate your Claim
Briefly restate evidence (t0pics)
Lasting thoughts
Clincher sentence
Conclusion Paragraph

18. Conclusion Paragraph Example:
Restate Thesis
Stories of vampires have the ability to scare us and make us fear the dark, but empirical evidence has proven that they simply do not exist. Scientific evidence, mathematical impossibility and a lack of biological data refute the notion of vampires being a real entity. Reading about vampires or watching a movie about them attacking us may be entertaining, but we cannot let our imaginations get the better of us. Vampires just do not exist. So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy the thrill of fleeing from these bloodsuckers. They can not really hurt you.
Briefly Restate Evidence (topics)
Lasting Thoughts
Clincher