1. LEVEL A Revisions Due 7th Grade: Monday, September 26
8th Grade: Tuesday, September 27

2. CREATING A THESIS STATEMENT
"An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided (Stolley)."
Other things to consider according to Purdue Owl:Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement
Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.
The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.
Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

3. Examples of Thesis Statements:
Good Examples:
“High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness (Purdue Owl).”
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 had a surprising effect as it was the catalyst to America becoming known as a world superpower.
Bad Examples:
I believe that before you go to college you should try a year of community service to help you understand the world better!
I would consider Pearl Harbor to be the event that caused the United States to prove themselves as a world power once they entered the War.

4. Creating your thesis statement:
7th Grade Essential Questions:
What would you judge as the greatest cause of the disintegration (process of losing cohesion or strength) of the Roman Empire?
To what extent have the contributions of ancient Rome influenced modern society? What contribution had the greatest lasting effect?
8th Grade Essential Questions:
Should any Native American tribe be considered a civilization?
Consider the definition of civilization
Consider any bias scholars have while studying history
Use specific evidence to support your conclusion
How would you assess and/or judge the colonization of the Americas?
Creating your thesis statement:
Are you answering the essential question: "_______________?"
Is your statement concise?
Will you be able to support this statement with evidence?

5. Body Paragraphs- Structure
Topic Sentence: Give your reason and explain through logical thinking how it’s connected to the thesis. ⅓ Evidence (Concrete Detail) ⅔ Your logical thinking(Commentary)
Supporting Evidence (CD) ( 1 (Quote or paraphrase from a source REMEMBER TO cite):
-> Use logical thinking (CM) to connect your evidence back to your reason and claim
Supporting Evidence 2 (CD) (Quote or paraphrase from a source REMEMBER TO cite):
Supporting Evidence 3 (CD) (Quote or paraphrase from a source REMEMBER TO cite):

6. Body Paragraphs- Keep in mind
Body paragraphs that include evidential support.
Each paragraph should be limited to the discussion to ONE general idea/ Reason that your thesis is correct
Each paragraph in the body of the essay should have logical connection to the thesis statement from the opening paragraph
Evidence should support your thesis or explore another point of views
Should show you are well-researched, detailed, and have current information
It is not your job to point out why other positions are wrong, rather explain how other positions may not be well informed or up to date on the topic
(Argumentative Essays, Purdue Owl)

7. Conclusion/Closing Conclusion-Structure: Other things to remember:
Summarize your claim and the three reasons that support it.
Leave the reader something to think about
Other things to remember:
This paragraph SHOULD leave the most immediate impression on the mind of the reader
Should be effective, concise, and logical
DO NOT introduce any new information
synthesize the information presented in the body of the essay
Restate WHY the topic is important, review your main reasons, and your thesis
(Argumentative Essays, Purdue Owl)

8. In-Text Citation- MLA Format
Refer to this link, this is the packet that helps with work cited
Purdue Owl MLA In-text Citation link
Cornell MLA Citing Source in Text link
Youtube “MLA In-Text Citation” link

9. Use these to help you better correct your essay.
Exemplars
Use these to help you better correct your essay.

10. Color-code Cited evidence (or concrete detail)
Logical thinking (commentary)
Vocabulary

11. Noticing the pattern
Students that did well had a pattern in their text-coding
Blue line than green line, blue line than green line...repeat
Logical thinking than evidence, logical thinking than evidence…..repeat
Vocabulary throughout the paragraph

12. Government and Religion
Lastly, government and religion in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt were similar because they both had a growing population which they needed to keep civil. Both civilizations used some kind of monarchy to keep order within the people. Ancient Egypt used a pharaoh,who had absolute power, to keep order within the people in both religion and government. Thepharaoh’s duty was to enact laws, deliver justice, and maintain law and order (“Ancient Egypt -Government and Economy”, Wikipedia). Mesopotamia, specifically Ancient Sumer, used kings to rule the city-states. Religion comes into this also, because the Ancient Sumerians believedthat gods chose their kings (Lesson 5.5, TCI). Sumerian kings enforced laws, collected taxes,built temples, made sure irrigation systems were maintained, and led his city-state’s army,which was one of the king’s most important jobs (Lesson 5.5, TCI). Both civilizations also were polytheistic. Religion influenced things up to their daily lifestyle. The Sumerians tried to please their gods in all things, so they constructed temples and religious towers called ziggurats, held many kinds of religious ceremonies, and made statues of people worshipping the gods (Lesson5.6, TCI). Ancient Egyptians believed that each deity controlled a force of nature, and believed that they had to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings, and spent lots of resources on temples (“Ancient Egyptian religion”, TCI). To sum it up, government and religion in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt developed similarly because both civilizations were able to adapt to the point where government and religion were needed.

13. Work Cited Page- Will be used later
Check for accuracy using either the Purdue OWL or Cornell MLA websites
Insure that your Work Cited is in alphabetical order
Should be on its own page in the same Google doc as your argumentative essay
Can use EasyBib to generate your citations
SCREENCAST ON WORK CITED link