1. Today's Objective: Synthesize Information from Primary and Secondary Sources to Brainstorm Research Essay Thesis How We Will Get There: Write Questions, Discuss Topic, Write Dialogue, Summarize Main Ideas, Write Three Drafts of Thesis Statement

2. Research Essay Brainstorming-- Drafting a Thesis Adapted from The Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger

3. Questions Write your essay topic on the top of a sheet of paper Trade with someone else Below the topic, write at least five questions you have about the subject Repeat Trade back Read the questions and mark a few that seem compelling to you Add any further questions that you think are worth exploring

4. Free writing Step One—Spend 7 minutes reviewing all the information you have. Skim your annotation/notes for articles as well as for your two primary sources. Step Two—Now clear your desk of everything but a few sheets of paper. Step Three—Free write about your topic for eight minutes. Tell the story of your own thinking about the topic and how it has evolved. When you began the project, what did you think? Then what happened? What were your preconceptions? Why and how have they changed? This is an open-ended free response.

5. Free Writing (cont.) Step 4—Skip a few more lines. Take five minutes and go talk to someone else about your topic, explaining your topic and process and answering any questions they have. Jot down important ideas that come up in the process. Step 5—Skip a few more lines and write “So What?” Now spend a few more minutes trying the summarize the most important things you think people should understand about your lens/topic and how it brings meaning to literature—especially meaning in the two primary sources you have chosen to analyze

6. Drafting a Thesis Essay Assignment: Write a researched, literary analysis through a chosen critical lens. You will choose at least two works of literature and compare and contrast how the lens brings meaning to each of the works. Look back through all steps of the free writing process Carefully consider the responses under “So What?”. Write three possible thesis statements. o Remember: A thesis statement should state the main argument you plan on making in your essay and should name the primary texts you will analyze. o Remember: Your topic may have been written about before. Your goal is to find an angle on this topic that helps readers see what they haven’t noticed before. o Remember: Your thesis sets boundaries and rules for what you will write about in your essay--don't take on too much or too little o Remember: A thesis is not a promise--it can, and should evolve as you write your essay

7. Thesis Examples Through analysis of the fire archetype in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia, fire’s intense destructive capabilities—in many of its physical and metaphorical embodiments—are exposed, but they are balanced by the hope for renewal and life. Annie Proulx, author of the novel The Shipping News, and Thomas McCarthy, director of the lyrical film The Visitor, both illustrate the importance of community and relationships in the transformation of heroes from brokenness to wholeness. In the Odyssey by Homer, and The Awakening by Kate Chopin, two independent women show their capabilities of holding their own in a man’s world. Unfortunately, in the history of male dominance and restricted female roles through the early 1900’s, women who sought independence may have accomplished a peace of mind, but never completely broke free from the entrenched roles of housewife and mother.

8. Essay Organization Cause-to-Effect (or vice versa) o Organize your essay around a cause of a problem (like inconsistencies in the function of your lens or conflicting responses to your text) and describe the effects on literature and/or our understanding of the topic Simple-to-Complex o Begin with what is obvious about your topic and move to what is less obvious and reveals its complex nature General-to-Specific (or vice versa) o Start with a broad view of the topic and then move into some more specific aspect of it Comparison-and-Contrast o Compare and/or what it looks like when your lens is applied to each one of your primary sources texts (point by point or subject by subject) Combining Approaches o Each of these may be used alone, but they will more likely be used in combination Others????

9. Essay Planning Consider the three thesis statements you have written. Choose the one you like best. Spend 15-20 mins brainstorming a plan for your essay Here is a possibility: Make a list of claims you can make to prove your thesis statement. Find evidence to support each claim. Begin planning how you will organize your essay. Remember: o You will need citation for all data (quoted and paraphrased) o You need to use a minimum of four secondary and 2 primary sources in your essay o Make sure you are not using evidence out of context to fit your purpose o Use a balance of paraphrased and directly quoted evidence

10. Writing the Lead John McPhee says, The first part—the lead, the beginning—is the hardest part of all to write. I’ve often heard writers say that if you have written your lead you have written 90 percent of the story. You have tens of thousands of words to choose from, after all, and only one can start the [essay], then on after that, and so forth. And your material, at this point, is all fresh and unused, so you don’t have the advantage of being in the middle of things. You could start in any of many places. What will you choose? Leads must be sound. They should never promise what does not follow. Leads, like titles, are flashlights that shine down into the [essay].

11. Write Three Possible Leads for your Essay (NO THESIS!) Some possible angles for your lead: o Anecdote: think of a little story that nicely frames what your paper is about. This may be a classic example of your archetype. o Scene: begin by giving readers a look at some revealing aspect of your topic. A paper on an archetypal setting might begin with a description of what the land looks like. o Profile: try a lead that introduces someone who is important to your topic. If your archetype is a character, you may start with a profile of what this character typically (or un-typically) appears as o Background: you might begin by providing important and possibly surprising background information on your topic. Your essay may begin with a review of what critics had to say, or by giving general background info. on your archetype o Contrast: try a lead that compares two apparently unlike things that highlight the problem or dilemma the paper will explore. If you found two very different representations of your archetype, you may wish to set up the divide early and then attempt to explain throughout o Exploding a Moment: Choose a memorable moment from your experience with the research process and write about that moment in slow motion, using as much detail as possible. It may be a moment when you had an epiphany about your archetype, your research, your work of literature, etc.

12. Choosing a Lead Have 2 different people read your leads and ask which is the strongest and makes them want to read on. Choose the lead you like. Mark the lead and trade with a classmate. After you trade, answer the following questions in the next available writing space: o What do you predict this paper is about? o What do you think the thesis will be? o How would you characterize the tone of the essay?