1. Writing the claim

2. Claims of fact and value
Use present tense
Assert that something is true or not true
Assert that something does or doesn’t have worth
Fully responds to the prompt
Includes reference to author, rhetoric, and reader.

3. Example Prompt
What is the essay’s thesis? At what point in the essay does it appear? Why do you think Peter and Hull wait so long to state it? Where do you need to assert a fact? Where do you need to assert a value? How will you combine author, rhetoric and reader?

4. Assert a fact
What is the essay’s thesis? At what point in the essay does it appear? Why do you think Peter and Hull wait so long to state it? The essay’s thesis, “In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence,” comes near the end.

5. Assert a value
What is the essay’s thesis? At what point in the essay does it appear? Why do you think Peter and Hull wait so long to state it? The authors wait to state the thesis to be sure they’ve provided enough background to be convincing.

6. Synthesize fact and value with author, rhetoric and reader
What is the essay’s thesis? At what point in the essay does it appear? Why do you think Peter and Hull wait so long to state it? The authors structure this essay so that the thesis comes after a series of anecdotal evidence so the reader more easily accepts their new and possibly controversial principle.