Introduction

Formula – If you look at X (in book 1&2) you will see Y & Z. (x=x factor)

An examination of the the word “could” and other words like it in the article “Bathrooms” shows that the author has little to no information on his subject. This might seem surprising because…

Other things – counterargument, explanation of terms (define only using the text), overview of the different aspects of your paper, etc.

Introductions

Remember to write only a rough outline of an introduction and then write your body paragraphs, then refine and clarify your thesis and rewrite your introduction

Be clear! Your argument needs to be clear and focused.

Not – The article makes some good points and some bad points.

But – Parents do need to intervene when their kids are in a possibly dangerous situation in college but otherwise need to let their children grow on their own.

No Essay Should Start:

The article “Bathrooms” by Johnny X is an article about recent upgrades to Oceanside’s pier.

There is no clear thesis. The essay is a summary rather than an argument.

Make your argument right off the bat

Essay structure

Introduction (x-factor explained, thesis outlined)

Paragraph 1-2 (x factor delved into)

Paragraphs 3+ (extra evidence explored) – each paragraph should explain what this new evidence is doing here, how it is related to your x-factor

Conclusion (TBD)

Evidence = your manipulation of the text

Quotations / Evidence

The quote does not stand on its own and there it is, it is in your paper because you see something special in it

You are a lawyer, I am the jury and judge

Yes my client was discovered with a smoking gun, standing over the dead body, shouting “I did it!”.

If you look more closely, however, you see that his gun was a toy smoking gun, the deceased died of a brain injury and “I did it!” is my client’s way of expressing his religion.

Evidence is for you to use. Not for it to use you.

Do not “Quote and Drop”

Obviously God is a warm-hearted creature. “God said, ‘Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear’” (3). The things he creates are done to improve the world.

The quote is not explained here

Which part of the quote is the author referring to? It’s not clear from the quote what would be “improvements” on the world. The author has committed quote and drop. Their argument is weakened because of this.

Explain your evidence

The importance of order in the Bible can be seen as early as its first few verses. “God said, ‘Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear’” (3). Out of the anonymous mass of water God creates an ordered space, an “area” of “dry land” distinctly apart from the chaos surrounding it.

Use Quotations Sparingly

Do you need the whole quote? Why? If so explain why. If not, just use the words that you need.

Ex – Disorder is clearly a bad thing in Genesis. The dirty room of Adam is called “filthily unordered” (4), Abraham’s animal pen is labeled “disgustingly without order” (9), and Rebekah’s uncombed hair is referred to as being “in a total disarray like the evil of Satan himself” (11).

Conclusion

Never use “in conclusion”

Answer one or more of these:

Write something like “Based on the collective evidence it certainly seems that my thesis is a reasonable connection” – to start with

Don’t repeat exactly your thesis or your intro paragraph

What to put

Do you have any suggestive ideas based on your thesis that could be explored in a further paper elsewhere?

Ie – The se findings suggest that investigative journalism doesn’t exist in this article. An examination of the entire newspaper might further back this up. – does this thesis hold up there?

(a bigger application)

What is significant about your findings?

These findings suggest, in a larger sense, that we should critically reevaluate news stories in order to judge for ourselves whether or not they actually contain useful information.

What is missing? (can include that)

Perhaps an examination of this author’s other stories in the Tribune on other days would further the claims of this essay. On the other hand it might also show that this author does engage sometimes in investigative journalism. Either way, this article clearly shows a lack of research.

Ideas from elsewhere and YOU

These notions of journalism should be applied to all writing anywhere – how do we know what we know and where does it come from? In a bigger sense isn’t all writing a kind of information? But does it actually inform you?

You

How does what you’ve argued come from your life (as a student, as a person, as a family member, as a religious person, as a political person, etc.

As a parent with a daughter in college I can safely say that I am proud to check in with her from time to time. At the same time I feel it is going to be her life to live so she should make the decisions as to how she is going to do that. With my upbringing and as a role model myself I hope she makes the right choices for her future.

Intermission

Exercise

Read a partner’s homework

Do they have a thesis? What is it?

Can you suggest an alternative thesis?

An answer to “so what” at the end of their three paragraphs

Paper

Due next week –

Paper answering – Despite obviously not being a Prince of a country, the narrator of “Superassassin” shares a number of common traits. What do you make of these similarities or differences? What does the combination of these two very different works tell us about the human condition?

Family, politics, love, religion, language, knowledge, sight, etc. – whatever you want