English I Honors—September 22, 2015

• Daily Warm-up: Why do we use MLA format? What is the purpose of a Works Cited page and internal citations?

• Have your argument outline and draft out so I can come around and give you a grade.

• Homework:– Login to Turnitin.com by tomorrow night and complete the Discussion

Board Questions. You must also respond to at least one of your peer’s posts. The response must be appropriate and related to the post.

– Bring a list of your sources to class on Wednesday. – Final draft of essay will be due Monday to Turnitin.com at 11:59.– Study for Units 1-3 Vocabulary test on Friday (Lessons 1-3, 5-7, and 9-11).– Reading Plus homework due Sunday at 11:59.

Unit 1 EA2—Writing an Argumentative Essay

Your assignment is to write an essay of argumentation about the value of a college education. Your essay must be organized as an argument in which you assert a precise claim, support it

with reasons and evidence, and acknowledge and refute counterclaims.

Unit 1 EA2—Writing an Argumentative Essay

Skills and Knowledge:• Write a well-developed introduction with appropriate background, a clear explanation of

the issue, a claim, and a thesis.• Present body paragraphs that strongly support the central claim with relevant details.• Summarize counterclaims and clearly refute them with relevant reasoning and evidence.• Conclude by clearly summarizing the main points and providing logical suggestions.• Follow a clear organizational structure with a logical progression of ideas and effective

transitions that move the reader through the text.• Integrate credible source material into the text (with accurate citations) smoothly.• Use a formal writing style and correct spelling, with excellent command of standard

English conventions.

Embedded Assessment 2—Writing an Argumentative Essay

• Topic: Your assignment is to write an essay of argumentation about the value of a college education.

• Due Date: Monday (9/28) at 11:59 to Turnitin.com. • Format: MLA

– Typed– Times New Roman, 12 point font– Double spaced– 1 inch margins (do not adjust margins)– Heading with your name, my name, class, date, word count– Header with your name and page number– Correctly formatted Works Cited page and internal citations which correspond.

• Word Count: 600-750 words• Scoring: You will use the rubric provided.

Argumentative Essay Outline• I. Introduction

– A. Hook (more than just a question, it must really make your reader interested in your essay).– B. Background and explanation of the issue.– C. Strong claim/thesis (College is most certainly the best option because…/College is not a good

choice because…)• II. First point

– A. You need a strong transition, and your first point should be your topic sentence.– B. Give at least three pieces of evidence to support your first point. Each piece of evidence

should be its own sentence.– C. Closing sentence.

• III. Second Point– A. You need a strong transition, and your second point should be your topic sentence.– B. Give at least three pieces of evidence to support your second point. Each piece of evidence

should be its own sentence.– C. Closing sentence.

• IV. Third Point– A. You need a strong transition, and your third point should be your topic sentence.– B. Give at least three pieces of evidence to support your third point. Each piece of evidence

should be its own sentence.– C. Closing sentence.

Argumentative Essay Outline

• V. Counterclaim– A. Address the counterclaim (signal words: Others may believe that; It can be argued

that; On the other hand; Another perspective is; One could argue that; Opponents disagree because)

– B. Refute the counterclaim using evidence, data, facts, and logic (however; yet; but this interpretation is flawed/questionable; yet studies suggest; but what they fail to acknowledge is).

• VI. Conclusion– A. Restate your claim/thesis in a creative way that makes your argument clear to the

reader.– B. Summarize the main points of your argument.– C. Provide a call to action. What should be done to fix the problem? What should

someone do if he/she agrees with you?

Signal Phrases• Definition of a signal phrase:

– A phrase that signals to the reader that either a direct quote or a paraphrase is about to follow.• Examples:

– The two most common and scholarly signal phrases are "Smith suggests that. . ." and "Smith argues that. . ."

• The problem:– The examples above are both fine signal phrases, but a research paper that contains many in-text

citations can become rather tedious to read if every quotation is introduced in the same manner, for all writers tend to develop their own particular writing style habits.

– In other words, writers find words and phrases that become favorites, and develop a tendency to use them frequently. The signal phrase often proves to be an instance where this repetitiveness occurs.

• Detecting the problem through proofreading and editing:– After you have a rough draft of your paper check all your signal phrases. If you discover that your

favorite signal phrase verb seems to be “suggests,” then edit your paper by varying the verb. Although this is a simple revision tactic it is very effective, and will help to turn a somewhat tedious prose style into an interesting one.

• Alternate signal phrase verbs:– Acknowledges, adds, admits, agrees, argues, asserts, believes, claims, comments, compares, confirms,

contends, declares, denies, disputes, emphasizes, endorses, grants, illustrates, implies, insists, notes, observes, points out, reasons, refutes, rejects, reports, responds, suggests, thinks, writes.

Embedded Quote Examples• Embedded quote at the beginning of a sentence:

– “Curley [won’t give anyone] a chance” because Curley is so insecure he must always be the winner (Steinbeck 27).

• Embedded quote in the middle of a sentence:– Although Candy, the ranch hand, doesn’t appear smart, he knows that Curley

doesn’t fight fair because when Curley “jumps a big guy an’ licks him. Ever’body says what a game guy Curley is. And [if Curley] gets licked. Then ever’body says the big guy outta pick on somebody his own size.” This illustrates that Curley is manipulative and not to be trusted (Steinbeck 27).

• Embedded quote at the end of a sentence:– Candy is aware of Curley’s manipulative tactics when he says, “S’pose Curley

jumps a big guy an’ licks him. Ever’body says what a game guy Curley is. And [if Curley] gets licked. Then ever’body says the big guy outta pick on somebody his own size” (Steinbeck 27).

• Embed snippets:– Curley’s insecurities lead him to fight “big [guys and lick them]” and even

though he loses sometimes, he makes people take his side and say “the big guy outta pick on somebody his own size” (Steinbeck 27).

Transitions• The writer must remember to order his or her details appropriately and help the reader

follow the order by including transitional words and phrases. These words and phrases will appear not only at the beginning of each new paragraph, but also within the paragraph, between ideas and before source information.

• Illustration: Thus, for example, for instance, namely, to illustrate, in other words, in particular, specifically, such as

• Contrast: On the contrary, contrarily, notwithstanding, but, however, nevertheless, in spite of, in contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, or, nor, conversely, at the same time, while this may be true

• Addition: And, in addition to, furthermore, moreover, besides, than, too, also, both-and, another, equally important, first, second, etc., again, further, last, finally, not only-but also, as well as, in the second place, next, likewise, similarly, in fact, as a result, consequently, in the same way, for example, for instance, however, thus, therefore, otherwise

• Examples: For example, for instance, to illustrate, thus, in other words, as an illustration, in particular

• Consequence or Result: So that, with the result that, thus, consequently, hence, accordingly, for this reason, therefore, so, because, since, due to, as a result, in other words, then

• Summary: Therefore, finally, consequently, thus, in short, in conclusion, in brief, as a result, accordingly

• Suggestion: For this purpose, to this end, with this in mind, with this purpose in mind, therefore