Specifics: This essay must be at least five full pages not counting the Works Cited page. You will incorporate at least three (3) outside sources, and Graff does not count as one of those for this essay.
A. Your one-paragraph introduction will:
- Begin with a sentence introducing your topic to be discussed.
- Provide subsequent sentences so that enough background information has been given to make the importance and timeliness of the topic clear.
- End with a thesis claim that emerges organically from the preceding sentences and directly responds to the topic assigned for the essay.
B. Your thesis will:
- Be the last sentence in your introduction.
- Neither be a question nor an announcement.
- Clearly state the short version of your essay’s larger point or argument—the body of the paper develops and proves this statement true.
C. Each body paragraph will:
- Have a first sentence that serves as both transition and topic sentence, and which is entirely in your own words.
- Offer a well-developed discussion of a single idea using one specific, concrete example from evidence, which will be clearly supportive of your thesis.
- End with a sentence that is entirely in your own words.
D. Your conclusion will:
- Remind the audience what has been learned.
- Restate your thesis as proven rather than as promise.
- Offer a closing insight or suggest an idea for further consideration.
Additionally, your paper will end with a correctly formatted Works Cited page; its alphabetical list of sources will have all sources used in the essay and will not list any source not cited in it.
E. The works cited page will:
- have “Works Cited” centered at the top of the page in the same type size and font as the essay (without the quotation marks, underline or bold-face type).
- be neither numbered nor bulleted.
- list entries in alphabetical order by the first word in each entry.
- have an entry for each source used in the essay.
| The title is in the author’s own words and is informative and creates interest. It is in the same font and size as the rest of the paper. There is only a single line space above and below the title. | |
| The introduction identifies the issue and provides enough information about the topic so that the thesis is a single declarativesentence ending the introduction. | |
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The thesis clearly states the writer’s position on the argument that follows without being an announcement or a question. |
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| The body paragraphs are organized in a logical way with transitional sentences leading the reader from one paragraph to the next. There are no subtitles between paragraphs. | |
| Each body paragraph clearly and completely discusses one point with specific examples and details. The discussion is done without making announcements about what will be done. | |
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Outside material is properly introduced, cited, and connected to the main idea. Each source also appears on the Work (or Works) Cited page. Quotations are properly closed, and the sentence following any quotation will not contain the word “quote.” Your readers know what a quotation is; don’t insult them. |
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| Because any use of source material needs both context and development, the first and last sentences of all body paragraphs are entirely in the author’s own words. | |
| The conclusion ties things together, summarizes the main idea, and restates the thesis as proven. | |
| Basic grammar check. Every clause has a subject and verb which agree in person and number; every pronoun has a clear antecedent. Punctuation is placed inside quotation marks unless the quotation ends the sentence in which case there is only a single, terminal punctuation mark after the parenthetical citation.
Some Potential sources linked here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839644/ https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/news/writing-engage https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/writingacrossthecurriculum/2022/11/29/making-it-personal-a-tool-for-student-engagement/ https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Meaningful_Writing_Project/LPcZDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover |