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Essay Work book

INSTRUCTIONSThisEssayWorkbookisforyourusetoassistyouasyouendeavorintheprocessofwritingawinningargument. Itshouldbeusedasaguide inthat itshoulddictateonlythenecessaryaspectsofyour

argumentwhile thedepthandbreadthofyourargument isentirelyyourdecision. However,YOUSHOULDNOTBEGINWRITINGUNTILAFTERYOUHAVECOMPLETEDTHISWORKBOOK. Thisway,yourwillkeepyourself (andyourargument)ontaskthroughouttheentirewritingprocess. Lastly,

whilesomeabusetothisworkbookisboundtooccurduringthecourseofwritingofyouressay,itis

importanttonotethatprintoutsofthisworkbookmustbeclearandcrisp;otherwise, iftheprinter

ink issignificantlyfadedand/ormessyorthefontsunclear(bothusuallyduetolow ink inan inkjet

printer),youwillnotreceivecredit. Thisalsoappliesto illegiblepenmanshipif itcantberead, it

willlikewise

receive

no

credit.

Consider

using

alaser

printer

to

print

out

this

workbook.

TimelineWith a calendar at hand, enter the dates (all of them) into the timeline to the left to plan the

scheduleof your research andwriting. While this schedule is standard for collegelevel students,

enter only those dates that are relevant to the scope of your particular endeavordont feel

compelledtoinflateyourschedule. Ontheotherhand,shortcuttingwill,indeed,produceaninferior

argument. You might want to use pencil so that you can make adjustments as they become

necessarythroughouttheprocess. However,adjustmentsshouldbemadeonlyduetoextraordinary,unforeseencircumstances thatarise. Inotherwords,sticktoyouroriginalplanunlessachange isabsolutelynecessary!

Name

CollegeandCourse

WorkingTitle

DateDue

Tutor(s)atthe

WritingCenter

WritingCentersHours

STARTDATE(BEGINNINGTOTHINKSERIOUSLY

ABOUTTHEASSIGNMENT)

COMPLETIONOFPREPARATIONANDRESEARCH

COMPLETIONOFDRAFT1

REVIEWWITHATUTOR,TA,AND/OR

DR.ROSENBERG

COMPLETIONOFADDITIONALRESEARCH,IFNECESSARY

COMPLETIONOFDRAFT2

REVIEWWITHTUTOR

COMPLETIONOFDRAFT3

REVIEWWITHLEARNING

COMMUNITYCOMPLETIONOF

DRAFT4REVIEWWITHDR.ROSENBERG AND/ORTA

MUSTBE

STAPLEDHERE

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Preparation&BrainstormingWhat will be thefocus of yourargument? If nothingcomes to mindimmediately, youllneed to spend sometime thinking aboutthe assignment untilyoure able toarticulate an interest.Conducting somepreliminary researchalmost always curesa lack of interest.

Support ing evidence

Thisiswhenyouconductyour

research. Foreachofyourmajor

points,youllneedtodiscover

evidencetosupportthem. Use

thecellsbelowtoentercitation

information,suchasthetitleof

thebookinwhichyoufoundthe

evidence,

the

books

library

location,perhapsaURLany

typeofinformationthats

meaningfultoyou.

Evidence whic h

supports t he counter -argument

Likethelistofsupporting

evidence,usethecellsbelowto

enterwhatevermeaningful

informationhelpstoilluminate

whereyoufoundthecounter

argument.

In the firstcolumn to theright, refine yourinterests bylisting up to four

major points thatyou believe areworthy ofexploration.

Your argumentmust possess nofewer than threeand no greater

than four majorpoints.

Then, in the nextcolumn, list themajor counterarguments toeach point.

Major Points

of Your Argument

Major Points of the

Counter-Argument

(poin ts w hich re fu te those you

l i s ted in t he le f t -hand co lumn)

1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2

3 3 3 3

4 4 4 4

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CausalChain

MAJORPOINTSOFTHEARGUMENTSINTRODUCTION Instructions

1. Hereandinthegridonthenextpage,writeyourintroductions,evidence,discussions,counterarguments,andrefutationsofthe

counterargumentsasbriefnotestowhichyouwillreferlater

whencompletingyourdrafts.

2. Studythechainthatyouvecreated,isolatingthelogicofyourargument,theorderinwhichyourepresentingyourpoints.

Enter

as

many

counter

arguments

as

possible

and

then

refinethemtoonlythebestoneortwo.

Checktheevidence. Isthereenough? Isitcredible?3. Makeadjustmentstotheorganizationoftheargument.

Here,thinkaboutbothyouraudienceandthebest,mostpersuasivewaytopresentyourargument.

4. Writeandthenstudyyourconcludingpoints. Didyou,infact,tellemwhatyoujusttoldem? Inotherwords,iswhatyouvejusttoldthemreallyand

trulywhatyoujusttoldthem?

MAJORPOINTSOFTHEARGUMENTSCONCLUSION

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MAJORPOINTS 1 2 3 4

INTRODU

CTION

EVID

ENCE

DISC

USSION

C

OUNTER-

ARGUMENT

RESPONSETO

COUNTER-

ARGUMENT

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