Class Instructions for Draft 1-1 (Draft #1 of Essay #1)

Work with a partner and share your drafts. Spend some time reading them through and then openly discuss anything that occurs to you about them.

There is an old saying the order comes from chaos. The first draft was meant for you to explore chaos. Now it is time to pull together some order. Try as best you can to:
1. State your Essay Question
2. State your "answer" to that essay question (in one sentence).
3. This "answer" is your provisional "thesis" or claim. Now list as many REASONS why you think your claim is true or valid as you can. Start each one as a "because" clause --because..., --because

**************
Argument/Persuasion Essays have a Claim/Support structure

Claim
-----Reason (supporting)
-----Reason (supporting)
-----Reason (supporting)
...

Example related to Antigone:
Essay Question: What is Creon's tragic flaw?
Thesis: Creon's tragic flaw was his pride.

• Reason #1: First, evidence of Creon's pride as the source of this tragic flaw appears in his first decree outlawing the burial of Polynices.
• Reason #2: Further support for the theory that pride is the root of his tragic flaw can be seen in his scene with his son Haemon.
• Reason #3: Lastly, pride is confirmed as his downfall in his spurning of Teiresias the seer.

**************
Work with you peer to identify what you consider to be the key elements of your essay's logical structure: the Essay Question, your Claim, and your supporting REASONS. Go in turns and fill those out in the hand out I give you on Developmental Outlines. Type this “skeleton” of your essay’s” logical structure into a message in the “Essay Skeletons” forum.

IF you have time, pick one paragraph to find textual support for its REASON (scratch down page #s and line #s on the outline). Outline the “secondary support” for this REASON (“primary support”) by posting a reply to your own initial skeleton post.

Next do your Writer's Review by reading your own outline again and hitting reply (write on the topic below):

Writer's Review 1-1 Topic:

What stands out to you about peoples' thinking and approaches toward the topic so far? Consider your “essay question”—do you think it is clear? Is it what you really want to inquiry into? How has your own thinking on the topic changed or been confirmed from reading outlines of your peers. Where do you feel that you need to go with your essay from here?