To write this 7-8 page essay, you will:
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- Investigate your own thought process. Why is this topic important to you? When did it start becoming important to you? Has anything or anyone influenced you to become interested in this topic? Why should others care about it?
- Investigate the dominant conversation. What are others saying? What is the “dominant conversation” about your topic? Whose voices are heard the loudest and what do they say? What are some big public misconceptions about the topic? Or, do people just simply not know enough about it at all? Why is it important to challenge these misconceptions or provide awareness about the topic?
- Create Understanding. This is the part where you synthesize research, adding your own voice. You will analyze evidence from your researched materials that help you hold your topic up to scrutiny. How does this evidence prove your topic is important? Put yourself in conversation with these writers who are also interested in your topic. How do your arguments call for further study of this topic?
Part 1: Investigating your own thought process
Part 1 should include a substantial introduction in which you give context for this paper. You are encouraged to use the “I” to provide readers a relatable way into this topic.* Here are some templates you might use:
I’ve always wondered why ______________.
In the 21st century it has become increasingly important for us to _____________.
When I was younger, I always thought __________________. However, lately it’s become clear to me ________________.
I’ve never spent that much time thinking about why I am interested in ___________. But now I’m starting to understand that I’m interested in _____________ because ____________.
Some years ago I was struck by how many false things I had believed about ________________.
(Please try to rephrase the above templates in your own words).
Part 1 should also include an expansive introduction that gives us context for your argument. It should also include your research question and/ or your thesis statement.
* So many experts have so many different opinions on using the “I” (first person narration) in academic papers. My feelings are that it always depends on the context. However for the purposes of this course, I am interested in how your personal experiences, struggles, and expertise inform the topic. So I encourage it!
Part 2: Investigate the Dominant Conversation
Your engagement with a variety of voices concerned with your research topic is the most important part of this assignment. Craft your argument considering these voices. Do not just list what different sources say, summarize their objectives in your own words, quote when necessary, and compare their analyses with each other’s and with your own.
Here are some templates for acknowledging the dominant conversation, while expanding it:
Although I grant that ____________, I still argue that ________________.
Proponents of X are right to argue that ________________. But they miss the point when they claim that __________________.
While it is true that ________________, it does necessarily follow that _____________.
On the one hand, I agree with X that __________________. But on the other hand, I still insist that _______________.
Here is a general outline for thinking about how to move through the various sources you’ve compiled:
[Author Name] has also been writing and thinking about this topic. One particularly interesting insight they have made note of is ______________.
Another way to think about this topic is to look at it from ________________’s perspective. She argues that ________________.
I was surprised to find out that this author ________________ told a story about his childhood that related directly to my topic.
See Pages 293 – 309 of They Say; I Say for a much longer list of templates. They are surprisingly helpful for academic writing, and you might end up taking some of them with you for a long time!
Part 3: Create Understanding
Why does any of this matter? Why should we continue talking about this and studying it? What can it tell us about our futures?
Considering all of this, we should care about this topic because ____________.
Ultimately, what is at stake here is _______________.
Now that I’ve thought deeply about this topic, I think what matters most is not _________ but rather __________.
I always heard the dominant conversation about this topic, which is _____________. But after doing research, I’ve realized what we really need to address is ______________.
My discussion of X is in fact addressing the larger matter of _____________.
And one of my favorites:
Although X may seem of concern to only a small group of _____________, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about ____________.
My overall advice to you is: start the paper with an interesting or telling anecdote, statistic, or finding from your research, similar to the moves that Michelle Alexander and Ta-Nehisi Coates make in the beginnings of their respective work. Use this anecdote as a jumping off point from which to make the larger themes in your essay. Start specific, and then broaden the scope. Move outward into a paragraph that situates your essay’s thesis and/ or research question. The introduction does not have to be one paragraph, in fact, it should be multiple! Once you situate your thesis, move into Parts 2 & 3, always bringing us back to the way you started: with a compelling call to attention and action. Finish the essay up by looking forward: why should we care? Why does this matter? Should we change the way we talk about this? Should we do something?
Frequently Asked Questions:
Does each subargument need to be exactly one paragraph? No! In fact, let’s do away with the notion forever that body paragraph = subtopic. Very often, you’ll have so much detail or analysis to convey that you can communicate more clearly by breaking up a subargument into multiple paragraphs. In fact, when subarguments grow and develop into separate sub-arguments, you’re probably getting into a compelling and credible level of analysis. When you tell a story to a friend via text message, do you say everything in one long bubble or break it up? Think about paragraphs like that.
Do I always need exactly five subarguments and two counter arguments? What? No! The number of subarguments and counter arguments will always vary depending on your topic. It’s up to you to structure your argument any way that works best.
Do I always need to make all my subarguments first and then answer all my counterarguments? No again. Sometimes to make a subargument convincing, you need to raise and answer counterarguments, or bring up the “dominant conversation,” right away, before moving onto the next subargument. In making those decisions, try to put yourself in the readers’ shoes and ask what it would take to convince you. In general, you can often be most persuasive by putting your strongest arguments first and then answering counterarguments, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all rule.