Essay Cycles Writing Prompt
For each essay cycle, instead of responding to a question or prompt chosen for you, youwill identify a question at issue that arises in the readings and answer it, using theenthymeme format to structure your argument.
Examples:
Question at Issue: Are rags-to-richesstories especially appealing to Americans?
Enthymeme (statement in answer to Q@I + reason): Rags-to-richesstories are especiallyappealing to Americans because these stories give examples of the "American Dream" of socialand economic upward mobility.
Unstated Assumption (anything that / anyone who [reason] [statement]): Anything that givesexamples of the "American Dream" of social and economic upward mobility is especiallyappealing to Americans.
In order to develop your essay from an enthymeme, you will proceed to answer the three"how" questions based on your statement, reason, and UA.
Examples:
1. How are ragstorichesstories especially appealing to Americans?*
2. How do these stories give examples of the "American Dream" of social and economicupward mobility?
3. How is anything that gives examples of the "American Dream" of social and economicupward mobility especially appealing to Americans?
*Note that the first of the "3 how" questions is also your Q@I (or its negation) preceded by"how".
For the first essay cycle, you are required to get your enthymemes and questions atissue approved by me before the due date listed on the syllabus; for subsequent cyclesyou are strongly encouraged to get approval as well.
This is because realizing early that youneed to revise your enthymeme can save you from writing pages (or entire drafts!) that you endup needing to scrap and rewrite.
You will also include a counterargument that addresses either your statement, your reason, or your unstated assumption (by disagreeing with its claims, its scope, its terms, its logic, its applicability, etc.) and defend your argument against it. The counterargument isrequired for the second and third essay cycles and recommended for the first as well.
All sources must be properly cited within the text and the works cited page must fit MLAformatting guidelines. If you have any difficulty with or questions about citation formats, youcan consult either the Little Duck Handbook or the UO libraries' online guide, or you can contactme directly.
Each essay is due first as a .1 version; after participating in peer review and receiving feedbackfrom me, you will revise and resubmit it as a .2 version, which will be evaluated on the abovecriteria listed in bold as well as your progress through the cycle. Please refer to the coursewriting rubric for more detail on the grading standards.
Writing Rubric: Essay Characteristics by Letter Grade
F-levelwork:
? Does not have a unifying thesis
? Does not develop logically and is completely disorganized
? Fails to provide any examples; does not use or quote source text
? Has not been revised from the .1, or student did not submit .1
? Difficult to follow due to extensive grammatical errors
? Does not include counterargument
? Argument does not address any of the three "how" questions or only addresses one
D-levelwork:
? Contains thesis statement but no enthymeme format
? Responds to a question that is not at issue
? Consists primarily of digressions
? Makes numerous unfounded assumptions
? Misuses or misinterprets evidence
? Minimal analysis of source material
? Makes little effort to integrate and/or cite sources
? Has been minimally revised from the .1: only at the sentence level, or only for
grammar
? Attempts to address possible counterarguments
that do not respond to the
enthymeme
? Grammatical errors obscure meaning
? Argument only addresses two of the three "how" questions
? Argument feels undeveloped or only operates on a surface level
C-levelwork:
? Presents an adequate or obvious thesis
? Develops logically, with few digressions
? Attempts to address assumptions
? Offers some supporting evidence
? Analyzes evidence in general, nonspecific terms
? Evidence is relevant but poorly integrated
? Minor revisions since .1
? Acknowledges possible counterarguments
that respond to enthymeme
? Is peppered with grammatical issues
? Problems with MLA format for intext
citations and/or works cited page
? Argument responds to all three "how" questions but does not fully answer them
? Argument length and scope is acceptable
B-levelwork:
? Presents a thoughtful and logically sound thesis
? Develops in a clear and logical manner
? Explores all stated and unstated assumptions
? Offers plenty of relevant evidence
? Carefully analyzes each piece of evidence
? Textual evidence properly integrated
? Has been carefully and thoughtfully revised
? Carefully explores possible counterarguments
responding to enthymeme
? Conforms to accepted conventions and MLA formatting
? Argument responds thoroughly to all three "how" questions
? Argument feels fully developed
A-levelwork
? Meets all criteria for Blevel
work but has an additional layer of insight, style, and
polish
other notes: