Choose one of the published essays from the list, below. In brief: Explain what the essay is saying and how it is constructed (see below for specific instructions). And explain to us your personal evaluation of the essay. (What parts work best for you, personally? Why? What parts work not so well for you, personally? Why? How would you reply to or enlarge upon the essay's ideas?)
Organizing your paper:
1. Paragraph lof your paper. Give a brief overview of the main points you make in your paper. Write this part last (then put it at the beginning of your final draft).
2. Paragraph: What is the main point (= main generalization = thesis) of the essay, as you understand it? Be sure to express the main point in the form of a proposition about how the world works. Discuss very briefly. (Example: the "main point' or "thesis" of Molly Callahan's essay could be stated, thus: "The purpose of a college education is to teach you that it's okay to be lost.")
3. Paragraph 3: Briefly describe how the essay (the essay you're writing about) is organized, as you see it. (How many major sections does it seem to have? What is happening in each?). Keep this part of your paper a brief overview. Go into detail about these matters later, in part W.
4. Additional paragraphs: (Typically, each major section of the essay would have a "main point' of its own. Lets call this point a "sub-thesis." The writer might state this point explicitly, or he might let the detais imply this point. The several sub-theses would all add up to help make the main thesis [= main generalization, overall main point) of the essay. ["Still Separate, Still Unequal" is a very clear example of this.))
For each major section that you have identified, discuss what the "sub-thesis" of that section is, and--importantly-discuss the sfs the writer has composed to (implicitly or explicitly) argue that sub-thesis. Identify the kinds of sfs the writer has composed in each section-statistics? reports of things he has personally observed? quotations from authiftfties? facts from newspaper stories?-and cite some particular examples. (Compose lots of sfs yourself here, including quotations from the essay.)
5. Final paragraph or paragraphs: From your own perspective discuss how persuasive you found the essay. What parts (if any) did not work well for you? How come? What parts (if any) did work well for you? How come? How would you reply to or enlarge upon the essay's ideas? If you can connect some of your own experiences with the points the writer is making, please do so.