Workshop

For the workshop, you should come to class with a complete typed draft of your paper, with a thesis statement you can underline and clear topic sentences beginning each paragraph. Your evidence should be logically arranged and come to a clear conclusion. Then we'll start revising.

It may be helpful to have a list of the elements on which your paper will be graded. These elements will not be assessed in a formulaic way, but they are the basic ingredients for excellence in an argumentative or expository paper. They are:

thesis statement: strong, clear, innovative; states the argument and explains how the author will back it up;

examples and evidence from the text and/or reliable sources: well-chosen quotations and examples; supports the thesis thoroughly; does not leave out any obvious examples to support the thesis; all examples are relevant;

analysis: thorough use of the text/sources to support the thesis; the best papers offer a complex and sophisticated analysis of the text/sources;

organization: logical; easy to follow; good structure, with introduction, body and conclusion;

mechanics: correct grammar and spelling; use of spell checker and grammar checker is essential here;

writing style: clear and aids understanding; concise; main ideas are presented in separate paragraphs; each topic sentence shows how that paragraph relates back to the thesis;

specifications: follows format on Essays web page; has an interesting title; cites sources clearly; length no shorter than specified in the assignment.

If the assignment requires the use of footnotes or bibliography, you may use either the MLA style or the APA style.