Argumentative Essay is a Research Paper
Thesis Sheet
For research papers, think like a lawyer: A case (argument) must be built on evidence (facts). If you have no evidence, you have no case. The evidence you gather determines what case you can make. Therefore, we will start with the evidence so we don’t find ourselves at a dead end.
Use this thesis sheet to outline the rough draft for your argumentative essay. You divide all the evidence (facts) you’ve found about your topic into at least 3 groups. Using your 3 strongest groups, start answering the questions.
EXPLANATION (VIDEO TRANSCRIPT) :
Thesis Sheet Intro” Transcript
All non-substantive text, such as um, ah, or repeated phrases have been removed from this document. Actions on the screen are described in brackets.
This argumentative essay is a research paper. For research papers, think like a lawyer: a case or argument must be built on evidence or facts. If you have no evidence, you have no case. The evidence you gather determines what case you can make. Therefore, we will start with the evidence so we don’t find ourselves at a dead end.
What do I mean by a dead end? Let’s pretend I want to write a paper with the thesis that babies should be allowed to work at Goodwill. I did a little bit of research and found out that people who have been incarcerated work at Goodwill. Babies have never been incarcerated, so that already makes them more innocent. I also found out that disabled people work at Goodwill. Babies are not necessarily disabled, so they could be better, right? But if I keep researching, I’m pretty sure I will not find any articles arguing that babies, in particular, would make good employees at Goodwill. Therefore, I will not have enough evidence to build my case. In other words, I will not have enough facts to support my thesis.
[Switches to the Argument Construction Chart.]
[Description of Argument Construction Chart:
· Thesis
· Topic 1
· D1
· D2
· D”N”
· Topic 2
· D1
· D2
· D”N”
· Topic “N”
· D1
· D2
· D”N”
Legend:
· D represents detail
· N represents any number]
To avoid the scenario of the dead end, start with the research you have done [Circles the first group of details at the bottom of the chart], the facts that you have found, and decide what case you can build [Circles Topic 1, which the first group supports] based on those facts. Group your facts [Circles the second and third groups of details]. You might have any number of groups. That’s what the N stands for any number [Points to Topic N]. Group them together, decide what you can argue with each group [points out the topics], then decide what you can argue overall based on your topics [Circles the Thesis, which all topics support]. What you can argue overall is your thesis.
This thesis sheet assignment is going to guide you so that you’re building your argument from the ground up [Points from the groups of details up to the topics and up to the thesis] instead of from the roof down [Points from the thesis down to the topics and down to the details]. When building a house, you don’t build from the roof down, right? You want to build from the bottom up. If you try to build from the roof down, bad things can happen because maybe you didn’t have the parts you thought you had [Circles a group of details at the bottom]. We will avoid that kind of dead-end by doing this thesis sheet.
Question at position 1
1
5 points
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Question at position 1
What subject are you researching?
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What subject are you researching?
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Question at position 2
2
20 points
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Question at position 2
List your first group of facts here along with in-text citations.
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List your first group of facts here along with in-text citations.
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Question at position 3
3
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Question at position 3
Based on your first group of facts, what conclusion can you draw? This will be the topic sentence for the body paragraph. Write it here.
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Based on your first group of facts, what conclusion can you draw? This will be the topic sentence for the body paragraph. Write it here.
12pt
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Question at position 4
4
20 points
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Question at position 4
List your second group of facts here along with in-text citations.
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List your second group of facts here along with in-text citations.
12pt
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Question at position 5
5
5 points
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Question at position 5
Based on your second group of facts, what conclusion can you draw? This will be the topic sentence for the body paragraph. Write it here.
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Based on your second group of facts, what conclusion can you draw? This will be the topic sentence for the body paragraph. Write it here.
12pt
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Question at position 6
6
20 points
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Question at position 6
List your third group of facts here along with in-text citations.
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List your third group of facts here along with in-text citations.
12pt
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Question at position 7
7
5 points
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Question at position 7
Based on your third group of facts, what conclusion can you draw? This will be the topic sentence for the body paragraph. Write it here.
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Based on your third group of facts, what conclusion can you draw? This will be the topic sentence for the body paragraph. Write it here.
12pt
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Question at position 8
8
10 points
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Question at position 8
Based on the three topics you came up with, what conclusion can you draw about your subject? This will become the thesis for your paper. Write it here.
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Based on the three topics you came up with, what conclusion can you draw about your subject? This will become the thesis for your paper. Write it here.
12pt
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Question at position 9
9
10 points
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Question at position 9
Based on your thesis, what is one simple thing people should do? This is the call to action in your paper. Write it here.
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Based on your thesis, what is one simple thing people should do? This is the call to action in your paper. Write it here.
12pt
