Supporting writings … PROVING YOUR CASE and
WINNING!!!!
Your character analysis will be a five-paragraph essay. When writing,
equate the experience to a courtroom setting in which you are the
lawyer trying to win your case before a judge and jury. Your thesis
statement is the case you are trying to prove, the judge will decide
if your support is admissible in your case, and the burden of proof
is on you to prove the case, the thesis statement, in order to win.
Think of your primary source (the story you have selected) as the information YOU have gathered about the
case to prove the assertions you have in your thesis statement, also considered your case. Using this same
analogy, consider how your paper itself equates to a trial – your introduction to the opening argument, your
body paragraphs to the case itself that you MUST prove to win, and the conclusion or the closing argument.
Therefore, for this court trial . . .
YOU MUST CHOOSE SPECIFIC SUPPORT TO PROVE THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR CHOSEN
PROTAGONIST. The five-paragraph essay will include specific examples and quotes for support. Before
submitting your essay for grading, examine it carefully for the following:
Write a good five-paragraph essay of at least 500 words in length.
Incorporate all of the good writing practices you learned in Comp I.
Remember the organization of a typical five-paragraph essay plus the requirements for Comp II
writings.
o
Paragraph One Introduction
Must include the authors full name, the story title
Must gain readers attention and interest
Must NOT contain a quote
Must contain a thesis statement that drives the entire essay
Thesis statement must be last sentence in the paragraph.
Thesis statement must contain the three
specific
points you are supporting in
your paper.
No…absolutely NO sentence should follow the thesis statement since it is the last
sentence in the Introduction.
o
Paragraph Two Point #1
The topic sentence…the VERY first sentence in the paragraph…must specifically name
the point
found in your thesis statement and the point the paragraph will prove. Do
NOT use a quote in the topic sentence and do NOT begin your proof in the first
sentence.
The second sentence begins the support for this specific first point.
Support continues until you have proven your point. Balance your proof between
paraphrasing and specific inclusion of quoted material. Avoid LONG quotes for proof.
Use only phrases, not entire sentences. Remember this is ONLY 500 words, so you do
not want long quotes to fill your paragraphs.
ALL sentences must support this point or the information is inadmissible in court. The
information you state may be true, but if it does not help
prove
your point, you are
wasting your time including it because the judge will not consider it as evidence, only
useless information about your case, not beneficial information to prove your case.
Those sentences that do NOT support are marked through and eliminated as both
support and word count.
The paragraphs concluding sentence ties back to the topic sentence. Do NOT use a
quote in the concluding sentence.
o
Paragraph Three Point #2
Follow the same instructions as you did for Point #1. This time, however, you will be
supporting Point #2.
o
Paragraph Four Point #3
Follow the same instructions as you did for Point #1. This time, however, you will be
supporting Point #3.
o
Paragraph Five Conclusion
Must include the three points once again, but you do not have to restate your thesis
statement.
No quotes should be in the conclusion.
Include relevant quoted material for support.
Observe all typing rules that MLA formatting and documentation requires, including a Works Cited
page. Of course, a heading should be on the first page and a header should be on
all
pages, as
required by MLA.
Remember to write in present tense because literature comes alive each time you read it. However,
quoted material may remain in its original tense.
BEWARE: You will submit this writing, as all of your writings, through a plagiarism program.
Additional Requirements:
o
Include a catchy title, not the characters name.
o
Arial, 12 font
o
At least 500 words in length
o
Double spaced, 1 margins
o
Header upper right corner, from top of the page
o
Heading that includes the following left justify the information
Your name
Instructor May
ENG 1123Z
Due Date Do not abbreviate the date.
o
Must include quotes for support.
