Recipe for an “A” Paper

Alfred Hitchcock

Good

ENG. 122

16 March 2012

Ingredients:

A topic you care about.
A strong thesis statement.
A compelling intro and conclusion.
Adherence to the assignment: correct length and format (MLA), appropriate sources, cited correctly in a Works Cited page, turned in on time.
Principle of Clarity, Principle of Charity.
Good reasons, presented logically (and without fallacies) to support your thesis.
Evidence to support your good reasons.
Strong objections, stronger counterarguments.
Good grammar, spelling, mechanics (proofread).
Consideration of the audience.
Organization, construction.
Accurate summary of sources.
Topic sentences.
Good transitions from between ideas and topics.

Step 1

Understand the assignment and pick a topic you care about.

Step 2

Format your essay.

Put your name, the instructor name, the class, and the date (write the due date) in the top left.
Set up page numbers with your last name.
Get the margins, font, font size, and spacing set. Write a working title, centered.
Save the document and give it a title that you’ll be able to identify easily.
Make sure save your work in a file format your instructor will be able to open: .doc, .docx, PDF.

Step 3

Develop a working outline (or mind map):

Write down your claim. This is your working thesis.
Write down all your reasons for believing that claim. (Outlines can be fancier, but this is a good start.)
Write down any reasons you can think of against your claim, and come up with counterarguments.
Note: the outlining process will likely go hand-in-hand with the research process. As you research you may find more supporting reasons to write down, and you may find opposing arguments to write down, etc. So don’t feel like you can’t start on Step 4 if this step isn’t finished. You may need to start on Step 4 before you can really start on Step 3.

Step 4

Research

Look for appropriate sources: (talk to a research librarian or search in the library database): scholarly journals, books, government docs, newspaper articles, reliable Web sites, experts, personal interviews?, visual sources, films?, groups and organizations (as long as they’re identified and credible), podcasts.
Also look for sources that contain opposing viewpoints.
Build your Works Cited page as you research. Whenever you find a good source, create a citation for it, following MLA style.

Step 5

Gather your evidence and turn your outline into a rough draft.

Turn your initial main claim into a solid thesis statement. If your thesis statement is not debatable, it is not a thesis statement. If your thesis statement ends with a question mark, it is not a thesis statement. If your thesis statement is buried in the middle of the fourteenth paragraph, it is just a random sentence, not a thesis statement.
Your thesis statement, in an academic essay, should show up early in the essay, ideally as the last sentence of your first paragraph.
Develop all the reasons you’ve listed. Recall the skeleton of an argument: an argument is a claim that is supported by reasons, which are supported by evidence. Your thesis is your main claim. Devote at least one paragraph (some reasons may require more than one) to each reason you listed in your outline. Use topic sentences to identify the reason, and bring in evidence from your sources to support your reason.
Use transition words—unlike, another, similarly, later, eventually—to ease transitions between paragraphs.
Describe opposing viewpoints and rebut them by making concessions or refuting them.
Cite your sources, following MLA style, whenever you quote, summarize, or paraphrase.
Write an introduction that interests the reader and introduces your topic.
Write a compelling conclusion. Don’t just restate your thesis.

Step 6

Read the essay aloud. Or have someone else read it aloud.
Have someone else read it, regardless.
Make everything better.
You might need to rewrite your thesis statement.
Reduce wordiness by eliminating redundancies and passive voice.
Proofread. Fix silly typos, spelling errors, etc.
Split up run-on sentences. Turn fragments into real sentences.
Try making a reverse outline to help with structure. See the OWL’s article “Reverse Outlining: An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work.”

Step 7

Set the essay aside for as long as possible.

Step 8

Revise it again. Repeat.

Comp Thing