ENG 350: CONSTRUCTING A STRONG ARGUMENT/ WRITING AN ANALYSIS
THESE ARE THE 4 PORTIONS THAT YOU MUST COMPLETE IN ORDER TO DO AN
EXCELLENT 1st Paper:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Construct your INTRO PARAGRAPH
You can begin with a great anecdote/sentence that gets the reader’s attention, or helps
lead the reader into your argument. Or: simply introduce your author/book.
Present your actual argument/thesis statement – concise, clearly stated (underline
your thesis statement separately, so that I can see it clearly). See next page for an
example.
Supporting Paragraphs:
a) Each P begins with a clear “mini thesis”.
b) Each P should, in some way, be in “service of” your main paper argument (sometimes,
you have a brilliant P, but it may have nothing to do with the main argument (to the
reader’s eye)! So it’s your job to indicate, via your writing, to the reader why the point
you make in each P is connected to/essential to the paper’s argument. “
c) Remember that this is not a summary or a review of the book, or a biography of the
author. Details, quotes, and bits of “what happened” are added only as “evidence” of a
point you are trying to make.
FUNDAMENTALS:
1. YOUR NAME: _______________________________________
2. 12PT TIMES FONT__________________
3. 2 FULL PAGES (ENG 360)/3 FULL PAGES (ENG 465)? _________________
4. NUMBERED YOUR PAGES? __________________
5. WORKS CITED? ___________________
(i) Are the sources listed in alphabetical order?__________________
(ii) Is my Primary source listed?___________________
(iii) Are my ACADEMIC secondary sources listed?_______________
(v) Have I ACTUALLY used/quoted these articles, etc. in my paper? _____________
(vi) Have I used MLA rules to cite each entry properly?________________
CITING ‘SECONDARY’ SOURCES AND ‘PRIMARY’ SOURCE(S):
a) The book(s) you are writing about is the “primary source(s)”
b) The “secondary sources” are articles, interviews, etc. that “Comment on” the
book
* “Academic” sources means: all articles from the library site are excellent.
* an article from major national/ international newspapers is ok.
(the websites for these newspapers are ok, too: the BBC, NY Times, Wash Post, etc.)
* interviews on NPR/BBC is ok.
EVERY GOOD INTRO PARAGRAH HAS A “WHAT”, “WHY” AND “HOW”:
1. WHAT: WHAT ARE YOU WRITING ABOUT? WHAT IS THE MAIN POINT? (THESIS)
a) A catchy opening:
In 2001, many Americans believed that Iran was a nation inherently tainted by “evil” – the fact that it was named
part of the now-infamous “Axis of Evil” meant that we saw Iran as the location that oppressed women, produced
terrorists, and wanted, ultimately, to destroy America and its “freedom.”
b) Getting to the point: Comic artist Marjane Satrapi’s two-volume memoir, Persepolis I and II, provide a
counterbalance to such views. She writes about the lives of ordinary Iranians, living in the midst of enormous
political upheaval, unable to do much to stop the oppressive edicts of the “Islamic” Revolution that took over the
nation.
2. WHY: WHY IS THIS IDEA IMPORTANT? THIS IS THE “ARGUMENT” PART OF YR THESIS
Here’s where you introduce/ present the PROBLEM, or the QUESTION you want to ask:
THE QUESTION(S): Why is Satrapi writing this memoir – especially in a fashion that is accessible to the “west,”
and in a “package” that is very attractive to a large audience? Why is this memoir important for us to read?
Satrapi’s memoir arrives in the world at a time when the world’s only remaining “superpower” is, once again,
contemplating an invasion of Iran – an invasion accompanied by the brutality, chaos, and destruction similar to that
of their neighbour, Iraq.
You can even expand here:
Instead of writing her memoir in a conventional narrative, she chooses a comic – precisely because her expertlycreated images, coupled with minimal language sure to provoke irony, humour, and ….., allow the reader easy
access to this otherwise difficult-to-read story.
3. HOW: How will you go about “proving” your argument? What will you address in each paragraph?
This is where you work out HOW you are going to “prove” your point – that is, what major areas you will
cover in order to logically present yr argument:
By addressing the specific details that Satrapi presents – her childhood, her family’s dynamics, the role that her
mother and grandmother played in her life, their resistance of each oppressive regime – and the price that her
family has paid over the decades, and her very use of the comic form to create her memoir – we, as readers, can
begin to understand why the author’s strategy is so successful. Her ability to draw familiarities and intimacies with
readers who imagine her people to be “extremists” leads to….blah blah blah………
(This is often called “forecasting” because it “predicts” the order of your paragraphs – often, people write
this sentence AFTER they organise their paragraphs)
__________________________________________________________________________________
The strategies you list in PART 3 become the “topic sentences”/ main arguments in each P. Each of these
ideas (the reasons in yr list become headings for Ps in the body of the paper.
So your paragraph order will look something like this:
a) Satrapi begins with the story of her childhood – it shows that people in Iran were as surprised and resistant to
the repressions of the “islamic” Revolution
b) Write about the next Strategy S. uses to draw similarities between herself/audience
c) (same) e.g. Her parents/grandmother are presented in a way we would never expect – what does that do for our
understanding of Iranians?
d) (same) Adolescence/rebellion – the same as any teenager…(why this is important
e) Use of Comic/images and words – how that is a better tool for creating an intimacy with audience – better than
writing alone
f) More of the same
g) How will you conclude?….
-Expand on these points in the paragraphs, and stick to ONE POINT in each P.
SO: PARAGRAPH 1 will look something like this:
Satrapi begins with the story of her childhood; in fact the first pages of Persepolis I covers her – and her
schoolmates’ – bewilderment at the forced edict for all girls and women in Iran to wear veils. When she begins her
story, we - though a “Western” audience with our heads already full of preconceived ideas about oppressed and
repressed women in the Middle East, realise that people n Iran were as surprised and resistant to
1. NOW: MAP OUT YOUR OWN “WHAT”, “WHY” AND “HOW”:
1. WHAT: WHAT ARE YOU WRITING ABOUT? WHAT IS THE MAIN POINT? (THESIS)
A catchy opening:
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
b) The point – Intro the author/book (use author’s FULL name here – and refer to her/him using ONLY the
surname/last name after this). Book names are Underlined or Italicised.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. WHY: WHY IS THIS IDEA IMPORTANT? THIS IS THE “ARGUMENT” PART OF YR THESIS
Here’s where you introduce the “QUESTION” you want to ask:
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. HOW: How will you go about “proving” your argument? What will you address in each paragraph?
(Write your version of the “Forecast Sentence” here)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What are the “thesis Sentences/Main Arguments you will address in each P? This plan illustrates how you
are going to “prove” your point –
a) ________________________________________________________________________________________
b) ________________________________________________________________________________________
c) ________________________________________________________________________________________
d) ________________________________________________________________________________________