argument from anecdote
4
Your Last Name
INSTRUCTIONS: Use this template to create your outline. All text in red should be either edited and recolored black by you or erased from your draft.
Your Full Name
Professor’s Name
English 1301
Date in this format: 12 January 2016
Your Working Title for Your Esay
I. Introduction
a. Write your opening thought.
b. Write your big or overarching idea.
c. THESIS STATEMENT: Write your thesis statement.
II. BODY ONE
a. TOPIC SENTENCE: Write your topic sentence. This is the first idea you are going to address with a story.
b. STORY: Summarize your first story.
i. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
ii. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
iii. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
iv. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
III. BODY TWO
a. TOPIC SENTENCE: Write your topic sentence. This is the second idea you are going to address with a story.
b. STORY: Summarize your second story.
i. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
ii. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
iii. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
iv. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
IV. BODY ONE
a. TOPIC SENTENCE: Write your topic sentence. This is the third idea you are going to address with a story.
b. STORY: Summarize your third story.
i. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
ii. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
iii. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
iv. Provide persuasive details related to your topic sentence.
V. CONCLUSION
a. Sum up your argument
b. Conclude with a lasting thought or image for your reader.
Remember as you’re looking over this list that you must have stories from your life to back up your point, not any other evidence. Whatever you write about MUST be something that happened to you, as you will be using your own anecdotes to back up your argument, not evidence that you get from research or online. You yourself must have experienced what you are going to discuss, and it must be an argument using your own small stories to back it up.
Once you have given it some thought, your first task is to create an outline of your essay. Outlining is important because planning what you write helps you deliver a stronger message to your audience.
Your outline should contain complete sentences because it is a graded assignment. It should follow this general pattern:
I. Introduction (4-6 sentences long) Introduce the general topic Move toward the more narrow topic that involves you End your introduction with a thesis sentence (the argument that you will make in your paper)
II. Body Paragraph One (10 – 18 sentences) Start the paragraph with a topic sentence (The main idea of the paragraph and one that develops the thesis) Develop the main idea of the topic using a story from your own life. The story should be one that took place in less than a day
III. Body Paragraph Two (10 – 18 sentences) Start the paragraph with a topic sentence (The main idea of the paragraph and one that develops the thesis) Develop the main idea of the topic using a story from your own life. The story should be one that took place in less than a day
IV. Body Paragraph Three (10 – 18 sentences) Start the paragraph with a topic sentence (The main idea of the paragraph and one that develops the thesis) Develop the main idea of the topic using a story from your own life. The story should be one that took place in less than a day.
V. Conclude your paper with a short paragraph (4-5 sentences) that does not start with the phrase “IN CONCLUSION.
The final draft should be at least 1000 words long. Please do not exceed 1500 words.