Name
Professor
Class
Due Date
Jantomaso 1
Essay Title
I. Introduction
Describe the topic/issue that you’re responding to
Establish your ethos (what about you personally makes you a credible voice to
speak on this specific topic?)
Clarify the AUTHOR and TITLE of the work you’re
responding to.
Make your claim in your thesis, as the very last sentence of your introduction.
oSAMPLE THESIS: I disagree with Smalley’s claim that we should
remove technology from the college classroom because technology has the
potential to enhance student learning, create comradery among students,
and decrease teacher workload.
oRemember, this is a sample. Feel freedom to be creative, just make sure
you include the overall claim you are agreeing or disagreeing with (or
perhaps partially agreeing/disagreeing with) and give the reasons why.
Your reasons should line up with the smaller claims the author makes in
their article. These reasons will become your body paragraphs.
II.Summary of Opinion Piece Article
Jantomaso 2
As we practiced in class, summarize each paragraph of your opinion article in 1-2
sentences. This will ultimately create a paragraph or two-paragraph summary of
your entire opinion article.
Your own opinion should NOT appear in the summary. This is an objective
summary of the author’s main claims.
Remember to include a signal tag and ending citation. Since you have already
included the article name in the introduction, you do not need it in the summary.
III.Body Paragraphs:
An excellent paper for this assignment will show tight organization. Craft your
thesis carefully. Then, use your outline to organize your paragraphs to reflect the
same order as your thesis.
For this length of an essay (1200 words), I suggest three body paragraphs. This is
your essay, however, and you know how much room you will need for each sub-
topic.
If you have three topics in your thesis, you should have at least three body
paragraphs, but you can use more than one body paragraph per sub-topic if
needed.
Topic sentences at the beginning and end of each paragraph are crucial.
IV.Conclusion
Any concluding thoughts you have on the topic.
Restate the thesis.
Finally, I am PROUD of each of you and am anticipating reading your arguments! Each one of
you has shown me various strengths as a writer. I am excited to see these grow in this new
assignment. Smart people ask questions; so, if you have them, please reach out and ask!
Jantomaso 3
A creative way to tie off the essay is to make a connection back to your
introduction and use this same connection to come up with a catchy title. Many of
you do this already �
