Final Paper Draft

Rationale for Persuasive Essay Draft

There exist many templates and formats for various styles of essays. This draft is

designed to give the student a simple means by which to organize a persuasive

literary argument. It should be used as a guideline for the final draft of the essay.

Use the template to organize your writing. Aim for structured sentences free of the

clutter of underdeveloped ideas. Also aim for simple sentence structure and concise

diction. Your draft may seem heavy-handed in comparison to your smoother

flowing final draft. Consider it the building block of your final paper.

For an example of essays with these elements, turn to p. 1541 in your text, to

Student Papers and read Has the Prodigal Daughter Really Returned? Also, read

p.1549 Cristina A. Drew’s essay Death of a Salesman: Death of a Tragic Hero as an

example of how to incorporate secondary sources into proving your argument. This

explanation will point out these elements in Lucienne Retelle’s essay.

General Opening Statement: Start with an interesting idea that will lead to your

thesis.

Example from Retelle: Discussion of Patricia Kane’s work.

Harnessing Statements: Summarize your three main points.

Example: Suggestion that when God is female she would make different choices.

(Retelle’s essay is short, so has fewer than three main arguments.)

Thesis: Use your refined thesis statement from Week 1’s assignment

Example: In relating… repentance and forgiveness.

Main Paragraphs:

Link: Most paragraphs will require you to create a bridge between ideas to increase

ease of flow.

Example: A secondary theme… father.

Balance: This is a counter-argument. If your arguments are sound, you should be

able to acknowledge the opposing side before refuting it.

Example: At first glance Kane’s thesis is appealing and perhaps convincing…

Argument 1: Insert your topic sentence here.

Example … but when you compare the two stories carefully, the actions and responses

of both parents have basic similarities.

Context: Provide some context to the quotation you are about to use so that it isn’t

plunked from nowhere.

Example: In the Biblical story, the older brother is angry…(p. 1542)

Evidence: Provide the quotation from your primary source, in proper APA format.

Example: (Luke 15:28-32)

Analysis: Why is this relevant to your argument?

Example: The paragraph explaining the contrast of Maggie explains relevance to the

quotation of Luke. (p. 1543)

Supporting Evidence: Quote an outside source that strengthens your argument

Example: See p. 1549 of the text, “A Research Paper on a Single Work Using Multiple

Sources”

Analysis: Explain how and why this quotation strengthens your point. Now explain

how everything in this section proves your thesis.

Example: See p. 1549

Persuasive Essay Outline

A) First Paragraph: The Introduction

General Opening Statement:

Harnessing Statements / Arguments:

a)

b)

c)

Thesis Statement:

B) Second Paragraph: Argument #1

Balance / Counter argument:

Argument 1:

Context:

Evidence from primary source:

Analysis:

Supporting evidence from secondary text:

Analysis:

C) Third Paragraph: Argument #2

Balance / Counter argument:

Argument 1:

Context:

Evidence from primary source:

Analysis:

Supporting evidence from secondary text:

Analysis:

D) Fourth Paragraph: Argument #3

Balance / Counter argument:

Argument 1:

Context:

Evidence from primary source:

Analysis:

Supporting evidence from secondary text:

Analysis:

E) Fifth Paragraph: The Conclusion

Thesis reworded:

Interesting Ideas that come of this thesis