Description
Introduction:
Hello, everyone! Today I will discuss writing a strong thesis statement and then show you a sample outline I created as a way to approach writing our current essay. If this video looks a little different, that’s because although I recorded it with Zoom, I needed to edit a two-second section out around the 10:15 mark, so I ported it to a third-party software platform.
Directions:
Watch my thesis statement lesson, and my essay #1 sample outline walkthrough. This video is 17 minutes long.
Supplemental material:
Sheridan_Baker_Thesis_Machine.pdf
Sample Rough thesis and outline for essay #1.docx
Introduction: Essay #1: Government
Welcome to our first essay assignment. Traditionally, this essay would be a timed, in-class essay. Given that this is an online, asynchronous class, we won’t be writing this essay as a strictly timed essay. I will recommend, however, that you only spend about 4-5 hours total working on this essay, which is designed to take about 2-3 hours to write. Okay, let’s get down to business!
Explanation:
Please watch my Zoom lecture on the prompt. This recording is 17 minutes long and gives an in-depth explanation of the assignment and its myriad requirements.
The prompt:
In a well-developed, thesis driven essay of no fewer than 750 words (the rough equivalent of 3, typed, double-spaced pages), respond to the following prompt:
Consider our readings and discussions thus far on the texts in our “Government” module (Jefferson, Lao-tzu, Yoo, and Machiavelli). Using at least two of these readings as evidence, discuss and analyze how one’s political ideology is a product of the historical/cultural environment in which one lives (personal circumstances, religious views, family climate, national identity, gender/sexual identity, etc. can all apply here as well). In other words, how does our culture, our national identity, and current events influence our opinions on government, its role in the lives of the governed, etc. Another way to think about this assignment is to ask and answer the following question: How can we analyze a system of government to infer its architects’ cultural, social, and/or historical circumstances? Be sure to use concrete examples from your cited sources and analyze those examples to show how they support/prove your thesis.
Requirements:
MLA style throughout (do your best if you are not yet familiar with MLA style)
750 words minimum (roughly, don’t bother counting)
Paragraphs focused around your own ideas
Textual evidence used to support your own claims
Close analysis of textual evidence
Sophisticated inter-paragraph transitions (transitions that express the relationship between paragraphs, as discussed in class)
Google Docs submissions:
If you choose to create your work in Google Docs, be sure to download your finished work in either Adobe (.pdf) or Microsoft Word (.docx) format and submit that file to this assignment.
