1ST PART OF ASSIGNMENT. – ONE PAGE
Instructions
It is time to choose the chapter of They Say/I Say you will be responding to in your essay.
Before you can write Essay #3, you have to complete this activity.
As a reminder from the instructions:
Each of the following chapters of They Say, I Say is a collection of essays on a specific topic. You will choose ONE chapter that is of interest to you. You will quote and cite 2 of the essays within that chapter, and then find 3 external sources on the internet or in the library to use for the rest of your essay.
Chapter 19: Why Care About the Planet?
Chapter 20: How Can We Bridge the Differences that Divide Us?
Chapter 21: What’s College For?
Chapter 22: How is Technology Changing Us?
Chapter 23: What’s Gender Got to Do With It?
Today, you are going to look through these 5 chapters and determine which chapter you want to work with for the rest of the semester.
Once you have chosen a chapter, read all of the included essays. You need to decide which two essays you are going to use to enter the conversation. Later, you will find 3 additional essays on the same topic.
After reading through the essays, your job today is to submit the following information for your professor to review:
Which chapter are you going to write about?
Which 2 essays are you going to write about?
Why have you chosen these 2 essays?
Without doing any additional research yet, what do you think you might be able to say in your paper about why this topic/issue is important?
2ND PART OF ASSIGNMENT – ONE PAGE
Instructions
By the end of this activity, you will have a thesis statement that you can use for your final essay.
Once you have found 5 sources (2 from They Say/I Say + 3 from other sources), it’s time to craft your thesis statement.
Here is what the instructions say about thesis statements:
Thesis Statement Instructions:
Throughout this term, we have worked on building strong thesis statements that make a claim that can be defended with evidence.
Your thesis statement should be no more than 1 sentence for this essay
Place your thesis statement at the very end of your introductory paragraph
Make sure that your thesis can stand on its own. If someone cut your thesis sentence out of the paper and gave it to a stranger to read, would that stranger understand the main idea of your essay?
Your thesis must make an argument about the topic by answering the question “So what?”
Here are some sample thesis statements that answer the question “So what?” about a topic. (These are not the same topics you are writing about for this class.)
As climate change worsens, more radical action and lifestyle changes will be needed to avoid catastrophic environmental damage.
A person’s career choice has long-term implications for financial stability, work-life balance, and overall well being.
High-quality early childhood education better prepares children emotionally, socially, and academically for future success in school and life.
Because water scarcity is increasing globally, sustainable water management through conservation and efficiency should be a priority for every national government.
For this activity, you need to craft a thesis statement that will meet the requirements of this essay and submit it for feedback from your professor.
