INSTRUCTIONS
Outline: For a maximum of 5 points, choose just 1 of the questions below and prepare
an Outline. This Outline should contain a thesis paragraph with your thesis position
statement and argumentative forecasting. It should also contain topic sentences for each
body paragraph. Finally, it should list the sources that you plan to use and a 1-sentence
description of why each source is useful to you. This outline should cover 1 singlespaced typewritten page with a 12 point, Times New Roman font. At the top of your
Outline, please include the question that you have chosen to answer for this Exam.
The Essay Question i chose #3 )The 13th Amendment states how imprisonment as a result of being properly convicted is an exception to the abolition of slavery. It says, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Imagine a hypothetical scenario where the only reason a person was convicted and sent to prison was because they were racially discriminated against by someone in the legal system (such as police officers, judge, or a jury). In that person’s case, do you think their imprisonment is a direct violation of the 13th Amendment specifically?
The template and the way to go about it is that i will place below what is expected, like how the Outine Essay is supposed to look like. We are to also reference the notes from certain classes which I will attach below as attachmentss. Bu keep in mind this essay is more to asses our own opinion in answering the question so we o not need to break down each little if you know what i mean. You did it well the last time, for the Midterm Outline Assigment.
Topic 3: Deciding whether imprisonment can be considered a violation of the 13th Amendment in cases where racial discrimination was the only reason for conviction. Please look at the following class notes to reference (same way you did last time for the Midterm Outline)
***Class 19 – April 2 – Thirteenth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment: Incorporation. (Important)
Class 25 – May 2 – Fourth Amendment Search and Seizure
Class 27 – May 9 – Legal System Definition of Crime (will upload today at 8pm)
How to write an Outline for an Argumentative Essay
After you read this guide, I strongly recommend that you read the “RubricExplanation” guide to see exactly how I will score your Outline and Essay for each Exam.
Your Outline should contain three things which I will be scoring.
1) You need a thesis paragraph to start the Outline. This should contain a thesis position statement which is then followed by a statement of argumentative forecasting. A thesis position statement provides your opinion to directly answers the question you chose. The argumentative forecasting statement initially provides the reasons that you have for your thesis position. It is okay but not necessary to have 1-2 sentences of introduction before providing your thesis position statement and forecasting. You do not want to have more than 2 sentences of introduction since the thesis position statement and argumentative forecasting should be the focus of this paragraph. If you do this thesis paragraph correctly for the Outline, you can actually use it exactly as it is for the Essay as well.
2) You need topic sentences for each body paragraph that you plan to use in your essay. If you have 3 arguments supporting your thesis position statement, you should have 3 body paragraphs. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence that expresses your argument for that paragraph. Your topic sentence should never include a quote or general reference information. It should always contain a sentence initially stating what your argument is. You then spend the rest of the body paragraph developing that argument with your own points and then providing evidence that supports those points.
3) You need to provide a list of sources that you plan to use for the essay. Provide the name of the source, the author, the relevant pages, the date, and the URL if the source is a website. After you provide your list, you should provide at least 2 sentences for each source explaining how the information in that source helps you support the points in your arguments. If you are using my class notes, don’t just give me the overall session number. Make sure to point out the specific pages from the class notes that you are using as evidence to support the points in your arguments. Then explain how that information is relevant to your argument. The same idea goes for any outside research. Don’t just give me a URL or the reference you are using. Tell me the section of the source and explain how you will use the information within that section to actually support your argument.
Suggested template for Outline
Let’s use a very simple question and demonstrate how to write an Outline for it.
Sample question (that I would never actually use on one of my college exams)
“What is your favorite season of the year?”
Sample Thesis Paragraph:
The year consists of four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Each season has aspects that are positive and negative. My favorite season is winter for a number of reasons. I like winter best because I enjoy having winter break, prefer outdoor activities of that season, and enjoy the holidays that occur during that time of year.
Sample Topic Sentences
Topic Sentence for Body paragraph 1: One reason that winter is my favorite is because I typically get a month of vacation in between semesters teaching.
Topic Sentence for Body paragraph 2: Another reason that winter is my favorite season is because there are certain outdoor activities that I enjoy doing.
Topic Sentence for Body paragraph 3: The last reason I enjoy winter is because it starts with an assortment of fun holidays.
I use phrasing in my Topic Sentences that is similar to the phrasing I made in my argumentative forecasting statement but is not exactly the same. It can be the same but topic sentences typically are a little longer and more detailed than forecasting statements.
Sample Sources
This is where I would list all of the sources that I use for my essay and then provide a 2-sentence description explaining how the information within those sources support the points in my arguments. I won’t go into depth with too many sources here given the rather simple subject matter of this sample essay, but here is one.
GH schedule: www.ny.edu/academic-calendar
I will use this information from the Fall and the Spring schedules to show when my Fall semester ends and when my Spring semester begins. That way, I can illustrate the duration of my winter vacation which I have claimed is close to a month.
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Also to avoid plagirm or how to properly quote i have shown below:
Giving a source “credit” to avoid plagiarism means taking at least 2 of 4 actions:
It always means mentioning them on your Reference Page at the end of the essay.
It always means providing a footnote, endnote, or parenthetical citation in the actual essay which refers to the part in the source that you got the information from.
This is an example of a sentence that uses parenthetical citation to give credit to the author.
“In Federalist 10, James Madison said there were two sources of factions (Federalist 10).”
I prefer parenthetical citation to footnotes and end notes but I do allow those if you prefer them.
It may mean using quotes if you are using the actual words from the source. If you use quotes within the essay, you ALSO have to use the methods 1 and 2 above.
You still have to provide citation if you use information or opinion from another author even if you do not use their exact words. Any time you use information from another person in your essay, you have to cite them even if you aren’t using their words.
For example, you may say: “Professor Reitzfeld said in Session 4 that the biggest problem in the American economy is that ghosts cause inflation.” (Reitzfeld, Session 4)
Maybe you didn’t use the specific words I used, but you used my ideas. As a result, you still have the obligation to provide a citation. That is called “paraphrasing” which is completely legitimate but requires citation. You don’t always have to quote someone’s actual words if you put the idea into your words, but you still have to cite them.
You still have to give a source credit if you are using parts of an old essay that you wrote for a previous course. You cannot submit an essay to me that has parts of an old essay you wrote without using citation. You have to make clear what parts of your new essay actually came from the old essay. It is plagiarism and academic dishonesty to present an old essay (or parts of one) as a new essay without citation.
