For this journal entry, you will provide a specific description of your essay topic. It would be helpful for
you to first do a preliminary outline of your essay. That will provide some of the information requested
here. Your entry should provide the following specific information:
1) What is the topic of your essay? Do not just quote the prompt! Prompts are suggestions. What exactly
are you going to write about? What will you seek to illustrate or prove in your essay?
2.) Provide a statement of your preliminary thesis assertion. Review the handout on how to write a
critical essay. Your thesis should be analytical, NOT narrative. In other words, your thesis is Not a
statement of fact: “When Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia, he was a 17-year-old escaped
apprentice; he became one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.” INSTEAD, your thesis is an
assertion about the author’s intent and the significance of the facts — what do you think they illustrate
or mean: “In his autobiography, Franklin uses details from his own life story to illustrate the possibilities
and dangers of the freedoms available to white men in America.”
3.) List 2 specific points you will make to support your thesis. This will be equivalent to the major
supporting points you make in an outline: I and II OR I and III, etc. Within the essay, these points could
serve as topic sentences.
4.) List two specific examples from the text AND two specific quotes that you will use to support your
thesis.
The entry should be 3-4 paragraphs in length. It is due by 11:59 pm, Saturday, July 15
th Central Daylight
Time.
