1. Make sure you have your dropbox folders open/diagnostic essay papers ready, because you will need them at the end of class today.
2. You will also need to have a pen or pencil ready to use as well.
3. Pay attention to the information presented in the power point presentation on thesis statements and outlines. Think of how you can apply the information to your own work, specifically your diagnostic essays.
4. Now that you’ve seen some basic information on thesis statements and outlines, we are going to do an exercise with them.
5. Use the post-it notes that I have given to write down three good things about the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
6. Now that you have come up with three things, get into groups of three and try to organize your post-it notes. One way to organize them would be by how similar they are to each other. However, you can organize them in whatever way that you like. The groups that you create will eventually become separate paragraphs in your essay.
7. Once you have grouped together your post-it notes, you can then formulate a tentative thesis statement. You can do this by listing your reasons for going to UIUC in the thesis statement. An example is: UIUC is a great place to attend university due to the excellent faculty the friendly environment, and the job opportunities.
8. If you are able to do this, you can try to sum up your reasons into a more refined thesis statement that covers all of your potential paragraphs. If you were able to group together a lot of information concerning sports, being so close to Chicago, and/or the big scientific discoveries that are made at UIUC, your thesis statement might be: UIUC is a great place to attend university because it provides the most exciting university atmosphere.
9. Now you have two different versions of thesis statements. Using the Outline Template (click to download), fill in the blanks with your thesis statement, topic sentences, and supporting details. If you have more than two, don’t worry; just add on another section, either after “B” or after “IV”. If you are not able to fill in both “II” and “III”, then look at your post-it notes again and think of how you might reorganize them. You don’t have to fill in anything for the introduction or conclusion sections yet, but keep them in mind, as they will be useful for you when you work on your diagnostic essay.
10. Now take a look at your diagnostic essay. Can you identify your own thesis? If not, take a look at the outline template and the outline guidelines on the power point again. What changes do you think you could make? Even though you have already written your diagnostic essay, try to “reverse outline” it. This means that you are working backwards: instead of starting out with an outline, you are constructing an outline after you have already written the essay. Are you able to construct a complete outline based on your essay, or will you need to add to your essay in order to do this? If you are not able to finish this in class, please revise your thesis statement and create an outline for your diagnostic essay.
Homework Due Thursday, September 1: Finish your group thesis statement and outline. Make sure your group members' names are on the document.
Homework Due Tuesday, September 6: Rewrite your diagnostic essay's thesis statement and make an outline. Use your previously written essay as the basis for your outline, but also feel free to change your ideas.
