Organizer for Justification Argument Essay:
"I am in College for Three Main Reasons"
Our Persuasive essay will be a simple justification argument. Please review pages 286 to 294 for very specific advice on writing argument essays. You will also
find Chapters 13, 14, 15, and parts of 16 very helpful, as well as Chapter 12 (even though it's about paragraphs, rather than essays). The title for this justification
argument is "I am in College for Three Main Reasons." Please keep your thesis statement simple, being very clear about your three main reasons. I would like
to strongly encourage you to either print out a copy of this organizer, or save it to your desktop, so that you can actually write or type the various components of
your essay onto this form; this way, you'll know that you have every required component. Strong structure is essential to this project. Even if you have grammar
issues, if your structure is sound, you will have a higher grade. Do not expect to complete the rough draft of your persuasive essay in one sitting; ideas may
occur to you at different times, and you can come back and put them in. What would you say are your three main reasons for being in college? Some common
reasons stated by my past students have included the following: to obtain training for a good job, to retrain for a better job, to be a good example for one's
children, to fulfill a lifelong dream, to get prerequisite classes out of the way, to increase skill levels in business and professional competencies, and many other
good reasons.
During prewriting, generate several good ideas; this way, you can pick your three strongest when writing your essay.
Your thesis statement must do three jobs: give the topic, give your opinion about that topic, and preview the organization of the piece of writing.
Consider the following thesis statement:
"I like my dog because he has a sweet personality, because he is the reason that I walk a mile each evening after work, and because he is protective of my
children." The topic is "my dog." The author's opinion is that he or she likes the dog. The organization of the essay will be as follows: after the introductory
paragraph, the first body paragraph will discuss the dog's sweet personality. The second body paragraph will speak of how having this dog makes the owner get
outdoors for a healthy walk each day (something that the owner may not have done, had he or she not had a dog). The third body paragraph will be about the
author's appreciation of the dog's protective behavior toward his or her children. If we were writing a more formal argument, we would also include a fourth
body paragraph, detailing (clearly and fairly) the opposition's point of view on this subject; such a section is not necessary for our purposes. The essay will close
with a concluding paragraph.
Here is a rudimentary outline for a simple inductive argument:
Introductory Paragraph:
One or two Attention Getter Sentences (can even be an account or a story which speaks to why you wanted to go [or go back] to college):
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Thesis Statement: (gives the subject, the author’s opinion, and gives the organization of the essay by previewing the three main justifications the author will give
as reasons for his or her decision to go to college):
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First Body Paragraph (explains the first reason that the author is in college, and gives at least three points [main ideas] why):
Transition sentence from the introductory paragraph: _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Topic Sentence (gives the subject of this paragraph, which is the first reason that you are in college, gives your opinion on that reason, and previews the three
main ideas as to why this is a good reason for you to be in college.)
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First Main Idea Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about something in the first main idea of this paragraph: _______________________
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Second Main Idea Sentence: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about something in this second main idea of this paragraph: _______________________
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Third Main Idea Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about something in this third main idea of this paragraph: _______________________
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Concluding sentence: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Second Body Paragraph (explains the second reason that the author is in college, and gives at least three points [main ideas] why):
Transition sentence from the last paragraph: ____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Topic Sentence (gives the subject of this paragraph, which is the second reason that you are in college, gives your opinion on that reason, and previews the three
main ideas as to why this is a good reason for you to be in college.)
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First Main Idea Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about this idea: ________________________________________________________
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Second Main Idea Sentence: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about this idea: _________________________________________________________
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Third Main Idea Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about this idea: _________________________________________________________
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Concluding sentence: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Third Body Paragraph (explains the third reason that the author is in college, and gives at least three points [main ideas] why):
Transition sentence from the last paragraph: ____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Topic Sentence (gives the subject of this paragraph, which is the third reason that you are in college, gives your opinion on that reason, and previews the three
main ideas as to why this is a good reason for you to be in college.)
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First Main Idea Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about this idea: ________________________________________________________
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Second Main Idea Sentence: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about this idea: _________________________________________________________
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Third Main Idea Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
At least two support sentences which give further detail or explanation about this idea: _________________________________________________________
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Concluding sentence: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Concluding Paragraph:
In a few sentences, remind the reader of your most important points, reiterating the ideas from your thesis statement (using different words than you used
before). If you told a story or gave an account at the beginning, it is usually effective to remind the reader of it here; how will that story be different, now that
you are pursuing a college education?
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