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 15th Central Daylight

Time.