Assignment
1C Essay One Template
Main Title: Subtitle
[Paragraph 1] My entire life I have heard it said that/believed that ___________. Initially, I also thought that ____ was right because __________. One reason I thought that is ___________. [use some of the additional templates here to provide more explanation or an example] A second reason that I asserted ___ is _________________. [use some of the additional templates here to provide more explanation or an example] Yet is it always the case, as I have been suggesting, that ____________? Despite having just argued that _________, I want to explain why I changed my mind.
[Paragraph 2]. My new view is that _______________. Now I understand that ________________. One reason that I changed my mind is _________. [use some of the additional templates here to provide more explanation or an example] The second reason that I changed my mind is _______________. [use some of the additional templates here to provide more explanation or an example] My conclusion, then, is that ______________. But above all, I learned that _________________.
Additional Templates to Articulate Metacognition More Deeply (TSIS 10)
Templates for Further Explaining Your Statements
To put it another way, ___________
In other words, ____________
In short,______________
Actually, _________________
Furthermore/Moreover, ______
My point is that ________
Templates for Providing an Example
For instance, ___________
As an illustration, ____
For example, _________
Consider ______
To take a case in point __________
Assignment
Using the Essay One Template, write an essay explaining an example of changing your own mind. You can pick any topic you wish.
This template builds directly on the one we used last week to outline Salzberg’s metacognitive process. Using this template automatically (1) creates your argument’s structure. It also (2) ensures that you are writing statements. Finally, it (3) logically organizes your metacognitive thinking process.
Drafting Your Essay
Download the 1C Essay One Template.docx into a Google or Word doc to get started. This is the basic argument outline for title, and body paragraphs. Since this is the first essay of the semester it is (1) short! and (2) only 50 points.
Yes, this essay is only two paragraphs and will be 1 to 1-1/2 pages when completed.
Because you are using the template, you do not have to worry about “how” to write this essay, but rather how to explain your ideas as clearly as possible. Focus on using the templates to clearly state your ideas.
Because you are using the template, you do not have to worry about “how” to write statements, but rather how to explain your ideas as clearly as possible. Using the templates automatically means that you are writing statements.
You should also use the additional templates listed in 1C Essay One Template.docx (from TSIS Chapter 10) to explain your ideas as clearly as possible by adding additional explanations and/or examples.
The more you can use the additional templates/statements to explain your thinking, the better your essay will be. Why?
Because in academic writing, it is the depth and complexity of critical thought that determines the ultimate success of any argument. The complexity comes from statements explaining your critical thinking.
