English 1121 Midterm Essay Exam and Portfolio

Planning an Argument: the Synthesis Paper

Goals:

  • Practice using P.L.A.C.E. and the Toulmin models to plan an argument in which you synthesize your own ideas with those of the source analyzed in the previous project.
  • Use your plan to write your synthesis in class as a midterm essay exam.


    • Return to the top of this page.

    Main Assignment

    Once you have some experience using models of argument to analyze essays written by others, you are ready to practice using P.L.A.C.E. and the Toulmin models to plan an argument of your own. In this project you will use one of these models to construct a concept map or outline of a synthesis of your own ideas with those of the source analyzed in the previous project. Then you will use your plan to write your synthesis in class as a midterm essay exam. You will be able to refer to the text and to your outline or map as you write your essay. Before this date we will study the text and effective strategies for writing essay exams. You may discuss the text with other students either through the Class Discussion Forum in the Commons of the Writers' PLACE or by attending class. This discussion should help you prepare for this in-class writing. Your essay will be handwritten in a bluebook on the date assigned.

    Return to the top of this page.

    Plan for Completing this Project

    Step 1: Discovery Writing

      Review the notes you made during your first reading of the assigned text. What were your first impressions? What questions did you have as you read? How were these questions answered? Did your mind go off on any tangents as you read? How is this text a springboard for writing an essay of your own on this topic? Spend at least 20 minutes freewriting your thoughts about this reading.

      Reread your discovery writing to find a focus for your synthesis essay. You may write a rebuttal to the argument presented by your source, or you may choose one of the issues raised by the source and write a paper stating your own position on that issue. Use evidence from your own knowledge and experience as well as evidence from the source to support your claim or thesis about the issue you have chosen. In other words, you are synthesizing or merging the ideas of the source with your own ideas to create new knowledge or insights for yourself and for your readers.

    Step 2: Planning with a map

      Use either P.L.A.C.E. or the Toulmin model to develop a concept map of your synthesis.
      Reread "Synthesizing" (Handbook 2b.3, p. 11).

    Step 3: Planning with an outline

    Step 4. In class or in the Class Discussion Forum, discuss strategies for writing in-class essays.

      Read the New Century Handbook, Section 23.

      When you write your essay in class, you will develop each of the main points in your outline (or each of the branches in your map) as a paragraph of your essay. Your essay should begin with a title, followed by an introduction which establishes the focus of the essay and states your claim. The body paragraphs of your essay should present the evidence to support your claim. A final paragraph, the conclusion, should bring your argument to a close. It should state the position you have come to after considering all of your evidence.

    Step 5. Write an in-class essay in which you synthesize your own ideas with those of the source analyzed in the previous project.

      You may consult your map or outline as your write this essay. Your essay will be handwritten in a bluebook. Please us blue or black ink. You may make corrections, but do so as neatly as you can so that your paper is easy to read. Be sure your leave 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the period to proofread and edit your work.
    Step 6: Review the requirements for the midterm portfolio and write the cover memo to the portfolio reader.

    Return to the top of this page.

    Portfolio Memo

    As an introduction to your portfolio, write a memo to the portfolio reader in which you describe the course outcomes you have achieved so far. Explain how your portfolio demonstrates this achievement and identify competencies that you particularly want to work on during the second half of the semester.

    Return to the top of this page.

    Midterm Portfolio Requirements

    At the end of the class period when you write your midterm essay, use the portfolio cover provided by your teacher to turn in the following papers:

    ___ your choice of the best one of the projects you have completed during this first half of the semester (your ad analysis or your rhetorical analysis of the assigned reading);
    ___ your in-class essay with your map or outline enclosed in the blue book(s);
    ___ your portfolio memo.

    Return to the top of this page.

    Courses | Planning | Discovery Writing | Drafting | Revising | Editing | Handbook
    Search | Home

    © Copyright 2009 the WorldWide Writers' PLACE - Elizabeth A. Nist All rights reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including downloading and printing, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the owner.