As discussed in class, there is no one way to present a theory. Your Stage 4 essay will give you the opportunity to share your unique theory about writing, reading and/or learning with your target audience. Overall, Stage 4 asks you to state your Stage 3 research question and interest in it; to discuss your primary/secondary research and findings; and ultimately to explain your own original theory about writing, reading, and/or learning.
In order to help you structure your essay in the best way possible, here is a schematic that explains each section of your Stage 4 essay, what you should consider in each section, and some questions to help you compose the best essay possible. In addition to the guidelines below, you should also study both of the Stage 4 Essay Samples available on our course blog in order to see how previous students have completed this assignment.
- Your Introductory Paragraph/s
- Your title is part of your introduction, so don't forget to include a PERSUASIVE title
- In this section, your job is to compel your target audience to listen to what you have to say. There are various way to do this, such as by discussing your research question and interest in it. Another good tactic is to also include interesting facts or quotes that you have found as you have researched your topic. In my own experience, I have found that the inclusion of personal stories (that is, your own real-life stories) really help draw in readers. If your research revolves around procrastination, for example, you could include a personal anecdote of a time when you procrastinated and the repercussions for that behavior. Overall, your introduction should 1) draw in your reader and 2) state your thesis: the overall idea of your paper and your stance around that topic.
- For a more detailed breakdown of the types of information your introduction should include, check out this HANDOUT.
- Your Middle Paragraphs
- The middle of your essay should provide your target audience with discussions surrounding the primary/secondary research you compiled for Stage 3. As the researcher and author, it will be your job to include the best primary/secondary research for your target audience, which means that you will have to decide what interviews, survey results, and secondary sources to include in order to best convince your audience that your original thesis is correct. This does not mean that you should not include those sources that do not agree with your original claims, but rather that you should confront these counterarguments, and discuss in your essay what the significance of these counterarguments means to your overall project.
- Don't think of this section as one long paragraph, but as multiple paragraphs. Consider how SUBHEADINGS can help you organize these paragraphs into cohesive sections. Ask yourself: How do Diaz, Kantz, Sommers, etc. contrive their subheadings? In your essay, for instance, one section could focus on discussions revolving around your primary research, while the next section could detail your secondary research. The final section of your essay could be reserved for your conclusion and Stage 4 theory. This is not the only way to structure the middle portion of your Stage 4 essay. Nevertheless, you should all consider this structure and how it can aid you in communicating all of your ideas to your target audience.
- Remember to cite ALL your sources both in-text and in your Works Cited page (for samples and guides, click on the 'Resources' Tab and look at links under 'MLA Style and Citation Help')
- Here are some questions you should also consider as you compose your middle paragraphs:
- Where did you get the information from and why?
- What did your sources have to offer to your overall topic?
- If some of your sources did not agree with you or with each other, what do these disagreements mean?
- Overall, how/why are these sources important to proving your thesis statement right?
- Final paragraph/s
- Your Conclusion
- Start by restating your question and/or thesis and your overall interest in your topic.
- If you included an anecdote in your introduction, remind the reader of the impact of that experience and how it revolves around your overall topic
- Summarize the main observations you made throughout your essay
- Finally, now that you have discussed your topic and research in your essay, what is your theory about writing, reading, and/or learning? What is the answer to your research question?
- Works Cited Page
- This is the last page of your essay that includes the bibliographic citations for all of the primary and secondary sources referenced in your essay.
- Click HERE for an example of a Works Cited page.
- Remember, all primary/secondary sources will need to be formatted in MLA style and listed alphabetically on the Works Cited page. Visit the 'MLA Style and Citation Help' section of our course blog for specific details.
