Explain in a paragraph the key points that you plan to make in support of your primary claim or working thesis.

Answer the following questions in preparation for drafting your first essay of the semester:

Identify the author and essay title of the two specific arguments that you have chosen to compare and/or contrast for this assignment (2 points).

Express in a complete sentence a tentative claim or working thesis about those two essays. (2 points)

Remember that if the two essays agree on the topic, then your thesis or primary claim should be about one of the key differences in their arguments. However, if the two essays disagree on the topic, then your thesis or primary claim should be about one of the key areas of common ground between them.

Explain in a paragraph the key points that you plan to make in support of your primary claim or working thesis. You may make a list of the key points. (3 points)

Identify the author of the potential outside source you have chosen (not one of the assigned readings). Give the author’s full name and describe what the author does or who the author is (in other words, their expertise in the subject matter). (1 point)

Summarize in a paragraph what the source says and explain how you would use that information in your final draft. (2 points)