Final Essay
Due: Friday, May 1st at midnight Length: 5–7 pages, double-spaced Format: MLA (12-point font, 1-inch margins, Works Cited page) Sources: Minimum of five
What to Submit
A completed argumentative essay built from the work you have been doing over the past few weeks: your research question, your preliminary source review, your body paragraphs, and your introduction. The essay should present a clear, arguable thesis and develop it through sustained engagement with your sources.
Your Works Cited page does not count toward the 5–7 page length. You may use sources beyond the three from your preliminary review, but you need at least five total.
Structure
You already have an introduction with a thesis and at least one or two body paragraphs. The final essay is where those pieces become part of a larger argument. Each paragraph should make a distinct claim that advances your thesis, supported by evidence from your sources and followed by your analysis of that evidence. If you find yourself repeating the same point across multiple paragraphs, you need to rethink your organization.
On transitions: The body paragraph workshop asked you to write paragraphs that could stand on their own. Now they need to work together. Transitions are one of the hardest things to do well in academic writing, because a good transition does not just connect two paragraphs — it shows the reader why the next point follows from the one you just made. If you find yourself writing “Another example of this is…” or “Additionally…”, that is a sign you are listing rather than building an argument. Each paragraph should feel like it could not have come in a different order. If you can rearrange your body paragraphs without the essay falling apart, the transitions are not doing enough work.
On conclusions: Your essay should have a conclusion, and a conclusion is not a summary of what you just said. The best conclusions open up rather than close down. You have spent several pages making a case — now tell the reader what follows from it. What larger question does your argument raise? What would someone need to think about differently if your thesis is right?
Remember that you started this process with a big, broad research question that you had to narrow down to make it workable. The conclusion is where you get to gesture back toward those bigger questions. You could not prove them in five to seven pages, and you were right to focus on something smaller and more precise. But now that you have done that work, what does your essay suggest about those larger concerns? Where would the next investigation go? A conclusion that simply restates your main points tells the reader nothing they did not already know. A conclusion that points forward gives the reader a reason to keep thinking.
A Few Reminders
Every quotation and paraphrase needs an MLA in-text citation. Every source cited in the body of your essay needs a corresponding entry on your Works Cited page. If you are unsure about formatting, use the Purdue OWL MLA guide.
Proofread before you submit. Read your essay out loud at least once. You will catch things you would otherwise miss.