Function Outline Worksheet

As I have emphasized, expository writing at this level must have an open organizational scheme capable of dealing with the complexities of the kind of analysis we have been performing.  Instead of shoehorning our ideas into a static and generally unforgiving structure, we need to think of the GOALS of each part or section of our essay and then organize them accordingly.  This exercise intends to have you test the organizational structure of your essay to make sure it is responsive to the LOGIC of your thesis and not simply a structure searching for appropriate ideas (think of a Christmas tree waiting for ornamentation).   

Using the logic of your THESIS as a guide, fill out the rest of this form:

Section One (Introduction).

Contextualizing claims (not your thesis, but the ideas that need to be established BEFORE you introduce your main claim):

#1

#2

#3

Etc.

Section Two (The Body; the most elaborate and detailed section of the essay)

Supportive Point #1:

How does this point relate to your thesis, i.e. what does it contribute to your overall analysis?

Supportive Point #2:

How does this point relate to your thesis, i.e. what does it contribute to your overall analysis?

Supportive Point #3:

How does this point relate to your thesis, i.e. what does it contribute to your overall analysis?

Supportive Point #4:

How does this point relate to your thesis, i.e. what does it contribute to your overall analysis?

Supportive Point #5:

How does this point relate to your thesis, i.e. what does it contribute to your overall analysis?

Supportive Point #6:

How does this point relate to your thesis, i.e. what does it contribute to your overall analysis?

Etc.

Section Three (The conclusion):

What might we say about your thesis that has not already been said?

How might we anticipate the next set of BIG IDEAS related to your thesis?

How might we apply your analysis to another relevant set of topics?

Annotated Bibliography Goals

 It is the goal of this annotated bibliography first to establish your control over the sources and then to show me (and yourself) how you intend to employ their information.  A good annotation provides a succinct summary of the article, and it should give some insight into the article’s relevance to your own agenda.  This is first step in establishing the “because” explanation (the warrant) upon which the Toulmin supportive approach turns.  Please note that the more relevant information you pack into the annotation, the more your own argument is going to take form before you start writing.  You will also find that beyond helping to sculpt the contours of your own analysis and approach, the annotated bibliography easily becomes your works cited page (bonus!).

Example:

Grant, Barry Keith (1996).  Rich and Strange: The Yuppie Horror Film [Electronic

Version].  Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 48, No. ½ (Spring-Summer 1996): pp. 4-16. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20688090

Grant examines a subgenre of the contemporary horror film, the “Yuppie Horror film,” focusing on the way that this subgenre employs the same elements of traditional horror films but shifted to exploit the 1980’s-early-1990’s social and cultural preoccupation with material success.  Using a wide variety of films as his support, Grant demonstrates the way that Yuppie horror replaces monsters and the supernatural with financial horrors such as losing one’s livelihood, social standing and/or material possessions.  This essay will provide material for my analysis of the salient economic anxieties and cultural tropes that motivate the affluent villains in Bret Easton Ellis’ short stories, the Devil Wears Prada (1989) and Let Them Eat Stake (1990).    

A3 Topic and Provisional Thesis