Reminders and Tips

1. Reminders and Tips • Make a good first and last impression by crafting an engaging and provocative introduction and conclusion. • Your thesis should be clear and concise; it needs to have a blueprint or some kind of roadmap. • Topic sentences for body paragraphs should be framed as arguments and linked back to the main “big picture” argument in the thesis. • Connect ideas using transitions. Each sentence should build on the previous; each paragraph should build on the previous. This creates unity/coherence.

2. Reminders and Tips • As far as refutations are concerned, my recommendation is that you embed each refutation into the paragraph that is directly related to the opposing viewpoint you are addressing. (See examples) • Don’t throw all of your refutations into one paragraph as more often than not, that particular strategy inevitably makes things feel a little disjointed. • However… if you have one refutation that you think is particularly strong, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t quite intersect with the ideas in any of your body paragraphs, it might be worth it to give this refutation its own paragraph. • Use quotes to support *your* argument. Don’t use quotes to support the opposing viewpoint… UNLESS you’re employing some sort of direct comparison between two quotes/situations, or you are going to throw in some analysis that will serve as a counter-argument for the opposing viewpoint.

3. Example • Bart Simpson is an intelligent child. Some people may think that Bart Simpson is unintelligentbecause he does so poorly in school. However, Bart shows his intelligence in other ways. For example, Bart continually comes up with ideas to defeat the evil plans of Sideshow Bob. Sideshow Bob is clever enough to deceive most of the population, and yet Bart is continually able to outwit him. Furthermore, it takes a great deal of intelligence to think in a crisis situation, which Bart does repeatedly. Children who are intelligent enough to get an A on a test are a dime a dozen – a child who is smart enough to save the world is rare indeed. • * Notice: The opposing viewpoint addressed in this refutation is related to the point/argument being made in this paragraph.

4. Another Example • Let’s say you were writing an essay and this is what you were trying to prove… • Thesis: Although it may appear otherwise, Ralph is ultimately a poor and ineffective leader due to his lack of authority, his inability to take charge of his followers, and his inability to think critically. • Now… Let’s take a look at how a body paragraph from this particular essay might look with all of the elements in place…

5. One of the ways Golding reveals Ralph to be poor at leadership is through the way he describes Ralph’s lack of authority. True leaders embody authority and can use their influence to inspire their followers to accomplish meaningful goals, an element that is missing from Ralph’s leadership. For instance, when Ralph is attempting to build the shelters, he finds himself frustrated because while he is trying to complete this task, the other boys are “off bathing, or eating, or playing” (50). Here, even at the start of the boys’ adventure, before conditions on the island even begin to disintegrate, Ralph is unable to get the other boys to do his bidding. If he cannot wield his authority when times are easy, how does he expect to do so when times become a lot more challenging—as they ultimately do? Another example of Ralph’s weak authority is exhibited through his inability to get Jack to fulfill his signal fire responsibilities. In fact, when a ship passes by while the fire is left unattended by Jack in his quest to acquire pig meat, Ralph—after an initial spark of impotent anger—“accepted a piece of half raw meat” from Jack, thereby undermining whatever authority he possessed in that situation. Some people may argue that Ralph does have authority on his side, and they may point out that he was elected by the boys to be chief because of this natural, authoritative charisma. However, in the scene in question, Golding points out that“None of the boys could have found a good reason” (22) for Ralph’s election and that “the most obvious leaders was Jack” (22). The passage has little to do with Ralph’s natural authority, but more to do with the superficial reasons the boys initially vote for him in the first place. In including these details, Golding is not holding Ralph up as a paragon of strong leadership, but rather mocking the ways in which people vote for leaders in society, basing their decisions on trivial qualities like looks and symbolic talismans (the conch). In short, the situation on the island calls for a strong leader with powerful authority, but Ralph fails in that regard.