Preliminary Argument and Outline Progress Report

Instructions: (Please read)

Write at least 300 words in answer to the following questions. Note that, for the last question, you’ll begin to build an outline for the first draft of your essay. You can do this in whatever format you find most useful.

To prepare: Read over your previous progress reports about research. Think about your initial topic and how it has changed.

To write: Answer the following questions in detail. For the final question, build a rough outline to show some of the decisions you have made so far.

First off, discuss your progress in shaping your topic and your argument. How has your research so far shaped and narrowed your topic? How has your understanding of your argument changed?
Next, discuss your evidence. You’ve spent some time collecting sources. What are some of the interesting quotes, facts, or information you have found? You can paste in quotes here for later reference. Why are these quotes interesting to you?
Now–here’s the new part–discuss your organization. In the presentation on classical oration
(Links to an external site.)
, you learned about some beneficial sections to include in your essay, including a background section with history, important terms, and context. You might also find an alternatives section, presenting counterarguments and other perspectives, to be beneficial. So now begin to plan your essay. What sections do you want to include? What evidence will you include in each section? Begin planning out your essay in this progress report.
Now, think about next steps and questions. What do you have to do next? What’s still unclear? What do you need help with?