University of San Francisco Philosophy Essay

Assignment: Outline of Argument for Final Essay

For this “Outline” assignment, you must submit an Outline of some kind by the date and time indicated. You should not submit this with the Final Essay Draft or with the Final Essay itself (in its final form). Of course, it is perfectly fine if the Outline to your Final Essay changes from this submitted version to what is used in your Final Essay.

For this assignment, submit a ½ – 1 full page outline that incorporates the 4 elements below.

1. Topic: What is the topic of exploration for your essay?
2. Thesis: This final sentence of the Introduction paragraph makes a clear, concise, and argumentative claim related to the topic of the essay. Since this is an essay, not a book report, the thesis statement does not simply summarize the paper or state the topic of the essay. It takes a stance. The stronger or more bold the thesis, the better the essay—as long as the thesis can be justified. The thesis is the single-most important sentence of the entire essay. It should be only 1 sentence.
3. Arguments: In order to develop the central argument of the essay (i.e., the thesis), compelling reasons for why the reader should accept your position must be provided (simply stating your point of view is insufficient). Each paragraph should center around a sub-argument or “paragraph thesis” (encapsulated in a topic sentence for the given paragraph) that supports the thesis in some way. Provide 3-5 topic sentences that support your thesis and move your argument in a forward direction.
4. Supporting Evidence: Examples that illustrate your claims and textual support that grounds the sub-arguments of the essay in appropriate texts are essential to developing the thesis and demonstrating knowledge of the course material. Be sure to explain how the examples provided elucidate the thesis and its supporting arguments. Use direct quotes from textual sources when the exact words of the author or text are important, or if you could not possibly capture the idea better yourself. Otherwise, you should paraphrase. Whenever you do quote, be sure to explain in your own words what the quoted passage means and how it is relevant to your argument.

Also worth considering:

Organization/Structure: Think of each paragraph as an intellectual unit that revolves around a main idea, the order of presentation of which moves the essay’s argument forward. The organization of these intellectual units/main ideas comprises the back-bone of the essay, and it should have a logical structure that is guided by its thesis. Without such a back-bone, the essay has no persuasive force. Transitional terms and phrases (“however,” “therefore,” “furthermore,” “nevertheless,” etc.) should be used appropriately. (Note: By reading just the thesis statement, the topic sentence of each paragraph, and the first sentence of the Conclusion paragraph, the reader should have a very clear idea about what the core argument of the essay is and how you have established it.)