Essay One Prompt

1)  Begin by writing a 1-2 page summary of the essay "California’s Great Prison Experiment" by Tim Stelloh and published in The Nation. Assume that your readers have not read the essay, but are intelligent and naturally curious about and interested in reading about it.  In the first paragraph, please include:  1) a one-sentence thesis statement that sums up the main point of the source.  In this case, the "thesis" will not be YOUR main point; it will be the point of your source.  You really want this statement to help the reader understand what the writer is trying to convey to the reader (the argument) and why (the purpose).  2) An introduction to the source including its title, the name of the author, any pertinent background information about the author that you would like to add.   (You can find information about the writer or the place of publication—The Nation—by Googling!)  

In the body (either one or two paragraphs), you want to paraphrase and condense the original source.  Be sure that you 1) include important data but leave out minor points.  2) Include a few of the supporting details (examples, illustrations, discussions, pieces of evidence) used by the essay's author to give a more complete impression of his approach to the material.  3) Resist offering any of your own opinions, evaluations, metaphors, ideas.  The summary should be completely focused on reporting to your audience what the author has written.  4) Attempt to capture some of the tone and style of the original essay.  The best way to do this is to use some of the writer's own words.  To that end, use at least one direct quotation in the summary.  The quotation should be surrounded by quotation marks and should be preceded by a signal phrase to introduce the quotation.

There is no need to conclude the summary.  When you are done writing, just stop.  

2)  Once you have written a summary of the article, you are going to be asked to expand this piece of writing to also include a personal response.  Begin by considering your reaction to the article.  You may ask yourself:

Do you agree or disagree with any of the points made by Stelloh, based on your own experiences?
What one or two points did you find compelling and why?
Which supporting point stood out the most and why?
Are you convinced by the argument?  Why or why not?
Can you relate any of your personal experience to this topic?
Is there anything that you think that Stelloh is not considering in his treatment of this topic?

After you have considered these questions, please develop a "mini-thesis."  This mini-thesis should be something that you can discuss for about 1 1/2 to 2 pages (probably 3-4 strong paragraphs).  The idea should be focused and coherent.  Use evidence from the essay and/or evidence from your own experience to support the mini-thesis.

3)  Your finished essay should begin with your summary of the article. You should provide a clear transitional sentence into the response section of the paper--this should smoothly connect the summary to the response and should also provide a focus (your mini-thesis) for the response part of the essay.

The finished essay should be 3-4 pages, perfectly formatted (in MLA style), thoughtful and coherent, and carefully proofread.  You will turn in a first draft for comments and peer review on Wednesday, April 16.  Please bring 2 copies to class with you.  After peer review and instructor comments, you’ll revise and turn in a draft for grading on Monday, April 28. 

This purpose of this first essay is to emphasize reading strategies, to work on academic summary skills, to practice making connections between your experience and understand and those of others, and to produce a focused and developed analytical response to a reading.