Checking Structure for Flow and Unity

Causal Argument Structural Organization Checklist

OK...so you've written a draft of the paper you were assigned. But what do you do now?

Are you in an online class or don't have access to a person or group to double-check your writing structure? If you look at your current draft and fill in the table below with the items it asks for, you will be able to get a general idea as to whether your ideas are making sense from paragraph to paragraph and if the overall argument has stayed on track.

Once you fill in the boxes, you should be able to clearly see if your work is meeting the required criteria for a causal argument from the title all the way through the conclusion paragraph.

Title of essay: (Paste your title here.  If you have a good title, it will be an intriguing clause that directly relates to the very last sentence of your essay—in the conclusion paragraph.)

THESIS sentence (Look in your introduction paragraph and find the last sentence of that paragraph.  Paste the last sentence in this spot.  If you have a good thesis, it will be one sentence that argues the causal relationship of cultural changes in America and Social Media—it is best if it has an essay map as part of it):

Topic sentence for body paragraph 1 (Look in your first body paragraph and find the first sentence of that paragraph.  Paste the first sentence in this spot. This sentence is your topic sentence for the body paragraph.  It should be in your own words and have no source usage. If you have a good topic sentence, it will be one, debatable sentence that serves as sub-point 1 from the thesis.):

Topic sentence for body paragraph 2 (Look in your second body paragraph and find the first sentence of that paragraph.  Paste the first sentence of body paragraph 2 in this spot. This sentence is your topic sentence for the body paragraph. It should be in your own words and have no source usage. If you have a good topic sentence, it will be one, debatable sentence that serves as sub-point 2 from the thesis):

Topic sentence for body paragraph 3 (Look in your third body paragraph and find the first sentence of that paragraph.  Paste the first sentence of body paragraph 3 in this spot. This sentence is your topic sentence for the body paragraph. It should be in your own words and have no source usage. If you have a good topic sentence, it will be one, debatable sentence that serves as sub-point 3 from the thesis):

Topic sentence for body paragraph 4 (Look in your fourth body paragraph and find the first sentence of that paragraph.  Paste the first sentence of body paragraph 4 in this spot. This sentence is your topic sentence for the body paragraph. It should be in your own words and have no source usage. If you have a good topic sentence, it will be a counter-argument sentence that serves as a rebuttal argument based on alternative views on the topic.):

Closing paragraph (Look in your closing paragraph and see if your paragraph does these three steps: refocuses thesis statement in new words, summarizes the validity of the argument established in the body-paragraphs, and leaves the audience with a sentence that impacts the reader on a personal level.  Break those three sections in this box to make sure that you have these parts.)

Filling in this table-system helps double-check your writing for argument connections, clarity, flow, and logic on your own.