Topic 1: Create a Thesis and Outline
To prepare for success in your Unit 6 Assignment, which is a draft of your cause or effect essay without sources, create a thesis and outline that begins to flesh out the ideas you established in your thesis.
INITIAL POST
Review your topic choice and feedback in Unit 5 and what you learned in Unit 6 Lab. Use the following downloadable Thesis and Outline Chart to generate ideas and create a specific thesis and sentence outline about the change in your field you have chosen to address in your Academic Essay Assignment. Then, copy and paste your thesis and outline to the Discussion Board. This outline will become the basis for the draft you submit in Unit 6, so the more specific the information in your outline, the better prepared you will be for success on that assignment.
Thesis and Outline Chart
| THESIS about the change, including specific causes of the change OR specific effects of the change. |
| Supporting point 1, including topic sentence and supporting ideas that you can use to develop this topic sentence about the change (the first cause or first effect) |
| Supporting point 2, including topic sentence and supporting ideas that you can use to develop this topic sentence about the change (the second cause or second effect) |
| Supporting point 3, including topic sentence and supporting ideas that you can use to develop this topic sentence about the change (the third cause or third effect) |
Be sure to also assess progress on your Unit 6 Assignment at this point. Review the Unit 6 Assignment rubric and explain what you have done so far to meet/exceed requirements there and what you will need to do to meet/exceed ALL expectations outlined in the Unit 6 Assignment rubric.
Remember that your goal should be to post your initial discussion by Saturday so you have time to focus on other tasks. Remember to include a relevant open-ended question that helps your classmates help you with improving your thesis and outline before you write your Unit 6 Assignment draft. Also refer to and cite specific Unit reading concepts in your post to help show you are applying these concepts and to give you practice with using and citing sources.
RESPONSES TO INITIAL POSTS
Respond to at least two of your classmates’ initial posts. Offer classmates helpful and constructive feedback to help with revising and strengthening their thesis statements and outlines. Each response should be at least 100 words long and should include relevant questions aimed at engaging your classmates and helping them to reflect on their thesis statements and outlines. Include references to Unit reading material and concepts in your responses to help validate your suggestions about writing improvement.
FOLLOW UP RESPONSES
Also respond to questions and comments your classmates and instructors post in their responses. Each follow up response should be around 50 words.
Review a sample discussion post.
Find out how to write effective posts by reviewing the Discussion Rubric.
