Midpoint questions for your Harper’s Index essay.  With your group, first apply these questions to one of the essays we read for class. Then, answer them for your own/one of your classmate’s drafts.

1. What question(s) am I attempting to answer?

(exs.: Why does this statistic seem unlikely?  Or :  What does this statistic say about contemporary  American life?  Or: How could such a statistic have come about?  Or: Why should contemporary Americans be concerned about this?)

2. State your current answer to the question(s).  (That is, state your thesis.)

(Ex.:  This is a statistic the _____  political party wants Americans to believe to frighten them into voting for the __ _________candidates.)

3. What reasons do you give to support your answer?

4. What kinds of support do you give for your reasons? Exs.: quotes from experts, statistics, examples from your life, examples from the news/media, comparisons to other situations.)

5. In which sections does your answer (thesis) need to be QUALIFIED? That is, where do you point out exceptions to your ideas, or variations on your ideas, or opposition to your ideas?  It is rarely the case that a thesis is true ALL the time or in ALL cases. Sometimes it helps to divide your subject into categories (ex.: DRIVERS RARELY OBEY THE SPEED LIMIT may be categorized into drivers under 22, drivers 22-65, drivers 65+.) Then you can explain the variations between categories.

6.  How is your essay organized?  exs: Chronological time,  most important to least important reasons, by leading the reader through a process, (how something works), by leading the reader through a space (like a guided tour.)