This document contains an agenda and terms for a lecture on counterarguments, conclusions, and MLA citation format. The agenda includes a presentation on terms, a lecture covering counterarguments and conclusions, and an in-class writing assignment. Definitions are provided for terms related to economic class, ethnocentrism, gender, gender expression, inclusiveness, internalized oppression, queer, resistance, and sexism. An outline is given for the in-class writing assignment, providing strategies for introducing a thesis, writing body paragraphs with supporting evidence, anticipating counterarguments, and concluding the essay.

2. AGENDA
• Presentation: Terms
• Lecture:
• Counterarguments
• Conclusions
• MLA format; in-text citations;
works cited page.
• In-class writing: Essay #2

3. TERMS
• Economic class: Power and position related to economic level. Can be
associated with related cultural norms and values, education,
occupation, life-style and where one lives.
• Ethnocentrism: Assumptions that key cultural aspects of one’s culture
are/should be universal, with devaluing of those discrepant from these.
May include a belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group.
• Gender: A cultural notion of what it is to be a woman or a man. A
construct based on the social shaping of femininity and masculinity. It
usually includes identification with males as a class or with females as a
class. Gender includes subjective concepts about character traits and
expected behaviors that vary from place to place and person to person.

4. • Gender Expression: Refers to the ways in which people externally
communicate their gender identity to others through behavior,
clothing, hairstyle, voice and emphasizing, de-emphasizing, or
changing their body’s characteristics. Gender expression is not
necessarily an indication of sexual orientation.
• Inclusiveness: To include everyone in a community rather than
attempt to treat them all equally, when equality may not be as
effective.
• Internalized Oppression: The process by which a member of an
oppressed group comes to accept and live out the inaccurate
myths and stereotypes applied to the group.

5. • Queer: Used as an umbrella identity term encompassing lesbian,
questioning people, gay men, bisexuals, non-labeling people, transgender
folks, and anyone else who does not strictly identity as heterosexual.
“Queer” originated as a derogatory word, but is being reclaimed and used as
a statement of empowerment. Some people identify as “queer” to distance
themselves from the rigid categorization of “straight” and “gay.” Some
transgender, lesbian, gay, questioning, non-labeling, and bisexual people,
however, reject the use of this term due to its connotations of deviance and
its tendency to gloss over and sometimes deny the differences between
these groups.
• Resistance: The action of opposing something that you disapprove or
disagree with, possibly group action in opposition to those in power.
• Sexism: Discrimination based on gender or sex, especially discrimination
against women.

7. ESSAY #2: WORKING OUTLINE
Introduction: Choose your strategy
Thesis: This will likely be near the end of your introduction. This is your response
to the question and the map to your essay.
Body
Body Paragraph 1: First reason supporting the thesis. Topic sentence;
explanation; example; explanation; analysis; conclusion/transition.
Body Paragraph 2: Second reason supporting the thesis. Topic sentence;
explanation; example; explanation; analysis; conclusion/transition.
Body Paragraph 3, 4, 5: Reasons supporting the thesis. Topic sentence;
explanation; example; explanation; analysis; conclusion/transition.
Counter Argument: Anticipate your readers questions or doubts: Acknowledge,
Accommodate, or Refute
Conclusion: Wrap it up: Choose your strategy

10. TRY ACKNOWLEDGING READERS’ CONCERNS
I understand….
I understand…..
I understand….
Nevertheless……..

12. TRY ACCOMMODATING READERS’ CONCERNS
To be sure, passing……
Another supposed advantage/disadvantage to passing is…..

14. A Sentence Strategy: Concession Followed by Refutation
As you draft, you will need to move back and forth smoothly between arguments for your
position and counterarguments against your readers’ likely objections and preferred
positions. One useful strategy for making this move is to concede the value of a likely
criticism and then to refute it immediately, either in the same sentence or in the next one.
The following sentences from Jessica Statsky’s essay illustrate several ways to make this
move (the concessions are in italics, the refutations in bold):
The primary goal of a professional athlete—winning—is not appropriate for children. Their
goals should be having fun, learning, and being with friends. Although winning does add
to the fun, too many adults lose sight of what matters and make winning the most
important goal. (par. 5)
And it is perfectly obvious how important competitive skills are in finding a job. Yet the ability
to cooperate is also important for success in life. (par. 10)

15. TRY REFUTING READERS’ OBJECTIONS
Now, it may be argued……
Still……..
The very act of passing……..
Though passing/ refusing to pass does……
People must not lose sight of………..
It is perfectly obvious that there are advantages/disadvantages to passing ….
Yet, _______________ is important because………….

17. CONSIDERING THE OPPOSING ARGUMENT
Think about the reasons someone might doubt your
conclusions and respond to each of them.
Remember, you did some of this work when you filled out
your FREECASH chart.
You might include a paragraph or two that
addresses/acknowledges/expands upon any
qualifications you made in your thesis.

19. STRATEGIES FOR WRITING A CONCLUSION
Conclusions are often the most difficult part of an essay to write,
and many writers feel that they have nothing left to say after
having written the paper. A writer needs to keep in mind that the
conclusion is often what a reader remembers best. Your
conclusion should be the best part of your paper.
A conclusion should
• stress the importance of the thesis statement,
• give the essay a sense of completeness, and
• leave a final impression on the reader.

20. SUGGESTIONS
ANSWER THE QUESTION SYNTHESIZE, DON'T SUMMARIZE
"S O W HAT ?"
Show your readers why Don't simply repeat
this paper was important. information from your paper.
Show them that your They have read it. Show them
paper was meaningful how the points you made and
and useful. the support and examples
you used were not random,
but fit together.

21. CONCLUSIONS SUGGESTIONS
CHALLENGE THE READER C R E AT E A N E W M E A N IN G
By issuing a challenge to You don't have to give
your readers, you are new information to create
helping them to redirect a new meaning. By
the information in the demonstrating how your
ideas work together, you
paper, and they may apply
can create a new picture.
it to their own lives.
Often the sum of the
paper is worth more than
its parts.

22. PROPOSE A COURSE OF
ACTION, A SOLUTION TO ECHO THE INTRODUCTION:
AN ISSUE, OR FRAMING
QUESTIONS FOR
FU RT HE R ST U DY.
This can redirect your Echoing your introduction can
reader's thought process be a good strategy if it is
meant to bring the reader
and help her to apply your
full-circle. If you begin by
info and ideas to her own describing a scenario, you
life or to see the broader can end with the same
implications. scenario as proof that your
essay was helpful in creating
a new understanding.

23. CONCLUSIONS TO AVOID
1. The "That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It” conclusion. This conclusion just restates the
thesis and is usually painfully short. It does not push the ideas forward. People write this
kind of conclusion when they can't think of anything else to say.
2. The "Sherlock Holmes" Conclusion. Sometimes writers will state the thesis for the very
first time in the conclusion. You might be tempted to use this strategy if you don't want to
give everything away too early in your paper. You may think it would be more dramatic to
keep the reader in the dark until the end and then "wow" him with your main idea, as in a
Sherlock Holmes mystery. The reader, however, does not expect a mystery, but an
analytical discussion of your topic in an academic style, with the main argument (thesis)
stated up front.
3. The "America the Beautiful"/"I Am Woman"/"We Shall Overcome" Conclusion. This kind of
conclusion usually draws on excessive emotion to make its appeal, but while this emotion
and even sentimentality may be very heartfelt, it is usually out of character with the rest
of an analytical paper. A more sophisticated commentary, rather than emotional praise,
would be a more fitting tribute to the topic.
4. The "Grab Bag" Conclusion. This kind of conclusion includes extra information that the
writer found or thought of but couldn't integrate into the main paper. You may find it hard
to leave out details, but adding random facts and bits of evidence at the end of an
otherwise-well-organized essay can just create confusion.

24. LET’S TRY A COUPLE OF CONCLUSIONS
1. Answer the question "So What?”: Show your readers why this paper was important.
2. Synthesize information: Show how the points you made and the support and
examples you used fit together.
3. Challenge the reader: Help readers redirect the information in the paper, so they may
apply it to their own lives.
4. Create a new meaning: demonstrating how your ideas work together can create a
new picture. Often the sum of the paper is worth more than its parts.
5. Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study:
Redirect your reader's thought process and help him or her to apply your info and
ideas to her own life or to see the broader implications.
6. Echo the introduction: If you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the
same scenario as proof that your essay was helpful in creating a new understanding.

26. MLA STYLE: INTEGRATING QUOTATIONS
According to the St. Martin's Guide, there are three You can, however, build your own signal phrases
main ways to set up a signaling phrase: by mixing these three basic styles with verbs that
1. With a complete sentence followed by a colon. describe your source's attitude towards the
The effects of Auld's prohibition against teaching subject of the quote. Here is a list of such verbs,
Douglass to read were quite profound for as well as other phrases you can use:
Douglass: "It was a new and special revelation"
(29).
2. With an incomplete sentence, followed by a comma. admits agrees argues asserts believe
Douglass argues that Auld's prohibition against literacy s
for him was a profound experience, saying, "It was claims compares confirms contends declare
a new and special revelation" (29).
s denies
3. With a statement that ends in that. emphasizes insists notes observes poin
The importance of Auld's prohibition to Douglass is ts
clear when he states that "It was a new and out reasons refutes rejects reports
special revelation" (29). replies suggests thinks writes
In _____'s words
According to ____'s (notes, study, narrative,
novel, etc.)

27. USING THE SOURCE'S NAME
Generally, the first time we use a source in a paper, whether it be through a paraphrase or a
quote, it's a good idea to use the author(s) full name(s) and the title of the source we are
using in the actual sentence so that readers feel that we have introduced the source to
them. After we have introduced the source, it's perfectly acceptable to refer to the author
by his or her last name or even to leave the name out of the body of our text and simply
include it in the citation.
First use:
In his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself,
Frederick Douglass argues that "Slavery proved as injurious [to slave holders] as it did to
me" (31).
Second use:
Douglass earlier argues that slavery was "a fatal poison of irresponsible power" to slave holders
(29).
Third use:
The use of the word "hypocrites!" suggests that even the religious faith of the slave holders was
tainted by their ownership of other humans (Douglass 77).

28. PUNCTUATING QUOTES CAN BE FRUSTRATING BECAUSE WE OFTEN GET CONFUSED ABOUT
WHERE TO PUT PUNCTUATION. THE FOLLOWING CHART OFFERS A STRAIGHTFORWARD VIEW
ON HOW TO PUNCTUATE THE END OF A QUOTE:
QUESTION MARKS
PERIODS & COMMAS
& E XC L A M AT IO N P O I N T S
If the original quote ends with an exclamation mark or a question mark, we must
They go inside the quotation marks even include it inside the quotation marks.
if there is no period or comma at the ORIGINAL TEXT:
Will not a righteous God visit for these things?
end of the quoted material in the
QUOTED TEXT:
original text. When Douglass asks, "Will not a righteous God visit for these things?" he
raises the question of doubt about the future salvation of the "Christian"
Exception: If there is a parenthetical slaveholders.
citation immediately after the quote, Notice that we don't put a comma after the question mark, even though normally
the period or comma goes after the we would if there was not a question mark. We omit the comma to avoid
double punctuation.
parenthetical citation.
If we want to use a quoted statement in a question or exclamation we create, then
COLONS & SEMI-COLONS the question mark or the exclamation mark goes outside the quotation
marks.
Colons and semi-colons always go ORIGINAL TEXT:
outside the quotation, even if the The grave is at the door. (FD 38)
original quoted material ends with QUOTED TEXT:
either form of punctuation. How can we take Douglass seriously when he indulges in excessively
romanticized language such as "The grave is at the door"?

30. MLA FORMAT: ON OUR WEBSITE: “MLA GUIDELINES”
DOWNLOAD “MLA EXAMPLE AND DIRECTIONS”
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write
papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the
English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for
referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and
Works Cited pages.
Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating
accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA
style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the
purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

31. PAPER FORMAT

32. M A RG INS A ND FOR M ATTING HEADER: LAST NAME 1
 1” all around  Double Click in Header
 Go to “Layout” and adjust Area
margins or use custom  Type your last name
settings  Justify right
 Times New Roman 12  Go to “insert” and click on
 Indent body paragraphs ½ “page number”
inch from the margin

33. HEADING: DOUBLE SPACED TITLE
Your Name  Original Title (not the title
Dr. Kim Palmore of the essay we read)
EWRT 1B  No italics, bold, underline,
15 February 2013 or quotation marks
 Centered on the page
 No extra spaces (just
double spaced after your
heading and before the
body of your text)

35. SHORT QUOTATIONS
To indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines of prose or
three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within
double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page
citation (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the text,
and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page.
Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons
should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks
and exclamation points should appear within the quotation
marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the
parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

36. For example, when quoting short passages of prose, use the
following examples:
According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of
personality" (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.
According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound
aspects of personality" (184).
Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of
personality" (Foulkes 184)?
When short (fewer than three lines of verse) quotations from poetry,
mark breaks in short quotations of verse with a slash, /, at the end of
each line of verse (a space should precede and follow the slash).
Cullen concludes, "Of all the things that happened there / That's all I
remember" (11-12).

37. LONG QUOTATIONS
For quotations that extend to more than four lines of verse or prose,
place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit
quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the
entire quote indented one inch (10 spaces) from the left margin;
maintain double-spacing. Only indent the first line of the
quotation by an additional quarter inch if you are citing multiple
paragraphs. Your parenthetical citation should come after the
closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original
line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout
your essay.)

39. Note that the works cited page is in alpha order and that there are no
numbers next to the entries. You may underline or italicize your titles,
but pick one and be consistent. This, like all of your papers should be
done in Times New Roman 12.

40. HOMEWORK
Reading: Stone Butch Blues (66-130)
Post #13: Finish and post complete draft.
Bring: three complete, clean copies to our next meeting.
Studying: Vocab/Terms