This document provides an agenda and terms for a lecture on counterarguments and conclusions in academic writing. It outlines presenting terms, a lecture on counterarguments and conclusions, discussing MLA citation format, and an in-class writing assignment on Essay #2. Key terms are defined, including economic class, ethnocentrism, gender, gender expression, inclusiveness, internalized oppression, queer, resistance, and sexism. Guidelines are provided for writing an outline, developing counterarguments, and strategies for writing a conclusion.

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, deemphasizing, 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, nonlabeling, 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. TRY REFUTING READERS’ OBJECTIONS
Now, it may be argued……
This argument, however, ……
Proponents/Opponents argue that…..
But experience and evidence show…..
But ……………… is not completely inaccurate.
Consider ………………….

15. WORKING AT HOME: PRACTICE ALL THREE KINDS OF
COUNTERARGUMENT: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, CONCESSION, AND
REFUTATION.
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.

17. 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.

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

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

20. PROPOSE A COURSE
OF ACTION, A
SOLUTION TO AN
ISSUE, OR QUESTIONS
F O R F U R T H E R S T U D Y.
This can redirect your
reader's thought
process and help her to
apply your info and
ideas to her own life or
to see the broader
implications.
ECHO THE
INTRODUCTION:
FRAMING
Echoing your introduction
can be a good strategy if
it is meant to bring the
reader full-circle. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

24. MLA STYLE: INTEGRATING QUOTATIONS
According to the St. Martin's Guide, there are three main ways to set up a
signaling phrase:
1. With a complete sentence followed by a colon.
Jack writes to his mother: “When I look at the colored boy porter who sweeps out the
office, I think that‟s what I might be doing if I wasn‟t light-skinned enough to get by. No
matter how smart that boy‟d get to be, they wouldn‟t hire him for a clerk in the office, not
if they knew it. Only for a porter” (Hughes 52).
2. With an incomplete sentence, followed by a comma.
In his short story “Passing,” Langston Hughes describes the life of a man named Jack,
who passes as white at his mother‟s encouragement. However, in the process, he disowns
his family, going as far as to proclaim, “I‟m going to marry white and live white, and if
any of my kids are born dark I‟ll swear they‟re not mine. I won‟t get caught in the mire of
color again!” (53-54).
3. With a statement that ends in that.
In his essay "Racial Segregation" by William Pickens, he says that "If passing for white
will get a fellow better accommodations on the train, better seats in the theatre, immunity
from insults in public places, and may even save his life from a mob, only idiots would
fail to seize the advantages of passing, at least occasionally if not permanently" (Pickens
3).

25. You can, however, build your own signal phrases by mixing these three basic
styles with verbs that describe your source's attitude towards the subject of
the quote. Here is a list of such verbs, as well as other phrases you can use:
admits
agrees
argues
asserts
believes
claims
compares confirms contends declares denies
emphasizes insists
notes
observes points
out reasons
refutes
rejects
reports
replies
suggests thinks
writes
In _____'s words, “
According to ____'s (notes, study, narrative, novel, etc.)

26. 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).

27. 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
& E X C L A M AT I O N
PERIODS & COMMAS
POINTS
They go inside the quotation marks
even if there is no period or comma
at the end of the quoted material in
the original text.
Exception: If there is a parenthetical
citation immediately after the
quote, the period or comma goes
after the parenthetical citation.
COLONS & SEMI-COLONS
Colons and semi-colons always go
outside the quotation, even if the
original quoted material ends with
either form of punctuation.
If the original quote ends with an exclamation mark or a question mark, we must
include it inside the quotation marks.
ORIGINAL TEXT:
Will not a righteous God visit for these things?
QUOTED 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"
slaveholders.
Notice that we don't put a comma after the question mark, even though normally
we would if there was not a question mark. We omit the comma to avoid
double punctuation.
If we want to use a quoted statement in a question or exclamation we create,
then the question mark or the exclamation mark goes outside the
quotation marks.
ORIGINAL TEXT:
The grave is at the door. (FD 38)
QUOTED TEXT:
How can we take Douglass seriously when he indulges in excessively
romanticized language such as "The grave is at the door"?

29. MLA FORMAT: ON OUR WEBSITE UNDER “MLA GUIDELINES”
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/

30. PAPER FORMAT

31. MARGINS AND
F O R M AT T I N G
 1” all around
 Go to “Layout” and
adjust margins or use
custom settings
 Times New Roman 12
 Indent body paragraphs
½ inch from the margin
HEADER: LAST NAME 1
 Double Click in Header
Area
 Type your last name
 Justify right
 Go to “insert” and click
on “page number”

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

34. 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.

35. 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).

36. 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.)

37. There was an incident when a man of mixed race with the appearance of a white person was
injured and taken to the hospital:
Walter White‟s father was struck by an automobile driven by a white physician who
practiced at Atlanta‟s Grady Hospital [...] The white section was clean and renovated;
the black section, dirty and dilapidated. The physician took White‟s father to the white
section of the hospital. Before long, though, a visit by a son-in-law apprized the
hospital staff of their „error.‟ [...] Walter White wrote that his father „was snatched from
the examination table [...] and taken hurriedly across the street in a driving downpour
[...] to the „Negro‟ ward‟ where he died sixteen days later. (Kennedy 1)

38. CITING SUMMARIZED MATERIAL
 In Randall Kennedy’s article “Racial Passing” in the
Ohio State Law Journal, he discusses such a case in
the journey of Ellen Craft, a black woman who
passed not only as white but as a white man in order
to smuggle her husband north to avoid slavery (1).

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: Best 250 words
of your complete draft.
Bring: three complete,
clean copies to our next
meeting.
Studying: Vocab/Terms