General Model of a Thesis Statement for a Summary/Response/Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Like the Ones You’re Being Asked to Write for Our Class
Please note: you needn’t cram all the elements of a thesis like this into a single sentence as I do below, but by the end of your introductory paragraph, both the controlling idea for the summarized article and the majorideas you wish to center your response on should be clear to your reader.
In “Article A” writer X argues that thus and so is the case; however, X not only oversimplifies elements of his argument but fails to take opposing views into account, OR while several of X’s assumptions seem suspect, he does do a generally effective job of responding to the objections of skeptical readers, OR while X offers powerfully effective evidence for her views, she seldom takes the questions her readers might have into account, OR even though X’s essay offers some valid ideas, she bases her argument on too many unqualified generalizations to be credible, OR X does a good job of establishing common ground, and her argument makes logical sense, but my own experience with this subject suggests that the solutions she proposes aren’t likely to work, OR. . . .
Sample Introductory Paragraph for a Summary/Response/Rhetorical Evaluation Essay
It’s likely that Colorado residents, by now, are getting pretty tired of “Rocky Mountain High” jokes, but, in fact, the winds of change are blowing through Colorado—and Washington state, too—and the aroma carried on those winds has a distinctly skunky tang to it. Colorado and Washington, after all, are the first two states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Moreover, roughly half the states in the nation now provide some legal framework for allowing medical marijuana use. It would seem the times really are a changin’. However, these changes are hardly being welcomed in all quarters; rather, moves to legalize, or at least decriminalize, the “killer weed” are being met with plenty of concern and a good deal of push-back. For instance, Michele Leonhart in her Washington Post piece “Not So Fast on Legalization” claims that while the worst scare stories from the Reefer Madness era may not be accurate, there are still good public health and criminal justice reasons to keep marijuana illegal. It’s fair to say that Leonhart offers plenty of food for thought, but she’d have to do a more thorough job of responding to likely reader objections in order to sway readers who aren’t already in her camp.