Part I-Introduction 1. Your introductory paragraph should begin with a(n) attention grabber/hook that engages your reader from the get-go. You should clearly establish what your topic/argument is. 2. Next comes background information. Include information relevant to your topic, and work your way from generally discussing your topic/its importance to your more specific thesis. 3. The final piece of your introduction is your thesis statement. This should clearly and succinctly state the main topic of your essay. Avoid simply stating, “The subject of this essay is….” Also make sure you write this as a statement, not a question.

Analyzing Introductory Paragraphs The topic I am talking about in this essay is raising the driving age should be raised to 18. This is a really important issue to discuss. Should the driving age be raised to 18? In this essay I will answer that question. Highlight/underline the author’s attention grabber. What feedback can you give the author about their attention grabber? Highlight/underline the author’s thesis statement. What feedback can you give the author about their thesis? What feedback can you give the author about their background information?

Analyzing Introductory Paragraphs Traffic accidents, high insurance premiums, and lack of experience. These are all issues with allowing young teenagers to get their license. If teenagers were required to wait and gain more experience, the roads would be safer for all of use. Raising the driving age to 18 would help make the roads safer for everyone. Highlight/underline the author’s attention grabber. What feedback can you give the author about their attention grabber? Highlight/underline the author’s thesis statement. What feedback can you give the author about their thesis? What feedback can you give the author about their background information?

Part II: Paragraphs Body paragraphs develop your thesis and provide facts and examples that support your main idea. Body paragraphs should follow the MEAL plan of organization. Main Idea: This is your topic sentence. This should clearly state the main idea of your paragraph, and all information in each paragraph should clearly relate back to your topic sentence. Example(s): This is the information that you researched-your examples of ethos and logos that support your argument. Your examples may be a mixture of direct quotations and paraphrased information. Regardless, all of your examples MUST be followed by an in-text citation. Analysis: The bulk of each of your body paragraphs should be your analysis of your examples. Don’t just list out your main points-you need to clearly and explicitly explain how they connect to your thesis and develop your argument. Lead out: Transition between each of your body paragraphs.

Comparing Body Paragraphs Raising the driving age to 18 would allow teens to develop the maturity and cognitive skills necessary for driving. “The human brain is not fully developed until the later teen years, with the decision- making portion of the brain one of the last to fully develop”. Also, if teens have to wait until they are 18 to drive they will spend less money on car insurance and car payments. They will have more time to save up money for these bills and not feel the added pressure of having to make payments while going to school. These are all good reasons for why my idea is right. Raising the driving age to 18 would allow teens to develop the maturity and cognitive skills necessary for driving. Psychologists say, “The human brain is not fully developed until the later teen years, with the decision-making portion of the brain one of the last to fully develop” (Brain Development). If the driving age is raised, teen’s brains will have the time they need to fully mature, and they will be better capable of making important decisions. Driving is a dangerous activity that requires maturity and good decision- making skills, and a young teen’s brain is simply not prepared to take on such a massive responsibility. In addition to brain maturity, there are other, perhaps more practical, reasons to raise the driving age.

Part III: The Counterargument Raising the driving age to 18, while also requiring teenagers to spend at least two years with a permit, will help reduce accidents. The CDC states that, “In 2014, 2,270 teens in the United States ages 16–19 were killed and 221,313 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. That means that six teens ages 16–19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries” (Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety). If teenagers were required to spend more time practicing how to drive, they would be more likely to develop the skills and responses necessary to being a safe driver. Some people say that raising the driving age to 18 would not make teens better drivers. Opponents to this plan say that there are many factors that contribute to the high number of teen accidents, and that while raising the driving age may make a small difference, the added stress of having an unlicensed driver will outweigh the benefits. However, driving is such an enormous responsibility that teens should be given every opportunity to develop the necessary skills to become safe drivers, regardless of “inconvenient” it may be to others. In fact, raising the driving age will also provide other, more practical, benefits.

Final Paragraph: Conclusion 9. Your conclusion paragraph should wrap up your ideas and leave the reader with a final call to action. 10. Do not introduce any new information in your conclusion. This will just make it sound like a body paragraph and confuse your reader. 11. You should restate your thesis and main points, but don’t simply rewrite them.   Make sure your paper clearly comes to a conclusion and does not leave the reader hanging!

How To Write A Works Cited Page You will use your source cards to write your works cited page. If you wrote your source cards in proper MLA format, all you really have to do is copy the information onto your paper. Your Works Cited page must be written in MLA format. If you are not sure what that should look like, look back at the handout you received at the start of the research process. You can also look up MLA format online.

How To Write A Works Cited Page Your Works Cited page must be a page by itself. It cannot have any other information on it. At the top center of the page, title it Works Cited. Each of your entries should be alphabetized by the first word in the entry. Entries should be single-spaced, with a double space between each different source.

Sample Works Cited Page Works Cited Doe, John. Psychology of the Brain. Generic University, 2 January 2017. www.psychology.com. Accessed 10 January 2017. Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety. CDC, 13 October 2016.www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_fact sheet.html. Accessed 22 January 2017.

Parenthetical (a.k.a. In-Text) Citations In addition to a Works Cited page, which gives the full bibliographic information for your sources, you must also include parenthetical (sometimes called in-text) citations as well. These parenthetical citations are like a shortened version of your full source citation. They let the reader know which source in your works cited that piece of information comes from. You need to cite after EVERY piece of information you took from another source, whether you directly quote it or you paraphrase it!!!!! If you have it on a note card, and you put it in your paper, you must cite it!!!!

Tips For Writing Parenthetical Citations Your parenthetical citations come after the sentence that your are quoting or paraphrasing, after any quotation marks, before the end punctuation. For book sources, include the author’s last name and the page number in parenthesis. Ex: (Doe 115). If the work does not have an author, use the title of the website/article instead. Ex: (Insurance Costs for Teen Drivers).

Sample Parenthetical Citations Raising the driving age to 18 would allow teens to develop the maturity and cognitive skills necessary for driving. Psychologists say, “The human brain is not fully developed until the later teen years, with the decision-making portion of the brain one of the last to fully develop” (Doe). If the driving age is raised, teen’s brains will have the time they need to fully mature, and they will be better capable of making important decisions. Driving is a dangerous activity that requires maturity and good decision-making skills, and a young teen’s brain is simply not prepared to take on such a massive responsibility. In addition to brain maturity, there are other, perhaps more practical, reasons to raise the driving age.