1. ESSAY PROMPT
Compare and Contrast the portrayals of Beowulf as a young and old man. What view of youth and age do these comparisons convey? SUPPORT YOUR CONCLUSION WITH SPECIFIC EVIDENCE.

2. BRAINSTORMING Manipulate the Prompt
We cannot forget that it’s a comparison?
Young Beowulf
View of Youth
Old Beowulf
View of Age
What view of youth and age do these comparisons convey?

3. Introduction Attention grabbers can: Example:
Narrative / Anecdote – tell a true or fictional story related to your topic
Illustration – give a specific example related to your topic
Analogy – draw a comparison between your subject and something else
Rhetorical Question – use a well-chosen, relevant question (or questions) to raise the reader’s curiosity
Statement of Opposing View – for effect, build up one point of view in the attention-getter and then change it in the thesis
Example:
Attention Getter: How many times does a National Football League team rally from twenty-one points behind in the fourth quarter to win the game?
Thesis Statement: The Dallas Cowboys have historically been the luckiest team in the National Football League.

4. Introduction Thesis Statement : Example: Is the focus of the essay
Must state author + title
Example:
Wrong: Charles Dickens wrote many novels that include compelling child characters.
RIGHT: Charles Dickens demonstrates poor economic conditions in Victorian England through the experiences of his novels’ compelling child characters.
In Beowulf the author views the young as ____________, and the old as ____________, in regards to bravery, arrogance and loyalty.

5. Counterarguments Strengthen your argument
Anticipates your reader’s objections; make yourself sound more objective and reasonable.
Think about what possible argument might your reader pose against your argument and/or some aspect of your reasoning?
Then refute the argument.

6. Body Paragraphs Must have at least 3 pieces of evidence
Topic Sentence: What is one item, fact, detail, or example you can tell your readers that will help them better understand your claim/paper topic? Your answer should be the topic sentence for this paragraph.
Explain Topic Sentence: Do you need to explain your topic sentence? If so, do so here.
Introduce Evidence: Introduce your evidence either in a few words (As Dr. Brown states ―...‖) or in a full sentence (―To understand this issue we first need to look at statistics).
State Evidence: What supporting evidence (reasons, examples, facts, statistics, and/or quotations) can you include to prove/support/explain your topic sentence?
Explain Evidence: How should we read or interpret the evidence you are providing us? How does this evidence prove the point you are trying to make in this paragraph? Can be opinion based and is often at least 1-3 sentences.
Counterargument statement
Concluding Sentence: End your paragraph with a concluding sentence that reasserts how the topic sentence of this paragraph helps up better understand and/or prove your paper’s overall claim.

7. Body Paragraph Example
Topic sentence: In Beowulf young people are portrayed as selfish in regards to fearlessness, bravery and arrogance.
In the text it states that Beowulf grabbed Grendel’s head and walked into the mead hall dripping blood and presented it to Hrothgar.
Although Beowulf shows himself fearless in tackling not one but two monsters single handedly he makes a point to parade himself and Grendel’s head through the mead hall as a sign that he alone accomplish this task.
Not only are young people selfish in regards to their fearlessness they also show themselves as selfish to demonstrate bravery.

8. Conclusion
PURPOSE: illustrate to your instructor that you have thought critically and analytically about this issue.
Your conclusion should not simply restate your intro paragraph. If your conclusion says almost the exact same thing as your introduction, it may indicate that you have not done enough critical thinking during the course of your essay (since you ended up right where you started).
Your conclusion should tell us why we should care about your paper. What is the significance of your claim? Why is it important to you as the writer or to me as the reader? What information should you or I take away from this?

9. FINAL DRAFT MUST BE TYPED

10. MLA General Guidelines/Rules
IMPORTANT: Your grade will be dropped one letter grade if you do not follow these guidelines.
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
Create a title for your essay. center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks.
Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). The font size should be 12 pt.

11. MLA General Guidelines/Rules
Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.
Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.
Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of works.
For quotes after the period put a parenthesis and in the parenthesis put the line number. Example: Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as "symbol-using animals" (line 3).

12. Organization Staple it together The order is as follows:
Final draft typed (following all guidelines)
Peer editing slip
Rough draft
Young vs Old Beowulf Chart
Staple it together