Position Paper (Thu. 3/22)

Today we went back to the model position paper and observed how much of the paragraph is text evidence and explanation. In order to strengthen our text evidence and explanation skills, we used a Quote Sandwich.

A quote sandwich is composed of three parts:

1. Introduce the quote - where did this text evidence come from?

2. Include the quote - use quotation marks for direct quotes and be sure to cite in MLA

3. Analyze the quote - this is the explanation. Include 1-3 sentences to explain how your quote supports your supporting detail and what it means.

In our writing journals, we labeled 5 pages:

1. Paragraph 1: Introduction

2. Paragraph 2: Reason #1

3. Paragraph 3: Reason #2

4. Paragraph 4: Counterclaim

5. Conclusion

Then, we started writing out paragraph 2: Reason #1 (we will write the introductory paragraph later). Using our position paper planner, we turned REASON #1 into a complete sentence and highlighted it yellow. Then, we turned the first supporting evidence into a complete sentence and highlighted it pink. Finally, we write a quote sandwich for that first supporting detail. We did NOT highlight any part of the quote sandwich.

Tomorrow (Friday) we will start class with a peer critique of our quote sandwiches - to make sure that the introduction gives enough background information to understand the quote, that the quote is punctuated and cited correctly, and that the explanation of the quote makes sense.