Proposal.

Treasure Hunting When you move from your claim (iso la tin g yo ur ma in te rm or poin t to w ork wit h ) to th e e ssa y itself, you’ll find that it’s ti me to d o so me re se arch w it h in th e te xt . T he typ es of th in gs th at yo u look for will depend heavi ly on w hat yo u ch ose to fo cu s on in th e fir st p la ce . E sse ntia lly, e ach thing that you find will beco me a fo cu sing p oin t fo r yo ur body para gra phs.

Did you choose one of the w ays to e n te r th e c o nvers ati on fr om t h e d ocu m en t w e p ut together when deconstr ucti ng th e p ro m pt?

If so, focus on the way in which yo u re sp onded to th e o pport unit y yo u’r e r e sp ondin g to .

1. What about it fa sci nate d/sh ocke d/p erp le xe d yo u?

2. Was there a nyt hin g e lse in th e te xt th at fa sci nate d/sh ocke d/p erp le xe d yo u in a similar fashio n?

3. Are there any oth er pla ce s in th e te xt th e re ader needs to se e in o rd er to understand th e o pport unit y yo u’re re sp ondin g to ?

Did you find an ambigu ity , g ap , te nsio n, c o ntr ad ic ti on o r d iffi cu lt y in t h e e ssay?

1. First, find all o f th e p la ce s th e a uth or sa ys th e first th in g.

2. The more time s yo u fin d it , th e mo re ch ance it is a d eep p art o f h ow th ey feel/what they th in k and th e mo re ch ance it ’s a co ntr a dict io n.

3. Then, look fo r how ma ny time s th ey sa y th e se cond th in g th at co ntr a dict s th e fir st one- if it’s ju st o ne, it mi ght b e th at th ey’ re u naw are o f th e co ntr a dict io n.

4. Only a few time s, it mi ght b e a g ap, te nsi on, o r am big uit y.

5. If it’s a lot of time s, it mi ght b e th at th ey’ re tryi ng to h ig hlig ht th e co ntr a dict io n knowingly, o r to fo re gro und a d if ficu lt y in th eir discu ssion.

6. Once you know w hich typ e o f co ntra dict io n yo u’re d ealin g w it h , yo u ca n st art to figure out how to w ork th ro ugh yo ur ow n d iscu ssion o f th e p ro ble m yo u’r e se ein g in the text. 7. You’re looking fo r: w heth er it is in te ntio nal/ u nin te ntio nal, a nd h ow st ro ng it is.

Did you choose to focus o n a te rm ?

If so, then you should loo k fo r all u sa ges of th at te rm, o r any pote ntia lly re la te d te rm s. T hen, a sk yourself the following que stio ns:

1. Is the author usi ng th e te rm ​co nsis te ntly ​? If so , h ow a re th ey usi ng it ? If n ot, how do their usa ges dif fe r fro m one a noth er?

2. Does the auth or use a ny oth er te rms ​in te rc h an geab ly ​ w it h th e te rm yo u ch ose to focus on? If so , w hat is th at te rm? Are th ose u sa ges fu lly co nsi st ent? If n ot, how do they dif fe r at time s?

3. Does the auth or use a ny te rms ​next to ​ o r ​near ​ o r ​in r e la tio n ​ to th at te rm ? If so , what is the oth er te rm? W hat is th e re la tio nsh ip b etw een th ose te rm s?

Did you choose to focus o n a p ara g ra p h, a n d n arro w y o ur m ain id ea d ow n t o o ne sentence from that para gra p h?

If so, you may have the ea siest jo b o f a ll, b eca use yo u’re b asi ca lly ju st g oin g to w ork th ro ugh that paragraph throughou t th e e ntire e ssa y. H ow eve r, it ’s wort h n otin g th at th ere m ay be o th er paragraphs or words/phra ses/lin es th at a re re la te d, so yo u ma y want to co nsi der e xp andin g your search! 1. Think about w hy yo u ch ose th at p ara gra ph- w hat a bout it a ppeale d to yo u, interested you, o r ma de yo u w onder w hy it w as th ere ?

2. When you lo ok at yo ur para gra ph, w hat ro le d oes it p la y in th e e ntir e e ssa y? Is it a main argument? Is it so me th in g th at w eake ns th e o ve ra ll a rg um ent?

3. Are there any oth er para gra phs yo ur re ader w ould n eed to se e in o rd er to understand th at p ara gra ph?

Did you choose to focus o n p art of a s to ry ?

If so, you should ask you rself th e fo llo w in g q uest io ns:

1. Where does th e st ory ​beg in ​? 2. Where does th e st ory ​en d ​? 3. Are there any ​arg um en ts ​ o r ​sta temen ts ​ o r ​questio ns ​ r e la te d to th at st ory th at show up in o th er se ctio ns of th e a rt icl e?

Remember: you should a lw ays lo ok fo r mo re th an yo u co uld p ossi bly use . If it tu rn s out th at yo u have found way, way too much, th en yo u g et ri d o f th e st uff th at isn ’t th e b est o r th e m ost related to what you’re try in g to d o. H ow eve r, yo u ma y fin d th at yo u w ant to ke ep th in gs th at others might respond to ne gative ly, a nd e nte rt ain th e o th er si de’s opin io ns.

When searching: 1. Choose quantit y ove r qualit y at first .

2. Then, narrow d ow n yo ur ch oice s and p ut q ualit y ahead o f q uantit y.

3. Keep your search p age a nd yo ur dra ftin g p ages se para te ; n eve r sa ve o ve r yo ur previous work.

4. Name your dra fts/ docu me nts appro pria te ly, a nd g ro up th em in fo ld ers by su bje ct and project w here p ossi ble .