Geography and Economy of Colonial America



Team Polaris Name ________________

American History Date _________________

The American Revolution

Argumentative Writing Assignment

Prompt: There are many reasons why America won the American Revolution and successfully gained their independence. In your opinion, what is the most important reason the Americans won the war? Be sure to explain your reasoning and give one counter argument to your claim.

Sample Claim: The foreign help the Americans received was the most important reason they won the Revolution because it provided the assistance and guidance they needed.

Due Dates:

▪ Graphic Organizer due Monday, 12/14

▪ Rough draft due Wednesday, 12/16 (4th Period)

Thursday, 12/17 (1st Period)

▪ Final copy due Monday, 12/21

____________________________________________________________

Your CREATIVE Title: __________________________________________

This opening paragraph should gain your reader’s interest and identify the claim you plan to develop.

Grabber:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Three Sentence Summary on the Background of the Revolution:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Claim: Identify the reason you believe is the most important to America winning the war and why.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good Transition Starters:

|First |One important |A significant |Of greatest significant |

| |Most importantly | | |

This supporting paragraph should present the first reason supporting your claim.

Topic Sentence: _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Explanation of reason:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How this reason helped the Americans win the war:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Concluding Sentence: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good Transition Starters:

|Second |Equally important |Another significant |Next |

|Additionally |Most important |Of greatest significant |Last |

This supporting paragraph should present the second reason supporting your claim.

Topic Sentence: _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Explanation of reason:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How this reason helped the Americans win the war:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Concluding Sentence: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good Transition Starters:

|Third |Equally important |Another significant |Next |

|Additionally |Most important |Of greatest significant |Last |

This supporting paragraph should present the third reason supporting your claim.

Topic Sentence: _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Explanation of reason:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How this reason helped the Americans win the war:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Concluding Sentence: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

|This paragraph should present the counter argument and your rebuttal to this argument. |

|Opposition Reason (Transition Sentence): |

|“Some people would say…” |

|_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________|

|___ |

|Explanation of opposition reason: |

|_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________|

|____________________________________________________________________________ |

|Why those who disagree with you are wrong: |

|(Counter argument transition + counter argument) |

|Good Counter Argument Transitions: |

|However |

|On the contrary |

|Nevertheless |

|On the other hand |

| |

| |

|_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________|

|____________________________________________________________________________Concluding Sentence: |

|______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |

Conclusion Transitions:

|All in all |Finally |In closing |In conclusion |

|In short |In summary |The logical conclusion is |To conclude |

|As you can see |Clearly | | |

Essay Score Sheet Score/Grade ______

| |4 |3 |2 |1 |Score |

|Content |substantial, specific, |sufficiently developed |limited content with |superficial and/or |____ |

| |and/or illustrative content |content with adequate |inadequate elaboration |minimal content |X 2 |

| |demonstrating strong |elaboration or explanation|or explanation | | |

| |development and | | | |____ |

| |sophisticated ideas | | | | |

|Counter-Argument |counter argument is clearly |counter argument is |counter argument is |counter argument is |____ |

| |identified and specifically |identified and explained |identified with mention |identified | |

| |explained with strong |with explanation of why |of argument being wrong | | |

| |explanation of why argument |argument is wrong | | | |

| |is wrong | | | | |

|Organization |sophisticated arrangement of|functional arrangement of |confused or inconsistent|minimal control of |____ |

| |content with evident and/or |content that sustains |arrangement of content |content | |

| |subtle transitions |logical order with some |with or without attempts| | |

| | |evidence of transitions |at transitions | | |

|Conventions |evident control of grammar, |sufficient control of |limited control of |minimal control of |____ |

| |mechanics, spelling, usage |grammar, mechanics, |grammar, mechanics, |grammar, mechanics, | |

| |and sentence formation |spelling, usage and |spelling, usage and |spelling, usage and | |

| | |sentence formation |sentence formation |sentence formation | |

Scale: 20=A+ 19=A 18=A- 17=B+ 16=B 15=B- 14=C+ 13=C 12=C- 11=D+ 10=D 9=D- 8 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download