Grace Beaulieu

Expository Writing 110

Ms. Johnson

March 12, 2017

Argumentative Essay Self Assessment

1. What is one part of your argumentative essay you are particularly proud of? Copy and
paste it below and explain why.
Im most proud of my introduction. This is one of my favorite parts about my essay because its
really the only part that sounds good to me when I read it. By this I mean that it remains fairly
simple and my claim is easily identified and followed. I dont think that this really happens in the
rest of my essay. There were quite a few issues in my introduction in my first draft. The major
issue was that I didnt have a specific claim to focus the rest of my paper on. This is something
that I worked to fix, and I think I did well with picking a definitive claim.

Drug possession. Assault. Hate Crime. Robbery. Murder. These are just a few types of

crimes that people in American society are used to hearing about. We are used to hearing about

each because they are constantly spoken about on the news, written in headlines, or brought up in

political conversations. Crimes like the ones listed are portrayed through such methods because

they happen all of the time. Crime is a part of American culture that has changed radically

throughout the past few decades. However, it is believed by many that the rate of crime in the

U.S. has actually decreased and is continuing to do so, but it is truly increasing. Multiple reasons

behind this argument include violent crimes are becoming more prevalent, incarceration rates are

drastically rising, and drug crimes are becoming more common.

2. What were the areas you received feedback on that you worked really hard to fix in your
next drafts?
In my first draft my claim was not clear. To make it more clear, I picked a more
definitive argument to include in my thesis. I also made the transition sentence in each of
 my body paragraphs more descriptive of what is to be told in each paragraph, and to
show how the reason relates to my claim.
My first and second drafts were lacking counterclaims, so I worked hard to add one in
each body paragraph. After adding them, I dont feel like they are as strong as they could
be, but they are still there.
One of the other things I needed to work on was clarifying some of my minor points. For
example, when supporting my major points, I had some small points I made that needed
to be further elaborated on.

3. What makes your argument logical and convincing?

I personally dont think that anything makes my argument logical and convincing, but if I did I
would say that the evidence I use makes it fairly logical and convincing. This is because it
supports each of the reasons I state, and shows that it was said for a reason.

4. Do each of your counterclaims match up directly with your claims? Have you explained
why each of them are wrong?
I think that each of my counterclaims match up with my claims, and I attempt to explain why
each of them are wrong. However, I feel that my counterclaims are not as strong as they could
be, and that they could use more work.

5. What areas of writing argumentative essays do you still think you need to work on?
One area of writing argumentative essays I still think I need to work on is writing counterclaims.
I was able to construct them within each of my body paragraphs, but I dont feel like they are as
strong as they could be. Another area I still think I need to work on is writing concluding
sentences. I thought I understood how to write a good concluding sentence, but in the end I was
still confused about it.

6. What advice would you give to others about writing argumentative essays?
I would just say to try to stick to your claim and support it with evidence, but do so without
overthinking it. Because if you overthink how youll support your claim it is a lot harder to write.