Prof H's notes on his assignment

Just a quick explanation of the attachment: 

You'll see the expectations of a "structured outline," which is really meant to make my students understand the functionality of *where* things go in a paper, and why (specifically with paragraph structure).  The paper following the outline is, of course, an extension of it, so the topics you see at the top are what the students are writing about.  (The link to Gov. Jindal's article, if you are interested, is at the bottom).  

The second page contains a template I asked my students to use for their outlines.  (You'll notice that if they have written this correctly, they essentially have written the paper.)

Below is a list of what I am expecting from my students:

-Proper MLA format (minus a works cited)
-A thesis with a contestable claim and map)
-STRONG openings to paragraphs (which make a contestable claim that extends from the thesis)
-Evidence (not necessarily cited...yet)
-A "Reintegration" sentence to close the paragraph which also ties the thesis back into the argument.

This is what I will ultimately be looking for in the papers, if it is of any use to your students.  Anything else they can pick up on (like transition sentences, poor grammar) is a plus.

Some of my students may come in with an outline instead of a paper, depending on where they are at individually.