1,500 to 2,100 words (not including Works Cited page) Introduction (1 paragraph, roughly 200 words) Capture the reader’s attention Introduce your topic Provide a general road map of your essay Present thesis statement Specific / narrow Debatable Context / Background (1 to 2 paragraphs: roughly 300 to 450 words) Your answers to these questions should be supported by evidence you've found in your research. Use the advice (and the templates) found in They Say, I Say Chapter 1 "They Say: Starting with What Others Are Saying" Chapter 2 "Her Point Is: The Art of Summarizing" Chapter 3 "As He Himself Puts It: The Art of Quoting" Why is this a problem? What caused it? Who is affected, specifically? Who is involved in the debate about the problem? What’s the history of the problem? Has it been getting worse? Getting better? How does the problem in the place you're writing about compare to the problem in other places? Are there any key terms that need to be defined? Overview of other proposals (2 to 3 paragraphs: roughly 450 to 600 words) Your answers to these questions should be supported by evidence you've found in your research. Use the advice (and the templates) found in They Say, I Say Chapter 1 "They Say: Starting with What Others Are Saying" Chapter 2 "Her Point Is: The Art of Summarizing" Chapter 3 "As He Himself Puts It: The Art of Quoting" What are the other proposals? Explain them in enough detail for your audience to understand them. Who has made them? Have they been tried before? If so, how well did they work? Why won’t they work, in your opinion? Explanation of your proposal (this is most of your essay) Your answers to these questions should be supported by evidence you've found in your research. You should be as detailed and specific as possible for your audience to understand what you're proposing. Use the advice (and the templates) found in They Say, I Say Chapter 4 "Yes / No / Okay, but: Three Ways to Respond" Chapter 5 "And Yet: Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say" Chapter 7 "So What? Who Cares?: Saying Why It Matters" Chapter 8 "As a Result: Connecting the Parts" What is your plan for solving the problem that you've identified? Who will be responsible for enacting your proposal? What resources will your proposal require? How long will it take for your proposal to show results? How will things be different when your proposal is successful? Do others already support your proposal? Who are they? Has your proposal been used before? If so, how well did it work? Respond to naysayers (1 to 2 paragraphs: roughly 300 to 450 words) Your answers to these questions should be supported by evidence you've found in your research. You should be as detailed and specific as possible for your audience to understand who the naysayers are and why they disagree with you. Use the advice (and the templates) found in They Say, I Say Chapter 4 "Yes / No / Okay, but: Three Ways to Respond" Chapter 6 "Skeptics May Object: Planting a Naysayer in Your Text" Who is saying (or would say) your proposal won’t work? What are their reasons? Why are they wrong? Conclusion (1 substantial paragraph) Provide a sense of closure Summarizes your main points Provide a call to action or a prediction about the future Works Cited Page List all of your sources Arrange in alphabetical order Format in MLA Style Has to be on Intellectual Disability or close to it