Name: ____________________________________________________________________

Would you have stayed at or Left Valley Forge?

Argumentative Essay Organizer

CP
A

SECOND DRAFT
Directions: Complete the graphic organizer using your FIRST draft, planning organizer, and document packet.
Those will help you write out the second draft of your essay below in the organizer.
PARAGRAPH #1: INTRODUCTION

1)
What are you trying to answer? Re-read the Prompt:

Would you have stayed at or left Valley Forge?

2) HOOK: Before you answer the prompt you will need some an introductory sentence which invites the
reader in (Think about making controversial or surprising statements, giving a quote, asking questions, or stating some
shocking facts)

3. Background Information: What was Valley Forge/why did the Continental Army stay there? When did
they stay there? (Use the Background Essay on page 3 of your Document Packet).

4. Your THESIS will be your statement of what you will be writing about. Remember that this is an
informational piece so you should not be arguing an opinion. You will go into detail about this in your
body paragraphs. Answer the questions in the box above in 1-2 sentences
THESIS:

I would _______________________ the Continental Army at Valley Forge because of

____________________________, ______________________________, and
___________________________________.

Make sure that the order of your claims in the thesis MATCHES
the order of your body paragraphs.
[If the order is mixed up, it would be easier to tweak the thesis than erase
an entire paragraph!]

PARAGRAPH #2/BODY PARAGRAPH #1:

CLAIM #1:
Write out your first claim (i.e., from your thesis statement and the thesis roadmap) in a complete sentence.

Introduce the document

youre using:

Cite the EVIDENCE that supports

your choice:

EXPLAIN how this evidence supports your

choice:

According to (author of
document)
In (name of document) it
shows

(Provide a quote or a SPECIFIC DETAIL

from one of the visual sources!)

This means
It is evident that
Clearly

Clearly, this document justifies

____________ Valley Forge

According to ________

(staying at or leaving)
[tie analysis back to Claim 1]
because

_______________,

[Name of source]

(Document _____).
Citation

Write a connecting statement to bridge this paragraph and the next in 1-2 sentences:

1. Look at topic of
next paragraph
2. Create a statement
that connects topic
of this paragraph to
the next one

Depending on your argument (i.e., whether you would stay at or

leave Valley Forge), you need to explain how the evidence
shows that the conditions were possible or too difficult to live
through successfully.

PARAGRAPH #3/BODY PARAGRAPH #2:

CLAIM #2:
Write out your second claim (i.e., from your thesis statement and the thesis roadmap) in a complete
sentence.

Introduce the document

youre using:

Cite the EVIDENCE that supports

your choice:

EXPLAIN how this evidence supports your

choice:

According to (author of
document)
In (name of document) it
shows

(Provide a quote or a SPECIFIC DETAIL

from one of the visual sources!)

This means
It is evident that
Clearly

Clearly, this document justifies

____________ Valley Forge

(staying at or leaving)
tie analysis back to Claim 2]
because

Write a connecting statement to bridge this paragraph and the next in 1-2 sentences:

PARAGRAPH #4/BODY PARAGRAPH #3:

CLAIM #3:
Write out your third claim (i.e., from your thesis statement and the thesis roadmap) in a complete
sentence.

Introduce the document

youre using:

Cite the EVIDENCE that supports

your choice:

EXPLAIN how this evidence supports your

choice:

According to (author of
document)
In (name of document) it
shows

(Provide a quote or a SPECIFIC DETAIL

from one of the visual sources!)

This means
It is evident that
Clearly

Clearly, this document justifies

____________ Valley Forge

(staying at or leaving)
tie analysis back to Claim 3]
because

Write a connecting statement to bridge this paragraph and the next in 1-2 sentences:

While there were three reasons to ________ Valley Forge, others would argue
for _________________.

BODY PARAGRAPH #5: COUNTERCLAIM

COUNTERCLAIM:
What possible argument might an opponent pose against your argument and/or some aspect of your reasoning? Insert one
or more of those arguments here.

REMEMBER,
the counterclaim
argues the
OPPOSITE of
what you are

On the contrary, some people argue that

EVIDENCE to support Counterclaim:

Find evidence
from the
document packet
to support the
counterclaim
above

They would defend this point of view with evidence from Document _____ :

Refute [respond to and disprove] that claim in the organizer below with evidence from one of the documents.
Introduce the document
youre using:

Cite the EVIDENCE that supports

your choice:

EXPLAIN how this evidence supports your

choice:

According to (author of
document)
In (name of document) it
shows

(Provide a quote or a SPECIFIC DETAIL

from one of the visual sources!)

This means
It is evident that
Clearly
Clearly, this document justifies

____________ Valley Forge

(staying at or leaving)
However, according to

________________
[tie analysis back to counterclaim to prove it
wrong--do not simply repeat the evidence
and/or claim]
because

_______________,

Now, introduce evidence to

support YOUR side

PARAGRAPH #6: CONCLUSION

Transition to the Conclusion

(Use a transitional phrase then Make a statement about your topics importance and/or restate your main points.)

In conclusion, the decision of whether to stay at or leave the Continental

Army at Valley Forge was a difficult one.
Restate your Thesis
(Restate your thesis that you wrote in the introduction paragraph in a slightly new way highlighting the new evidence presented in the
body.)

Clincher

(Write a sentence or two that will keep the reader thinking. You might make a controversial statement about the topic, , call the reader
to action about your problem, postulate what could happen if your problem was NOT solved. Think about: why is it important to
know why people quit or stay committed to certain obligations?)