Main Point of Paragraph

What You
Added/Omitted and
Why

Paragraph

Initial Submission

Final, Revised
Submission

#1
(Thesis
Statement)

Recognizing that
everything you read
on a daily basis can
be categorized into a
genre can help you
filter what you see
and consider why
certain works fit into
one genre but not into
another.

As a reader, being
aware of the purpose
and audience of
certain genres, in this
case political cartoons,
makes the genre easier
to interpret and value
and, consequently,
help the reader decide
which comic they
believe is most
effective.

I made my argument
more clear by
answering the so
what? question and
also explicitly stating
what genre Id be
analyzing.

#2

The conversation on
Gun Control policy in
the United States is a
prime example of
this.

Before reading the

description of each
cartoon, consider the
purpose of editorial
cartoons in general.

I changed the structure

of my paper so that I
talked about the
purpose of political
cartoons before
describing them as a
way to get the reader
to think about the
purpose of each
cartoon as they read
their descriptions.

#3

none really,
introduces and
describes comic
about the Aurora, CO
shooting

As you read the

description of the first
cartoon, think about
how its features
contribute to its
purpose.

Instead of just jumping

into the description, I
explicitly tell the
reader to pay attention
as they read so they
can determine the
purpose of the cartoon

#4

same deal as previous

paragraph, but
addresses Mental
Healthcare cartoon
from Houston
Chronicle

People often choose

to read certain
magazines and
newspapers because
they reflect their own
beliefs, so the editorial
cartoons tend to fit the
political affiliation of
the publisher so that
the audience relates to

I moved the paragraph

about audience here
and then proceeded to
analyze the audience
of the first cartoon to
show how the rest of
the paper would be
structured

the statement.
#5

introduces and
describes comic from
blog

The second editorial

cartoon appeared in
the Houston Chronicle
on January 12th, 2011,
days after former
representative Gabby
Giffords was shot in
Tucson, Arizona.

I didnt change this

topic sentence because
with the restructuring
of the paper it didnt
need to be altered.

#6

On that note, its

important to
recognize the purpose
of editorial cartoons,
beyond just observing
their features.

The cartoon from the

Houston Chronicle, in
contrast to the cartoon
that appeared in the
LA Times, focuses on
the failure of the
government to make
mental health care
more accessible for
citizens.

I mention the primary

cartoon again so that
the reader compares
the two while reading
about who the
audience is.

#7

People often choose

to read certain
magazines and
newspapers because
they reflect their own
beliefs, so the
editorial cartoons
tend to fit the
political affiliation of
the publisher so that
the audience relates
to the statement.

The final cartoon was

discovered on a blog
titled Ex-Army:
Libertarian
Nationalist.

This was also the same

as its original; to be
clear that this
paragraph focuses on
description

#8

If an individual who
had never before seen
an editorial cartoon
were to view any of
these three, they
would undoubtedly
be lost. reiterates
why understanding
genres is important

The cartoon that was

found on the Ex-Army
blog is by far the most
conservative due to
the extreme stance
taken by the writer on
his blog.

This paragraph focuses

on the audience of the
third political cartoon;
it is part of the
restructuring of my
paper

#9

N/A

Most importantly,
understanding the
purpose and audience
of genres aids in
determining which

Because I added a
paragraph in my essay,
there are now 9
paragraphs. In my
conclusion, I

works are effective

and which arent.

specifically add that

purpose and audience
are essential which
restates my thesis and
remind the reader why
this topic is important.

I ended up reorganizing my paper, but not exactly the way that Zack recommended. As a
way to give my tone an instructional and interactive feel, I moved the paragraph about the
purpose of political cartoons to the paragraph directly after the introductory paragraph so that my
audience would know what to look for as they read the descriptions. While it was suggested that
I restructure to make my paper look like:
-Idea #1 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)
-Idea #2 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)
-Idea #3 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)
Instead, I did
-purpose of political cartoons
-source 1
-analysis of audience for source 1
-source 2
-analysis of audience for source 2
-source 3
-analysis of audience for source 3
I chose to do this because I thought that it would confuse my audience to intermix the
sources because as they were cartoons, they required a lot of description in order to identify them
and it would be difficult for my readers to always know which comic I was talking about.
Reverse outlining helped me see that all of my content needed to better support my thesis
which in turn helped me revise my thesis to fit what I had already written.