Your critical essay presubmission should include a thesis paragraph, a sample paragraph that follows the claim/data/warrant pattern, and a Works Cited page that includes at least three credible academic sources. (You are free to change your thesis and/or use completely different sources in your actual paper. This exercise is designed to get you started early, so that you won't be tempted to write the whole paper first and then "do research" looking for quotes that back up the conclusions you've already made.)

Thesis Paragraph:

thesis paragraph. Your thesis should include an enthememe -- a specific example (taken from the text you are going to study) that illustrates your point.

Because Little Red Riding Hood disobeys her mother and thus upsets the relationship between the female-only domestic spaces that begin and end the girl's journey, the fairy tale presents the heroine's plight as an indirect consequence of the girl's actions. The danger Little Red Riding Hood faces during her foray into the masculine outside world (inhabited by the wolf and the woodsman) supports traditional gender roles.

Sample C/D/W Paragraph:

Note that you can use the CDW approach several times in a single paragraph, or you can spend a whole paragraph on "claim," several paragraphs on "data," and a whole page on "warrant." There really isn't a specific form called a "CDW Paragraph" -- I just mean I want to see a sample paragraph that employs the CDW structure.

Works Cited Page

Follow MLA style. In addition to your three credible academic sources, also include entries for your literary source. Remember to alphabetize by the author's last names.