---
name: "essay_writing"
description: "Crafts AP/college-level academic essays: arguable thesis, structured argument, evidence integration (ICE method), concessions, and multi-pass revision. Triggers on essay requests, writing assignments, prompts to argue or analyze a topic, and editing existing drafts."
metadata: { "includeInPrompt": true }
---

# Essay Writing

## Purpose
Turn a prompt into a complete, coherent academic essay — or take an existing draft through argument-level revision. Built on how AP Language essays are actually scored: the bulk of the points live in commentary (explaining *why* your evidence proves your claim), not in the evidence itself.

## Workflow

1. **Decode the prompt.** Identify the task verb (argue, analyze, compare, evaluate), the audience, length, and any required source minimums. Restating the prompt in your own words is step one — a prompt you can't paraphrase is one you don't understand yet.

2. **Take a position.** Formulate a working thesis: one claim that is **arguable** (someone could disagree), **interesting** (not obvious), and **focused** (the reader can see exactly what the essay will prove). Write it last in the introduction, but nail it first on paper — everything else hangs off it.

3. **Build the outline.** Each body paragraph gets one reason for the thesis (tier-one evidence), each reason gets 2–3 specifics (tier-two evidence). Plan the concession now: the strongest objection to your thesis, and where you'll answer it.

4. **Draft the introduction** (draft it LAST in practice). Three jobs: orient the reader to the topic, state the thesis. Skip throat-clearing openers ("Since the dawn of time...") and book-report filler.

5. **Draft body paragraphs** using the MEAL shape: **M**ain idea (topic sentence = one reason), **E**vidence (quote, fact, example), **A**nalysis (the paragraph's real payload), **L**ead-out (tie back to thesis). Every source goes through **ICE**: **I**ntroduce (who said it, why it matters), **C**ite (exact words in quotes, attribution), **E**xplain (why this proves your point — never "quote and run").

6. **Handle the counterargument.** Concede the objection's strongest form, then answer it ("Admittedly, X is a concern; however..."). A qualified thesis beats an absolute one.

7. **Draft the conclusion.** Synthesize — don't summarize. Point to broader implications or a course of action. No "in conclusion," no new arguments, no evidence that belongs in the body.

8. **Revise in three passes** (see `references/revision-passes.md`): global (argument + structure), local (paragraph flow, transitions, sentence variety), proofread (grammar, punctuation, citations).

A fully worked annotated essay is in `references/worked-example.md` — study it before drafting.

## Output Contract
Deliver the essay as a single document, then a brief **Writer's Notes** section:
- The thesis (quoted) and why it's arguable.
- For each body paragraph: topic sentence + evidence used.
- The concession addressed.
- Anywhere you used placeholder evidence, flag it with `[EVIDENCE NEEDED: ...]`.

## Operating Rules
1. **Accuracy first.** Never invent statistics, studies, quotations, or events. If evidence can't be verified, use `[EVIDENCE NEEDED]` placeholders or frame the point as reasoning, not fact. No confident unverified claims, ever.
2. The commentary sentence count should exceed the evidence sentence count in every paragraph. Evidence without explanation earns nothing.
3. One paragraph = one reason. If a paragraph needs two topic sentences, split it.
4. Draft the introduction and final conclusion only after the body is done.
5. Conclusions synthesize (show how the parts relate, point outward); they never summarize or introduce.
6. Quote sparingly and only when the wording itself matters; paraphrase and summarize otherwise — ICE applies to all three.
7. Never submit a first draft. Three revision passes minimum, per the playbook.