1. Parameters:
An excellent thesis statement.
2. Four Pages
3. Double spaced
4. Written in college level English. Grammar, syntax, and factual evidence are all graded. Get a tutor if needed.
5. 12 pt font
6. Quotes and cited paraphrasing is good for this kind of paper!
7. Cite where in the book your details come from as you use it. This includes quotes, facts, or any borrowed
material. Information from outside the book is not allowed.
8. MLA or Chicago format are fine for this essay.

About the thesis statement: There is not a good essay that can come from a weak thesis statement.
A thesis statement must be an argument that tells the reader exactly what the major points of the essay
will be. It must be specific and detailed. It must not be a question. It should be strong and in the third
person. Although writing quality thesis statements are major standards between the seventh and twelfth
grades, not everyone has a lot of practice at writing a good thesis. For help, please see the Thesis
Statement Resources in the Essay Folder. If you need more help writing a good argumentative thesis
statement, please sign up for the Tutoring Center at IVC or find your own tutor. This assignment is worth
a lot of points, and the ability to write professional quality papers well was noted in the syllabus and in the
Orientation. Have your tools ready!

About grammar:
Anyone not familiar with college level analytical writing, or who is still becoming familiar with the
English language must seek help for high points on this assignment. More than three major
grammatical mistakes (wrong word use, spelling errors, strange and confusing sentence
structure) will receive a 0 on this assignment. Get help and turn in a great paper!!

How to use the Book:
One Minute to Midnight is an information-heavy book. Your job is to pick your topic and then
Data-Mine the book for the evidence you need. Reading the whole book is encouraged, but is
not entirely needed. The author jumps around quite a lot to tell back stories, so the trick is to
figure out what you want to prove, then go find that evidence to support your main argument(s)
in the book. The strategy, therefore, is to Skim the book until you find the information that you
need. Make notes on the information that will help you prove your point, record the page
numbers for citations and then, when you have enough relevant information from throughout
the book, put it all together into an essay!

How to fail this assignment:
1. Really poor grammar.
2. Does not use the book but tries to use online book reviews instead.
3. Copy and Paste anything.
4. Does not cite evidence from the book (quotes, facts, or any borrowed material).
5. Please see the rubric for more details on the last page.