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Sample Sentence Outline For Final Project James On Fracking PDF
Sample Sentence Outline For Final Project James On Fracking PDF
A. Background (what information do you need to provide to your reader in order for the
reader to understand your argument? Your introduction will likely be more than one
paragraph and may even be more than one page).
Hydraulic fracturing has become a heated issue in the United States. It has become an
argument between environmental and economic sustainability. The process of the new
high volume hydrofracking uses millions of gallons of a water, chemical, and sand mixture
that is pumped into the ground. The process allows for the drillers to extract natural
gasses and oil out of shale rock by holding open fissures made in the rock during the
drilling process. The chemicals are similar to those used in a home setting which expands
the bubbles of gas that come out of the well to allow them to float faster to the top. This
process brings up the following environmental questions: Is there a large enough water
supply in the desired drilling areas to sustain the community of the area and the drilling
process? What will this do to the ground water? How will the drilling process contribute to
global warming? Will the economic return be worth the environmental risk?
My topic has been debated for the last decade so the argument has been well known. The
water issue has been one of the main focuses of the topic along with the global warming
issue.
According to current literature fracking could prove to be a wonderful economy booster for
the United States and with the lower emission that stem from using natural gas in power
plants we could also maintain lower carbon emissions worldwide. The is a flip side to every
coin however, and fracking also poses a threat to the drinking water supply around the
drilling site. It would be devastating in a ranching community where not only the lives of
the people but the businesses they run rely upon the ground water that could get
contaminated should something go wrong with the fracking process.
D. Are there any assumptions about your topic that you could challenge in the
introduction?
The main assumption is that fracking could bring on an economic boom by providing a
number of jobs and give the U.S. energy independence. The countering assumption put in
extreme perspective is that fracking is unsightly and will poison the waters so to speak.
The funny part is that no matter what the argument is the facts are the same with more
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emphasis on the facts that will help their cause. The other big assumption out there is
that whichever side “wins the battle” will rule energy and climate legislations for years to
come. I would like to counter this by suggest that both sides work together to control the
board much like the oil companies of Chevron and Shell did in Pittsburg-based Center for
Sustainable Shale Development coalition.
E. Are there important key terms you need to define in the introduction?
1. Hydraulic fracturing
2. Sustainability
II. Thesis statement (state this fully in a complete sentence). Your thesis will show your
claim and your reasons. Review the use of an enthymeme as a thesis.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for both sides of this debate but it will take
discipline and cooperation to reach it because the path is steep and narrow leaving no
room for horseplay along the way.
A. Write two to four key words from your thesis statement that you will use to develop
your major points.
1. Both sides of the debate (Facts that illustrate where each side is coming from and
the similarities)
3. cooperation (my suggestion with examples from the Pittsburg-based Center for
Sustainable Shale Development)
4.
Organization: State how you will organize your essay: chronologically, in order of
importance, comparing and contrasting, developing a causal analysis, defining terms,
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explaining a process, and/or asking and answering questions. Using a combination of
these organizations is acceptable. See Ch. 12b for more information.
The first part thing that I will address is the facts about fracking from both perspectives
and the similarities that arise between the arguments. Then I will move into the
regulations that will have to be placed on fracking if it is allowed and the new technologies
that it would require. My last step would be to point out how disadvantageous it is for the
sides to pull so profoundly against each other.
Be sure that you include statistics in your paper and use the information you learned this
semester to analyze the statistics. Show how you will do this:
Those driving for the use of this new method of fracking focus on how it could “generate 3
million barrels [of oil] a day by 2020, offsetting one-third of the current oil imports”
(Elgelder 274).
B. Second Major Point (state in a sentence that is parallel in structure to the first major
point)
1. There are also many negative possibilities with the fracking process.
C. Third Major Point (state in a sentence that is parallel in structure to the first major
point)
1. The process has had quite a bit of success already and the industry will grow but
in order to keep the process safe for all those involved there will need to be
stringent regulations.
But current economic incentives are not sufficient to drive such improvements;
stringent regulation will be required” (Elgelder 272).
D. Fourth Major Point (state in a sentence that is parallel in structure to the first major
point)
1. It is interesting how the forces on both sides of the argument have the same
information about fracking but until very recently they would not work together and
even so that is only a few. The truth is that the sides need to work together so that
no one side prevails and creates a legislative monopoly in the future.
II. Conclusion
A. Review your ideas and tie them together with your thesis
Hydraulic fracturing is very debated but it is the focus of the individuals looking at it that
makes it that way. If both sides could put each other’s view into perspective they could
better adapt the process and regulations to meet everyone’s needs. I know that this will
happen naturally but not without some head butting between the oil companies and the
environmentalists. I both sides should control the energy policy together. It won’t be easy,
but we live in a country where it is not the little things that we are so well-known for as it
is the impossible that we make possible.
B. What ideas to you want your reader to remember after reading your paper?
I want my readers to understand the pros and cons to hydrofracking and feel the need to
unite both warring parties so that we as a nation may benefit from the spoils of the
process while not living in fear of ground water contamination.