The Assertion – Support – Analysis Framework is the central organizing concept of USAWC essays and forum posts.
Students should use an Assertion-Support-Analysis (A-S-A) model for main body paragraph construction of written requirements, and in formulating many of the online asynchronous forum posts. Each paragraph should include:
Assertion of the main point for that paragraph: In short essay papers, each main body paragraph should begin with an Assertion that answers part of the overall question. The assertion should already have been present in a more cursory fashion in the introduction paragraph’s Road Map. The assertion serves as a topic sentence/sub-thesis and clearly reflects the student’s own thinking. (e.g., “Eisenhower was largely ineffective as a strategic leader in 1942-43.”) Because this assertion reflects the student’s own critical thinking after synthesizing the various course resources, it need not have a citation.
o When starting on a new point, make sure to start a new paragraph. A paragraph should only have one central idea, with information supporting and analyzing the assertion at the front.
Supporting evidence for the Assertion: Use evidence from the Course literature to support the Assertion—typically two or three sentences (with citations). NOTE: Because support is justification from the course literature, students should always cite this section of each paragraph. These specific examples should relate directly to the initial assertion and should demonstrate how the assertion is accurate or worth considering. Be sure to cite sources.
Define terms: Remember the target audience for USAWC essays is a security professional who is NOT a subject matter expert. This means they will need definitions for specific terms they find in the assertion and support. If the assertion that X theory applies to a particular case, the first sentence of support should explain the key point(s) of X theory, along with a citation for one place where this definition is in the course literature. NOTE: more than one source may define the term; students need only cite where they found the definition closest to what they include in the essay.
Students should not use long quotations for their support. One should only use direct quotations when the specific words of the original author are of such a unique character that the words themselves provide flavor and context for the information presented. Since a higher tier of Bloom’s Taxonomy is the ability to restate course concepts, students should instead paraphrase the concepts they have gleaned from the readings in their own words and cite this paraphrased information with the source they from which they paraphrased. If used at all, quotes should be no more than one short sentence in length; a smaller part of a sentence is even better).
Analysis: Your analysis should tie your Support back to the Assertion it reinforces. You may reaffirm the initial assertion by expanding upon the evidence; directly tie the evidence to the thesis/assertion; include what you think about the evidence; and/or demonstrate how the evidence is valid for supporting the argument. The key is for students to show what THEY think about the evidence. Their analysis is one of the most critical parts of any USAWC student product. Depending on the word count of the essay requirement, the analysis might be limited or more expansive, but it is vital to providing the strength of the assertions in answering the essay’s question.
Note: Students will generally find that combining all A-S-A elements into one paragraph is the most expedient way to construct essay main-body paragraphs. However, a separate paragraph containing analysis only may be better suited for longer essays and research papers.