The Army War College (AWC) discourages the use of first-person or second-person point of view in AWC essays. While in some instances, first-person case may be appropriate in a forum post, essay writing is more formal and therefore, students should write their essays in the third person.
Following is an example of how to structure 5-paragraph USAWC essay written using the Assertion-Support-Analysis (ASA) format:
Intro Paragraph - BLUF (Bottom Line up Front)
Main Body Paragraph 1
Main Body Paragraph 2
Main Body Paragraph 3
Conclusion
A thesis statement is a one or two sentence articulation of the thesis. It reflects the student’s stance on the topic and must be “arguable.” It is part of the Introduction paragraph (see below). Articulated near the beginning of the paper, a thesis statement is usually an overarching response to an inquiry on a particular topic (e.g., an essay prompt or a research question). An essay map or “road map” follows the thesis statement, providing readers with a clear indication of ALL of the main points in the paper in the order they will appear in the paper. Sometimes the essay map is present within the thesis statement, but sometimes trying to include everything in one sentence makes the thesis statement unwieldy. The essay map provides the reader with a map of the route the essay’s argument will travel.
Click here for an example of a Thesis with an Essay Map / Road Map
The introduction paragraph provides the setup for the paper, orients the reader to the paper’s thesis, includes a specific thesis statement, and establishes the paper’s structure by briefly previewing all the main points in the student’s argument. The introduction contains the thesis statement that directly answers the question(s) in the essay prompt, and the essay road map discussed above. It is acceptable to precede the thesis statement with a “state of the world” scene-setter sentence, which may involve a short quote, and/or background on the subject. However, USAWC faculty recommend using only 10-15% of the essay’s total word count for the introduction, and the maximum word count of USAWC essays are intentionally tight, to mimic limitations that are often the norm for senior leader writing. Therefore, students should limit any information that does not directly relate to answering the essay prompt in the introduction. One should only add in something extra to the introduction after the rest of the paper is complete with clearly supported arguments.
DDE USAWC students must include an essay map-or “road map” for course essays. It lets the reader know what to expect as the author identifies the main points they will use to advance their thesis. The introduction should have a Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) approach that includes all of the key assertions (arguments) the student will discuss in the subsequent main body paragraphs. This makes it easy for readers to follow the author's argument. BLUF writing is especially important when presenting ideas to busy senior leaders and other time-challenged audiences, because senior leaders may not have time to read more than the introductory paragraph of a paper; if the introduction includes the BLUF, those senior leaders will still know the gist of the argument put forth in the rest of the paper.
For the majority of USAWC short essays (500-700 words), the reader should be able to understand all the key points of the argument by simply reading the opening paragraph.
Citations in the opening paragraph: The general rule is to refrain from using citations in the Introduction paragraph. An exception to this rule is if the student chooses to use a short, pithy opening quote. If choosing a quote as an opening statement, however, the author should remember that this quote counts against their word count for the essay, and may be an unnecessary waste of precious resources.
Click here for an Example of an Introduction Paragraph
The Assertion – Support – Analysis (ASA) Framework is the central organizing principle of USAWC Main Body paragraphs. (It is also the organizing concept for initial Forum posts for most of the first-year courses.)
NOTE: Plagiarism is a concern for many students, but over-citing can sometimes happen, too. General rules of thumb for citing in the main body paragraphs are as follows:
Click here for an explanation of the parts of the ASA framework
Click here for an example of a paragraph written using the ASA framework
The final paragraph should restate the thesis statement and also briefly summarize the author’s key arguments and takeaways, or the “so what” of the argument for strategic leaders. Students should remind the reader about the main points of the essay, and how they have answered the question prompt. Note that a conclusion does not introduce new evidence. A good conclusion is usually only about 10% of the total word count of the essay. Overly long conclusions come at the expense of analysis within the body paragraphs.
Click here for an Example of a Conclusion
Click here for the standard rubric for argumentative essays used in the Distance Education Program.
Note: This is a generalized rubric. Each course tailors this rubric to their specific material. However, from this rubric students should be able to see how the short essay fundamentals above combine with essay content to result in the essay grade. USAWC evaluators grade based on content, organization, and style.
An outline is a tool to help organize essay writing. AWC faculty highly recommend that using outlines in preparing short essays. Since students are typically constrained by a word or page count, an outline will help ensure that the essay addresses all parts of the question and unfolds in a logical manner. In some DEP courses, outlines are a “Formative Assessment” tool - an ungraded means for faculty instructors to provide guidance and feedback to students on their essay development and structure. In other cases, FIs may allow students to provide them with a copy of an outline for instructors to review if students need assistance.
Click here for a more detailed discussion of the Fundamentals of an Outline