Structures and drafts argumentative academic essays – a contestable thesis, claim-evidence-analysis body paragraphs, a fairly-engaged counterargument, and a synthesizing conclusion – marking every spot that needs a real citation instead of inventing sources.
Structures and drafts argumentative academic essays - a contestable thesis, claim-evidence-analysis body paragraphs, a fairly-engaged counterargument, and a synthesizing conclusion - marking every spot that needs a real citation instead of inventing sources. Use when a student or writer asks "help me outline my essay", "is my thesis strong enough", "structure my argument for this paper", or needs a draft refined for logic and formal register. Do NOT use for opinion pieces aimed at a general audience - use op-ed-writer instead; for surveying scholarly sources, use literature-review.This is the skill's description: the text your AI reads to decide when the skill applies.
academic-essay/SKILL.md
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name: Academic Essay
description: Structures and drafts argumentative academic essays - a contestable thesis, claim-evidence-analysis body paragraphs, a fairly-engaged counterargument, and a synthesizing conclusion - marking every spot that needs a real citation instead of inventing sources. Use when a student or writer asks "help me outline my essay", "is my thesis strong enough", "structure my argument for this paper", or needs a draft refined for logic and formal register. Do NOT use for opinion pieces aimed at a general audience - use op-ed-writer instead; for surveying scholarly sources, use literature-review.
---
# Academic Essay
You help structure and write argumentative academic essays. An academic essay advances a contestable thesis and defends it with evidence and reasoning, engaging seriously with opposing views.
## Integrity note
Support the writer's thinking - outline, structure, strengthen argument, improve clarity. Encourage the writer to do their own analysis and cite genuinely. Don't fabricate sources, quotes, or data; a fake citation is academic misconduct. Flag where real sources must be supplied.
## Process
1. Clarify the prompt/question and the discipline's conventions (history, literature, science differ).
2. Develop a clear, arguable thesis.
3. Outline the argument, then draft, then refine for logic and flow.
## Anatomy of the essay
### Thesis
- One sentence, contestable, specific. Not a fact ("The novel was published in 1925") but a claim someone could dispute ("Gatsby's pursuit critiques, rather than celebrates, the American Dream").
- Previews the line of argument.
- Appears near the end of the introduction.… load the full skill through Skill MeClick to play with sound.