Critiquing "Bringing Home the Wolf"
             There are many factors that contribute to a well argumentative essay. If written properly the essay can be very effective in persuading an audience. It is important to concentrate on the audience because if the paper is not organized, developed and focused correctly it could lead to a confused individual. For instance, Sheila Dodson, the writer of "Bringing Home the Wolf", argues poorly because she lacks organization, focus and development but meets some criteria in development because of her descriptive first hand experiences.
             Structure and organization are key factors when trying to persuade your audience of a particular topic. In Dodson's essay she does not have much organization at all. First, she does not include a thesis statement, which is an important factor because it outlines your paper for the reader. Ideally you want the thesis in the first or second paragraph to set the reader up for the rest of the paper. Dodson discusses the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" in paragraph one and tells us her first hand experience in paragraph two. There is nothing wrong with this, but without a thesis statement the audience is clueless about what topics are going to be discussed.
             Dodson has many topics in her paper including wolf reintroduction, opposition of cattle and sheep ranchers, the threat of hunters, ecosystem balance and the public's opinion of wolf controversy, but they are hard to follow because they are scattered throughout the entire essay. Dodson discusses her first topic in paragraph 5, in which she states, "When the U.S. promoted their wolf reintroduction program six years ago, they met strong opposition from sheep and cattle ranchers..." This is a great introductory sentence but the reader had no idea what to expect because the lack of the thesis statement. Then in paragraph 6 she discusses the impact of wolves on livest...