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WRITING GUIDE · 2026-10-13

Writing Prompts for High Schoolers

Quick-Start Prompts

  1. Pick five objects that sum up who you are at this moment. For each one, say why it earned a place in the capsule.
  2. Name the app that eats most of your screen time. List what it gives you and what it takes from you.
  3. Invent a course your school doesn't teach yet. Defend why students need it, and sketch its goals and assignments.
  4. Look at the year you were born. Pull the headline events, shifts, and inventions, then make the case for which one changed things most.
  1. Name one strength you didn't know you had until this year.
  2. Which subject has meant the most to you lately, and what makes it stick?
  3. Tell about a hard stretch that left you stronger.
  4. The part of me I wish others would see is ___.
  1. Write about a wrong call you made and the lesson it left you.
  2. Send a note to yourself five years on.
  3. What do people get wrong about the generation you belong to?
  4. Imagine a planet no one has visited. Describe what's there and where the story goes next.

Every prompt above can become a short argument paper. The rest of this page shows how to move from the prompt to a draft where each claim rests on a sourced, cited, and analyzed quotation.

Turn a Prompt Into a Citation-Backed Draft

A prompt gives you a question. A draft answers it. The gap between them is the citation layer: the part that turns an opinion into an argument a reader can check. This page uses one spine —

thesis → assigned subclaim → traceable source → quotation slot → analysis → link back to the same subclaim → next paragraph → evidence-based conclusion

— and five landing points that build it.

Landing Point 1

The Source Card

Before you write a sentence, capture the source. A source card keeps the evidence retrievable so you never end up with "studies show" and no way back to the original.

SOURCE CARD

My subclaim:
__________________________________________________

The fact, finding, or interpretation I need:
__________________________________________________

Author or organization:
__________________________________________________

Source title:
__________________________________________________

Publication date:
__________________________________________________

Page, paragraph, section, or timestamp:
__________________________________________________

Exact quotation:
"________________________________________________"

In my own words, this source says:
__________________________________________________

This source supports my subclaim because:
__________________________________________________

Why this landing point matters: it converts "material" into evidence. Without it, you reach the end with a number or a claim you cannot verify.

Landing Point 2

The Argument Chain With Citation Slots

This is not a generic introduction-body-conclusion shell. The spine assigns one subclaim per body paragraph and wires each back to the thesis.

THESIS

Although [reasonable opposing view], [main position] because [reason A] and [reason B].

BODY PARAGRAPH 1

Subclaim A:
[Reason A stated as one specific, arguable sentence.]

Source lead-in:
[Author or organization] explains that ...

Quotation slot:
"[Insert only the words that directly support Subclaim A]" ([required citation information]).

Analysis:
The key word or idea "[________]" shows ...
This matters because ...
Therefore, the quotation supports Subclaim A by ...

Chain link:
Because Subclaim A establishes [________], it supports the thesis that [________].

BODY PARAGRAPH 2

Subclaim B:
[Reason B stated as one specific, arguable sentence.]

Source lead-in:
In [source context], [author or organization] reports ...

Quotation slot:
"[Insert only the words that directly support Subclaim B]" ([required citation information]).

Analysis:
This evidence does more than show [surface fact].
It demonstrates [implication] because ...
That implication supports Subclaim B by ...

CHAIN CONCLUSION

Taken together, the two sources establish that [judgment supported by both body paragraphs]. The evidence matters because [larger consequence].

The chain holds only if each body paragraph carries one subclaim and each subclaim returns to the thesis.

Landing Point 3

The Citation Format Selector

Pick the entry style your teacher assigned, then stay inside it. Do not mix formats mid-paper.

OPTION 1 — Weave the quotation into your sentence
[Author] describes [subject] as "[________]" ([locator]).

OPTION 2 — Use a complete setup sentence and a colon
The source identifies the central problem clearly: "[________]" ([locator]).

OPTION 3 — Use a signal phrase
[Author] argues, "[________]" ([locator]).

BEFORE SUBMITTING
- I used the citation style assigned by my teacher.
- Every borrowed phrase has a source.
- Every citation points to a retrievable location.
- Deleted words are visibly marked.
- Added clarification is visibly marked.
- The quotation still means what it meant in the original source.

The page does not dictate APA or MLA for every student. Follow the format your teacher names.

Landing Point 4

Why Cite Here, Sentence by Sentence

A worked paragraph, with the job of each sentence stated.

School start times should be evaluated by their effect on student learning, not only by transportation convenience.

In its report on [topic], [organization] states, "[exact quotation]" ([locator]).

The phrase "[key phrase]" identifies [specific implication], rather than merely describing the schedule.

That implication supports the claim because it connects the policy choice to [learning consequence].

For this reason, the evidence belongs in the argument about student learning, not in a separate paragraph about transportation.
Sentence jobs:
1. Claim sentence — limits what this paragraph must prove, so the thesis stays narrow.
2. Source sentence — returns the outside claim to a specific source and gives the reader an entry point.
3. Close-analysis sentence — grabs the key word or idea, not a paraphrase.
4. Reasoning sentence — explains why the evidence supports the subclaim.
5. Alignment sentence — checks the quotation truly belongs to this claim.
Landing Point 5

Fix the Five Citation Problems

Problem 1 — Thesis too wide, no place to hang a citation

Weak: Social media affects teenagers in many ways.

Fix: For [defined group], [specific platform or behavior] has a greater effect on [defined outcome] than on [competing outcome] because [reason A] and [reason B].
Problem 2 — Evidence with no source

Weak: Studies show that students learn better when they sleep more.

Fix: In [source title], [author or organization] reports, "[exact quotation]" ([page, paragraph, section, or timestamp]).
Problem 3 — Messy citation format

Weak: According to Smith, "..." (Smith says this on page 42).

Fix: Choose the assigned citation style first. Then use one consistent pattern for the signal phrase, quotation marks, locator, and punctuation.
Problem 4 — Analysis restates the quotation instead of linking it

Weak: The quotation says that students feel pressure. This shows that students feel pressure.

Fix: The phrase "[key phrase]" suggests [implication]. This supports the subclaim because [reasoning link].
Problem 5 — Citation does not match the claim

Weak: Subclaim: Social media changes students' mental health. Evidence: A quotation reporting how many hours students spend online.

Fix A: Replace the evidence with a source that directly addresses the claimed mental-health effect.

Fix B: Narrow the subclaim so it makes only the usage claim the current evidence can support.

These five problems are the citation-side checks this page is built to prevent. None repeats a generic "state a claim and give evidence" layer.