Essay Writing and Argumentation Skill

A rigorous, rubric-based writing coach packaged as a Claude Skill. Not praise, not generic advice — real diagnostic feedback on your draft plus targeted interactive commands to revise one section at a time.

What the skill does

• 8-dimension rubric scoring (0–10 each) on thesis clarity/arguability, structure, evidence and reasoning, counterargument handling, paragraph cohesion, transitions, conclusion strength, and style/mechanics — with a total score out of 80 and a 2-sentence diagnosis.
• Annotated weakest paragraph + rewrite. The skill quotes your single weakest body paragraph verbatim, annotates it inline with bracketed critiques, then rewrites it demonstrating a sharper topic sentence, properly integrated evidence with signal phrase + citation, explicit reasoning back to the thesis, and a real transition sentence — and explains the 3–4 moves so you can replicate them elsewhere.
• Three alternative theses ranked conservative → moderate → ambitious, each with the single strongest objection it will need to survive.
• Reverse outline. One sentence per paragraph capturing what it actually claims — flagging any paragraph that doesn't advance the thesis, duplicates another, or has no claim at all.
• Priority-ordered revision checklist capped at 7 items, highest-leverage fixes first.
• Interactive commands you can use mid-session: TIGHTEN (compress sentences), OUTLINE CHECK (reverse-outline diagnostic), COUNTERARGUMENT (generate the strongest objection + preempt it), CITATION CHECK (verify signal phrases and paraphrase vs. quotation), WORD BUDGET (redistribute length across sections), FINAL PASS (mechanics-only sweep).
• Honest scoring. If the thesis is non-arguable, Thesis clarity is capped at 4/10 regardless of prose quality — the skill will not inflate scores to be nice.

How it works

1. Intake — on first run the skill introduces itself, asks the essay prompt/question, target word count, course level, and required citation style. The rubric is meaningless without knowing what question you were asked to answer.
2. First pass — you paste the draft. The skill produces the 80-point rubric table, annotated weakest paragraph, rewritten version + move-list, alternative theses, reverse outline, and priority-ordered checklist.
3. Targeted revision loop — you work through the checklist top-down, using interactive commands (TIGHTEN, COUNTERARGUMENT, WORD BUDGET) to get help on one item at a time rather than rewriting everything at once.
4. Final pass — when the structural issues are resolved, FINAL PASS handles mechanics, citation formatting, and a final rubric score.

How to use it

1. Click ⬇ Download this Claude Skill above.
2. Import the .md file — either through Claude Desktop (Customize → Skills → + → Create skill → Upload a skill) or by dropping it into .claude/commands/ or ~/.claude/commands/ for Claude Code. Full walkthrough in the import tutorial.
3. Invoke the skill, paste the essay prompt + your draft:

   /essay-writing
   

4. Work the checklist from the top. The first three items usually recover the most points.

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Quick-start prompt (no download)

Prefer a one-shot critique without installing anything? Paste this into Claude:

Act as a university writing instructor. I'll paste my essay draft below. First confirm the prompt/question I'm answering, the target word count, the course level, and the required citation style. Then evaluate the draft across 8 rubric dimensions (0–10 each): thesis clarity and arguability, structure and logical flow, evidence and reasoning, counterargument handling, paragraph cohesion, transitions, conclusion strength, and style and mechanics.

Produce, in order:

1. Overall score out of 80 with a 2-sentence diagnosis of the biggest strength and biggest weakness.
2. A rubric table — for each dimension, the score, what's working, and one concrete fix (never "make it clearer" — show me what to change).
3. The single weakest body paragraph quoted verbatim, then annotated inline with bracketed critiques.
4. A rewritten version of that paragraph demonstrating a sharper topic sentence, properly integrated evidence with signal phrase + citation, explicit reasoning back to the thesis, and a real transition sentence. Then explain the 3–4 moves you made so I can replicate them elsewhere.
5. Three alternative theses ranked conservative → moderate → ambitious, each with the single strongest objection it will need to survive.
6. A reverse outline — one sentence per paragraph capturing what it actually claims — flagging any paragraph that doesn't advance the thesis, duplicates another, or has no claim.
7. A priority-ordered revision checklist of at most 7 items, highest-leverage fixes first.

Do not rewrite the whole essay — one paragraph example only. Do not inflate scores: if the thesis is non-arguable, cap Thesis clarity at 4/10 regardless of prose quality.

Draft: [paste your draft here]

Tips:

• The downloadable skill is the better path if you're revising over multiple sessions — the interactive commands (TIGHTEN, COUNTERARGUMENT, WORD BUDGET) let you fix one section at a time without retriggering the whole rubric.
• Paste the essay prompt/assignment along with the draft — the rubric is wasted without knowing what question you were asked to answer.
• When the feedback says a paragraph doesn't advance the thesis, try deleting it entirely before rewriting it.
• Run the revision checklist from the top; the first three items usually recover the most points.

⚠ This skill has been tested and optimized for Claude. Results may vary with other AI assistants.