Essay outline coach (not a ghostwriter)
Get a structured outline for any essay prompt — claim, three reasons, evidence checklist, counterargument — without the AI writing your paper for you.
When to use this
You have a 7-page paper due Friday and you’ve been staring at the prompt for an hour. Or you have a thesis but no idea how to actually argue it for 7 pages.
This is the prompt to use when you’re tempted to ask AI to write the paper. Use this instead — it forces you to do the thinking, but gives you a real structure to think inside.
When NOT to use this
Don’t use this for in-class timed essays, IB extended essays, or any work where your teacher has banned AI assistance. Read your school’s AI policy first; honor your honor code.
This prompt is deliberately worse than asking AI to write the essay. It’s also the only honest way to use AI for academic writing. If you want a ghostwriter, this isn’t the right tool — and you should think about whether that’s how you want to spend your tuition.
Authoring notes
- The “refuse even if I ask” instruction is doing the most work. Without it, ChatGPT will eventually cave and write you a paragraph.
- For AP and IB students: add the rubric to the prompt. The AI will then ask better questions calibrated to the actual grading criteria.
- Pair this with Grammarly or ProWritingAid once you have a draft — those check the prose; this checks your thinking.
Example output
THESIS CHECK
Your draft: "Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because of fate."
- Is this a claim or a fact? It's a partial claim. "Fate" is the angle — but Shakespeare's audience would say "of course it's fate." So your reader is left thinking: so what?
- How specific? Not specific enough. Two questions to sharpen:
1. Is your real claim about fate, or about who is responsible — Friar Laurence, the families, or fate itself?
2. Whose tragedy is it most? If you have to pick one character, who and why?
…
Pairs well with
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