Essay due
Use RoxWhy Co-Writer and Chat to plan, evidence-check, and tighten an essay while keeping the student's own argument and voice.
The win is a clearer argument you can stand behind in class. The fail is a fluent essay you could not explain if the teacher asked "why this paragraph?"
You will know it worked when you have a thesis that answers the question, a paragraph plan with evidence, and a draft that still sounds like you.
What to have on the desk
- The assignment question.
- The marking criteria or rubric, if you are allowed to use it with AI.
- Any quotes, notes, or texts the essay must use.
- Your rough thoughts, even if they are messy.
Check your school's AI rules before you start. If the task bans AI, stop here and write it yourself.
1. Interrogate the question before you write
Open Co-Writer or Chat and paste:
Assignment question: [paste]. Criteria: [paste the criteria only]. I am in Year [year]. Do not write the essay. Unpack the question: what must I argue, what would be off-topic, and what does a high-band response need that a mid-band response misses?
Write the unpacking in your own notebook. If you disagree, say so in the next message. The model is a critic, not the author.
2. Build a skeleton from your evidence
Here is the question again. Here are the quotes and notes I actually have: [paste]. Propose a thesis I could defend with this evidence, plus a five-paragraph skeleton. For each paragraph, give the point, the evidence I already have, and the gap I still need to fill. Do not invent quotes.
If a gap needs a source you do not have, go back to the book or class notes. Do not let the model fabricate a critic or a page number.
English and history essays work well with a RoxBot such as:
You are a patient Year 11 English coach. You never write my paragraphs. You ask me to state the argument first, then you pressure-test evidence and topic sentences against the criteria I uploaded.
3. Write the paragraph yourself, then get a tight critique
Write the introduction or body paragraph in Co-Writer or in your usual doc, then paste:
Here is my paragraph. Do not rewrite it. Tell me: does the topic sentence answer the question? Is the evidence doing work or just sitting there? Where did I slip into summary? Give me the next sentence job, not the next sentence.
Fix it yourself. Repeat for the weakest paragraph, not for every sentence.
If you want a study-guide artefact for revision later, ask Co-Writer for a one-page outline of your argument after the draft exists.
4. Final pass
Ask:
Read this draft against the criteria. List only the three highest-impact fixes. Do not polish my voice.
Then:
- Read the essay aloud. Anything you cannot say, rewrite.
- Check quotes and references against the original text.
- Confirm the word count and the required structure.
What not to do
- "Write the essay in my style." That is still not your work.
- Uploading someone else's essay as a model to imitate closely.
- Trusting citations the model added. If you did not see the page, it does not go in.