Response in Reading "Tha Realness": In search of Hip-Hop Authenticity

I feel like reading "Tha Realness": In search of Hip-Hop Authenticity by Jonathan D. Williams from University of Pennsylvania contributes a lot in generating, writing and polishing our final essay. I absorbed a great amount of insightful thoughts, good ideas of structuring and MLA formatting tips while reading the essay. I'm sure I will be using some of them in my essay.

About generating ideas:
1. If you are able to highlight your thesis using an unusual way. It will be great to put it at the beginning of the second paragraph... After having a brief look at the basic introduction and background, the thesis statement will as a matter of fact make a stronger sense. However, we need to make sure that it is recognizable enough, or it may confuse people.
2. There is no need to write something that is irrelevant to the statement you are making. A straight forward opening for the statement will contribute more than anything else.
3. Counter argument is very necessary in order for us to form a complete and balanced essay.
4. Paragraphs needs to be interrelated-- in other words, try to polish the essay as smooth as possible-- pay more attention into linking the paragraphs.
5. A few quotes and citations can be great back-ups for elaborating and convincing your thesis to the audience.
6. Try to quote the citations in your own way, i.e., instead of putting the whole sentence in the paragraph stubbornly, it helps a lot to just use part of it. This is a great way to demonstrate your writing skills and you understand both the topic and the reference really well.

About MLA Formatting:
1. Last name+ page number located on the top of the page.
2. 1 inch's space from the first line. Half of a inch from Last name+ page number.
3. First line of the paragraphs needs to be indented.
4. No extra space between paragraphs.