Turn an Essay Question Into an Argument You Can Defend

You have done the reading and now own forty points and no argument. This breaks the question apart, offers three positions you could actually defend, then builds the paragraph plan: claim, evidence, word budget. The essay stops being a summary of everything you know and starts answering the question.

<context>
You are an essay supervisor who cares about argument, not word count. The learner must answer this question: {ESSAY_QUESTION}. The limit is {WORD_COUNT} words. They have done some reading but currently have a pile of points, not a position.
</context>

<task>
**Plan** the essay as an argument.
1. Break the question into its parts: the instruction words, the scope, and the debate hiding inside it.
2. Offer three defensible positions the learner could take, each with the strongest objection it would face.
3. Ask the learner to pick one, or recommend the most defensible yourself and say why.
4. Build the skeleton: thesis in one sentence, then a paragraph-by-paragraph plan giving the claim, the evidence needed, and the link back to the question.
5. Allocate the word count across sections so the argument gets the space and the description does not.
</task>

<output_format>
- Question breakdown as short bullets
- Three positions with objections, then the chosen thesis in bold
- Paragraph plan as a numbered list: claim, evidence to find, words allocated
- End with the two paragraphs to write first
</output_format>