# ✅ Checkpoint: Thinking-First Foundations

By Better Wise



## Quiz

1. During a timed freewriting session you notice a typo in the sentence you just wrote. According to lesson 1.1, what should you do?
   - Keep writing and leave the typo alone until the timer ends.
   - Fix it immediately so the page stays readable.
   - Stop the session, reread the page, and restart once it is clean.
   - Paste the page into an AI tool and ask it to clean it up.
2. While mining a freewrite, you find the line 'Slow writing makes you think ahead.' You believe it but cannot support it yet. What should you do with it?
   - Keep it and present it as a proven fact in the draft.
   - Cut it, because an unsupported line has no place in the project.
   - Ask an AI tool to supply a statistic that supports it.
   - Tag it as a gap or question and carry it forward for later evidence work.
3. In a memory-only outline, a sub-point is marked 'shaky.' What does that marker mean?
   - You recognize the term but could not say anything accurate about it.
   - You have the general idea but cannot defend a specific number, date, or causal claim.
   - The point has been verified against a reliable source.
   - You can explain it out loud without notes and give a concrete example.
4. Which sentence is a thesis rather than a topic or an announcement?
   - Remote work is a common arrangement in many industries.
   - Remote work slows how fast junior employees learn, so hybrid schedules should protect in-office days for new hires.
   - This paper will explore remote work.
   - Remote work has grown quickly since 2020.
5. A working thesis passes the dispute test but is far too broad to finish in a short essay. According to lesson 1.3, what is the right next move?
   - Add a limit such as a specific case, group, or time frame.
   - Replace it with a descriptive sentence nobody can dispute.
   - Keep it broad so you have more to write about.
   - Start browsing sources and let the thesis emerge from what you find.
6. In lesson 1.2, a named knowledge gap has the shape: 'I need to know ______ so I can ______.' The three gap types are fact, mechanism, and ______ gaps.
7. In lesson 1.3, the useful check is: if you cannot finish the sentence 'I believe this ______ ...', you are not ready to write the essay yet.
8. In lesson 1.2, when two markers both seem to fit a point, you should choose the ______ one.
9. Produce your Module 1 thinking-first foundation on your project question: a six-minute freewrite, a memory-only outline with markers, and one working thesis. Do this before opening any AI tool, then evaluate your own work against the rubric.


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## Contents

Part of [✍️ Think Before You Prompt: Develop Independent Writing and Original Thought](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought.md)

- **🧠 Think First: Draft Before You Ask AI**
  - [💭 Freewriting: Dump First, Judge Later](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/freewriting-dump-first-judge-later.md)
  - [🗺️ Outlining From Memory and Naming Your Knowledge Gaps](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/outline-from-memory-and-knowledge-gaps.md) (sign-in required)
  - [🎯 Thesis Development: From Topic to Defensible Claim](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/thesis-development-defensible-claim.md)
  - [✅ Checkpoint: Thinking-First Foundations](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/checkpoint-thinking-first-foundations.md) — this lesson
- **⚖️ Argue, Critique, Verify**
  - [🧩 Argument Construction: Claims, Reasons, Assumptions](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/argument-construction-claims-reasons-assumptions.md)
  - [🔍 Evidence Selection and Stress-Testing Sources](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/evidence-selection-and-stress-testing.md)
  - [🤖 AI as Critic: Prompts That Earn Real Pushback](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/ai-as-critic-prompts-for-pushback.md)
  - [✅ Checkpoint: Argument and AI Critique](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/checkpoint-argument-and-ai-critique.md)
- **🛠️ Verify, Revise, Own It**
  - [🔎 Verifying AI Suggestions Before They Enter Your Draft](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/verifying-ai-suggestions.md)
  - [🚧 Helpful Assistance vs Outsourcing the Thinking](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/assistance-vs-outsourcing-thinking.md)
  - [🏆 Capstone: Draft, Critique, Revise, Reflect](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/capstone-draft-critique-revise-reflect.md) (premium content)
  - [✅ Checkpoint: Ownership and Revision](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/checkpoint-ownership-and-revision.md) (premium content)
- [Course cheatsheet](https://everwise.study/courses/think-before-you-prompt-develop-independent-writing-and-original-thought/cheatsheet.md) (premium content)