Paper 1, Introductions, & Thesis Statements

1. Paper 1, Introductions, & Thesis Statements 7.24.12

2. Paper 1 • Everyone will get grades by Wednesday morning • Have about 6-7 more to go • Papers are good for the most part • 78% average (this is normal) • ELI reviews were good, but can be improved.

3. Lessons Learned From Paper 1 • People need to follow the requirements • 1” margins & Times New Roman Font • Page requirement • Examples! • People tended to tell rather than show • More ELI comments • Fluff/BS

4. How to revise paper 1 • If you want to revise paper 1or 2 you must do the following: • Make an appointment at the Writing Center (writing.msu.edu) • Revise your paper based on WC feedback and mine • Write a memo (1-2 pages) • what you changed • how you improved your paper • what you learned • You have 1 week after you get your grade

5. Paper 2 • For this paper MLA is important, look back to last weeks PowerPoint • What questions do you have about MLA or Paper 2?

6. Introductions • One of things that is important for this paper is a good introduction • A reader often stops reading if they don’t like an introduction (you have to sell your paper) • A good introduction will • identity your object • make your audience clear • Outline your argument (thesis statement)

7. Tips for writing an introduction • Try and gain the audiences’ attention • Don’t start with general (Since the beginning of time…) • Don’t start with a definition (use your own words, tell why the topic is important) • Give necessary background • If the audience is unclear about your topic this is the place to tell them • Tell the main idea of your essay • What can the reader expect to read • Outline the essay, use a thesis

8. Introduction Example • What is the most vital tool to college students? You might say a laptop, backpack or textbooks, but none of these things can be as useful for college students as a smartphone. It seems like there is a new smartphone released every day in the technologic era we live in, but having the latest and greatest technology really can benefit college students immensely. For Michigan State University students especially; the Motorola Droid Bionic is the best smartphone for college students.

9. Thesis Statement • One of the most important sentence(s) in your introduction is the thesis statement • It gives the reader your paper in a condensed form • It highlights the argument in the paper • What is the main idea? • It guides the reader through the rest of the paper • What are some of your talking points? • A thesis doesn’t have to be at the end of a paragraph or 1 sentence, though this is usually the case

10. Example Thesis Statement • It is necessary for teenagers to have a car of their own so that they can be more involved in school, be more helpful to their families, and learn what its like to enter adulthood.

11. Activity • I want you to spend 15-20 minutes revising your introductions and thesis statements for paper 2. Focus on trying to engage the reader, giving background info, and then writing a good thesis statement. After I want you to break up into groups and share your introductions. Give some feedback. After take a few minutes and revise what you have. Finally go to blog and talk about how you changed your introductions and thesis statements. In the blog talk about how you engaged your audience and why your intro is more successful now.