Writing a Thesis statement for a Classical Argument

1. Writing a Thesis statement for a Classical Argument Classical Argument Unit

2. Your claim must be debatable The position you take in your paper cannot be something that is universally agreed or disagreed upon. A reasonable person should be able to take more than one side on your issue.

3. Is this claim debatable or No? • Pollution is bad for the environment. • Ten percent of the GDP should be spent on foreign aid. • Parents should spend time with their children in order to bond with them. • Destruction of the rain forest is having negative effects on the environment. • The U.S. government should force private household to recycle and fine people who refuse to do so.

4. Narrow your Focus If you try to convince an audience of everything you won’t convince them of anything.

5. Narrow Vs. overbroad • Converting to an electronic system of voting, with confirmation numbers to ensure accuracy, would increase voter participation. • People should care more about their government ; therefore, voting should be made mandatory.

6. Narrow vs. overbroad claim • Illegal drug use is detrimental to society because it encourages gang violence. • Illegal drug use is detrimental to society.

7. Trap Words: Technology, politics, Sports, education systems

8. Examples of good thesis statements Claim + at least one major reason conjoined into the same sentence. • “America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars because it would allow most citizens to contribute to national efforts and care about the outcome.” • At least twenty-five percent of the federal budget should be spent on helping upgrade business to clean technologies, researching renewable energy sources, and planting more trees in order to control or eliminate pollution.

9. For more information check out the Purdue OWL online http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/