1 / 17

English Writing

English Writing. Part 3: Thesis Focus. John E. Clayton Nanjing University, Spring, 2005. Please Turn In Your Homework. Journal 1 (name/student number/journal 1) Keep your essay for now. Syllabus. 03/02 Introduction; Overview; Writing a good paragraph

jalen
Download Presentation

English Writing

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. English Writing Part 3: Thesis Focus John E. Clayton Nanjing University, Spring, 2005

  2. Please Turn In Your Homework Journal 1 (name/student number/journal 1) Keep your essay for now

  3. Syllabus 03/02 Introduction; Overview; Writing a good paragraph 03/09 Information Form; Essays – structure, thesis 03/16 Thesis Focus; Movie: Johnny Lingo Journal 1 03/23 03/30 Movie: Dave Journal 2 04/06 04/13 Journal 1 04/20 Mid-term exam 04/27 Business – letters, resumes, SOP Journal 2 05/04 Holiday 05/11 Journal 1 05/18 05/25 Journal 2 06/01 06/08 Final exam

  4. Contacts • E-mail: clayton@software.nju.edu.cn • Downloads: • http://software.nju.edu.cn/~clayton/ • JEC EW2S 1 – Introduction • JEC EW2S 1 – Introduction (smaller) • JEC EW2S 2 – Essay Structure

  5. American Essay Style Thesis Support Support Support Conclusion

  6. Handout Hand out: Argumentative Essays for an American Audience

  7. 5 Paragraph Essay Structure • Introduction • Motivate and interest the reader • State your position - thesis • Tell a little more about what to expect • Body Paragraphs • Begin with a topic sentence • Explain, define, clarify the topic sentence with facts, examples, descriptions, etc. • End with a concluding sentence that draws the paragraph together • Conclusion • Say the thesis in a different way • “Grab” the reader, so he/she will not forget. Might include a prediction, a recommendation or a solution

  8. Thesis – What’s the Big Deal? American academic essays are usually "thesis-driven." This means that you, as the writer, must explain the main pointof your essay at the start. An academic essay is not a mystery novel - your reader does not want to figure out the plot or search for clues.

  9. Writing Differences The thesis-driven essay may be different from non-American writing forms, in which the thesis is often implied, delayed, or delivered at the end of the essay. Consider the thesis statement a concise version of the entire essay, which usually appears in the introductory section of an essay. A thesis provides the reader with a "road map," clearly laying out the route ahead.

  10. Writing Differences Note that a thesis is an interpretation of a subject, not the subject itself. For Example: The subject of an essay might be Smoking, but the thesis must then offer a way to understand smoking that others might dispute.

  11. Purpose of the Thesis • The thesis states: • - the goal of the argument • - the reasons to support the argument. • The essay must clarify or support your thesis.

  12. Example 1 Subject: Smoking Argument: Smoking is harmful, and should be banned Primary goal:to ban smoking in public places. Reasons:it’s dangerous, harmful and annoying. Thesis: “Smoking should be banned from public places, because it is dangerous, bad for health, and very annoying to other people.”

  13. Example 2 Subject: Reading books Argument: Books should remain a key resource for university students. Primary goal:to encourage students to read more printed books. Reasons:inexpensive, relaxing, always available. Thesis: “Even though we are bombarded with information today, we should continue to invest time reading old-fashioned paper books, because they are inexpensive, they can help us relax, and they won’t shut-down at 11:00pm.”

  14. Example 3 Subject: Camping Argument: A university club should be established to focus on outdoor activities, especially camping. Primary goal:encourage the creation of a campus club to promote camping. Reasons:healthy, relaxing, good use of time. Thesis: “Even though some people say the university should be for academics only, the university should establish a club to promote camping, because it is a healthy, relaxing activity that uses time wisely.”

  15. Classroom Exercise • Get in a group with one or two others. • Find an argumentative topic on the handout. • Create a thesis statement as you saw in the examples: • Subject • Argument • Primary goal • Reasons • Thesis

  16. Johnny Lingo Location A South Pacific Island, early 20th century Characters Mahanna a young girl Mo Key Mahanna's father Johnny Lingo an famous island trader Mr. Harris a shop keeper Tulo the shop keeper's helper A husband would bargain for his wife with her father, in cows – trying to pay as little as possible.

  17. Homework Assignment Think about “Johnny Lingo”, and the difference he made in Mahanna’s life, then: Write the introductionparagraph only (including thesis statement) to an essay entitled: “I Can’t Change Someone Else…or Can I?”

More Related