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Original Research Question (which will evolve throughout the course of your research). Example What are the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans? After researching you develop an interest in the amount of sugar Americans consume. What Is a Thesis Statement?.
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Original Research Question (which will evolve throughout the course of your research) Example • What are the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans? After researching you develop an interest in the amount of sugar Americans consume.
What Is a Thesis Statement? • Where do we go from the question???
Thesis Statement • It tells the reader the main idea of the paper overall. • It is phrased as one complete sentence. • It seeks to answer the original research question. • Some like to use the following formula: Subject + Answer to the Question (or an opinion proven through research)
Thesis Statements • A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand. • A strong thesis statement justifies discussion. • A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea. • A strong thesis statement is specific.
Step 1 • Begin with your topic: EX. Sugar Consumption • Revise – try to make it more specific Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children. What about it?? What do you want to prove?
Step2- Take a position • Determine the purpose of your paper: exploration, a comparison, an argument, or a problem with a solution . More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children. • There are vague terms here, such as, more attention, and food and beverage choices. Like what???
Step 3 – Use Specific Language Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar. This is more specific, but it sounds more like a stat versus a thesis statement.
Step 4 - Make an assertion based on your clearly stated support • Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives. • When you organize your paper, it should follow the order of the thesis statement.
Samples • Weak : There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement. • Better: Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers. • Weak: My family is an extended family. • Better: While most American families would view blood-related marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family.
Samples • Weak: Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support. • Better: Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.
Samples • Weak: World hunger has many causes and effects. • Better: Hunger persists in Ethiopia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.
Writing an Introductory Paragraph • A “hook” should provide some interesting universal idea about your topic. This could be of common knowledge. • A bridge statement should link the commonly known information to the final statement in your intro, which should be the thesis. References: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml.
