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Writing the Thesis Statement

By Worth Weller and Ashley Workman (with a little help from the Purdue and Dartmouth OWL) and other online sources. Writing the Thesis Statement. What is it?. for most student work, it's a one- or two- sentence statement that explicitly outlines the purpose or point of your paper.

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Writing the Thesis Statement

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  1. By Worth Weller and Ashley Workman (with a little help from the Purdue and Dartmouth OWL) and other online sources Writing the Thesis Statement

  2. What is it? • for most student work, it's a one- or two- sentence statement that explicitly outlines the purpose or point of your paper. • It is generally a complex, compound sentence • It should take a stand, or make a claim regarding your assigned topic • Don't be afraid to give your opinion-you must make some claim. • But NO “I” “YOU” “WE” etc.! 3rd person only

  3. What does it do? • it should tell the reader what your paper is about, and what claim you mean to prove. • It should also tell the reader what points you will make, and in which order.

  4. Where does it go? • because the rest of the paper will support or back up your thesis, a thesis is normally placed at or near the end of the introductory paragraph.

  5. What does it contain? • The thesis sentence must contain an arguable point. • A thesis sentence must not simply make an observation -- for example, "Tim Tebow is a football player." • Rather, it must assert a point that is arguable: • “Tim Tebow changed the face of football by his unique outspokenness, his humility and determination.”

  6. What it determines • The thesis sentence must control the entire argument. • Your thesis sentence determines what you are required to say in a paper. • It also determines what you cannot say. • Every paragraph in your paper exists in order to support your thesis. • Accordingly, if one of your paragraphs seems irrelevant to your thesis you have two choices: get rid of the paragraph, or rewrite your thesis.

  7. Ideas For a Good Thesis • Don’t ask a question • Don’t use first or second person – I, you, we • Don’t use qualifiers that make you sound uncertain such as might, maybe, perhaps, etc. • Don’t use absolute qualifiers that mean everything, all, none, always, never. These are too hard to prove! • Don’t use “to be” verbs – am, are, is, was, were, be, being, been.They aren’t descriptive enough. • Do use relative qualifiers which show real-world variation such as often, primarily, frequently, too often, regularly, some, many, most. These are much easier to prove!

  8. Is it fixed in concrete? • Imagine that as you are writing your paper you stumble across the new idea that Tim Tebow also is the most handsome football player in the NFL. • This observation is a good one; do you really want to throw it away? Or do you want to rewrite your thesis so that it accommodates this new idea?

  9. A contract • Understand that you don't have a third option: you can't simply stick the idea in without preparing the reader for it in your thesis. • The thesis is like a contract between you and your reader. • If you introduce ideas that the reader isn't prepared for, you've violated that contract.

  10. More Attributes • it argues one main point and doesn't squeeze three different theses for three different papers into one sentence; • And most importantly, it passes The "So What?" Test.

  11. An Equation • thesis statements are basically made up of your topic and a specific claim about that topic, therefore, • THESIS = TOPIC + SPECIFIC CLAIM

  12. Summary The four “shoulds” of a thesis statement:

  13. a good thesis statement should take a stand - don't be afraid to have an opinion; if after your research, your opinion changes, all the better - means you have been thinking; you can write a new thesis statement! But, NO I!

  14. a good thesis statement should justify discussion - don't leave your readers saying to themselves "So what" or "duh?" or "like what's your point?"

  15. a good thesis statement should express one main idea or a clear relationship between two specific ideas linked by words like "because," "since," "so," "although," "unless," or "however."

  16. A good thesis statement should be restricted to a specific and manageable topic – it is better if a paper does a small task well than a paper that takes on an unrealistic task and fails.

  17. For Example: • Poor: J.R.R. Tolkein writes readable books. • Good: J.R.R. Tolkein's books are so good because they contain fiction, fantasy and elves.

  18. Which thesis is best? Question: How are deserts of the world the same and different? Thesis 1: I am going to tell you about the deserts of the world. Thesis 2: Deserts of the world, including ones in North and South America, Antarctica, Africa, Australia, and Asia are the same and different. Thesis 3: Although the deserts of the world have many similarities, they are vastly different in terms of temperature, vegetation, and size.

  19. Resources • users.ipfw.edu/wellerw/thesisstatement.ppt • www.pflugervilleisd.net/.../documents/ThesisStatement.ppt

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