How to make a thesis statement

1. How to make a thesis statement

2. Persuasive writing • Make a claim about a topic • An opinion, proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation • Justify this opinion with specific evidence

3. GOAL: convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence you provide.

4. Your thesis statement: • should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your project • should be supported with evidence • usually appears near the beginning and the end of the project • will change as you write

5. The Process…..

6. Brainstorm the topic • Let’s say that you are interested in the amount of sugar Canadians consume. • You start out with a thesis statement like this: • Sugar consumption. • This fragment isn’t a thesis statement. It is a topic. Your reader doesn’t know what you want to say about sugar consumption.

7. Narrow the topic • Your readings about the topic have led you to the conclusion that children eat too much sugar. • You change your thesis to look like this: • Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children. • This fragment announces your topic and it focuses on elementary school children. • Also, it raises a subject upon which people could debate. • BUT: This fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader doesn’t know your conclusions on the topic.

8. Take a position on the topic • After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume. • You revise your thesis statement to look like this: • More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children. • This statement asserts your position • Still not a thesis statement – it is VAGUE

9. Use specific language • You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices, so you write: • Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar. • This statement is specific but it isn’t a thesis. It merely reports a statistic instead of giving a point of view.

10. Make an assertion based on support • You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this: • 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.

11. Thesis Rules! • A thesis statement should: · Not be an open-ended question · Mention only those points you plan to discuss in your essay · Never be so broad that it’s difficult to discuss all relevant information · Usually present one specific idea; not multiple and/or conflicting ideas

12. Identify the problems in the following thesis statements using these categories: (a) conflicting ideas (b) open-ended question (c) too broad (d) not limited 1. The World’s Fair in New Orleans was a disaster because of the way the press criticized the way it was run, but it was exciting for little children and had many good food booths. 2. TV commercials are obnoxious to the person who is intent on watching a good show; on the other hand, they provide entertainment in the antics of the performers and they provide a good opportunity to take a snack break. 3. Since politicians are constantly bombarding each other, how do they expect anyone to know who is right and who is wrong? 4. Rap music is a popular form of art because it is creative and original and because it follows the traditions of other spontaneously developed music like jazz. 5. Unless people are conscious of pollution, the world will be destroyed by the year 2050

13. YOUR TASK • You’ve found 4 sources • Skim/skip/survey • Create a working thesis statement • Begin to map your argument (on project handout)