Writing seminar 1: Thesis & Organization

1. Writing seminar 1: Thesis & Organization

2. Academic Paper Writing: Why?

8. What is a thesis statement?

9. What is a thesis statement? • A thesis statement • provides unity or coherence • limits the discussion • is usually a single, declarative sentence • can be affirmed or denied • is the distillation of the essay’s argument

10. What is a thesis statement? • Example: “While Plato vaguely identifies the desire for Beauty as the cause of the lover’s upward journey, Saint Augustine gives a concrete reason for this ascent: he believes that it is God who enables the lover to ascend the ladder of love, by means of His special gift of grace.”

11. formulating a thesis statement

12. How to Formulate a Thesis Statement

13. How to Formulate a Thesis Statement • Respond to the paper prompt!

14. How to Formulate a Thesis Statement Questions to ask: • What kind of essay is this? • Expository • Analytical • Argumentative • Who is my audience? • How broad/narrow should my focus be?

15. How to Formulate a Thesis Statement • Carefully read the prompt: Choose two commentaries on Romans, one pre-Reformation and one post-Reformation (this can include the Reformation time itself). Select a manageable passage from a chapter of Romans and compare the commentary offered by the two authors. The comparison should include theological points, but also more technical ones, such as historical context and linguistic analysis. The ecclesial method discussed in class can serve as a guide in the comparison.

16. How to Formulate a Thesis Statement • Topics vs. Thesis Statements

17. Organizing your ideas

18. Organizing Your Ideas • Overview • Introduction • Body • Conclusion • Revise, Revise, Revise

19. Organizing Your Ideas • Purpose of Introduction

20. Organizing Your Ideas • Types of Introduction • 1. Funnel-In • 2. Inquisitive • 3. Paradoxical • 4. Corrective • 5. Preparatory • 6. Narrative

21. Organizing Your Ideas • Purpose of Body • Introductory matters • Statement of circumstance • Definition of terms • Methodology • Proofs for your thesis statement • Gather and organize your ideas • Provide evidence • Provide arguments

22. Organization Strategies • 1. Chronological order • 2. General to specific • 3. Specific to general • 4. Less important to more important • 5. More important to less important • 6. Question/answer • 7. Problem/solution

23. Organizing Your Ideas • The Process of Organization • Revision • Key questions to ask yourself • 1. Does this idea support my thesis? • 2. How does one idea relate to another? • 3. Does my thesis need to be revised? • Check Your Organization: Reverse Outline

24. Organizing Your Ideas • Conclusion • Restate your thesis • Reiterate importance of thesis • Summarize argument/main supporting points • Suggest new significance, application or area of research

25. Organizing Your Ideas • Transitions • What are transitions? • Why are they necessary? • Types of transitions

26. Organizing Your Ideas • Paragraph #1: The Fathers of the Church identified the reason for the Devil’s fall as envy of man. • Paragraph #2: The Scholastics saw pride as the reason for the Devil’s fall. • Paragraph #3: During medieval times there were three schools of thought regarding the nature of the Devil’s pride.

27. Organizing Your Ideas • Paragraph #1: The Fathers of the Church identified the reason for the Devil’s fall as envy of man. • Paragraph #2: The Scholastics saw pride as the reason for the Devil’s fall. • Transition Sentence: “The Scholastic theologians, Catarino argues, departed from the Fathers on this point.”

28. Organizing Your Ideas • Paragraph #2: The Scholastics saw pride as the reason for the Devil’s fall. • Paragraph #3: During medieval times there were three schools of thought regarding the nature of the Devil’s pride. • Transition Sentence: “The Scholastics could not agree, however, on what exactly diabolical desire for ‘divine majesty’ entailed.”

29. Organizing Your Ideas • Transition Functions • To Add: furthermore, next • To Compare: similarly, in contrast • To Prove: because, since • To Repeat: in brief, as I have noted • To Emphasize: indeed, in fact • To Show Sequence: therefore • To Give an Example: for instance • To Conclude: in sum, thus

30. Organizing Your Ideas • The Paragraph • Topic Sentence • One main point • Develop an idea, move the argument forward • Relate the paragraph to thesis

31. Organizing Your Ideas • Paragraph: How to present evidence • 1. Introduce • 2. Quote • 3. Explain

32. Organizing Your Ideas • Example from Frank Sheed, Theology and Sanity • We have already seen…that God does not depend upon things for His knowledge of things: as St. Augustine says…: “He made the things He knew: He did not get to know the things He had made.” His power of making is as independent of created things as His power of knowing.

33. Conclusion

34. Conclusion • Next Session: Logic and Rhetoric • Further resources: • A Manual for Writers, 7th ed. by Kate Turabian • Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook, 16th ed. • The Office of Assertion by Scott Crider • Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) • owl.english.purdue.edu