Brainstorming a Thesis Statement

Karen HornbergerPalisades High School

Jotting Down Keywords

• Take a piece of scrap paper or open a Google Doc and jot down everything that is exciting (or interesting) about your topic.

• You may also choose to “draw your topic”. This imagery can help you to develop connections.

Don’t just write items that you think that you should write about, write items that interest you.

By tapping into that passion, you will ultimately write a more interesting paper (for yourself and for others).

Did you know that, when you write a paper, you do not have to write everything there is to know about your topic?

Ask others what they find interesting…Think about what might be controversial…

The more specific/detailed you can be, the more help you are giving yourself in narrowing your topic.

Jot it all down.

I don’t worry about spelling correctly at this point

Now Categorize

• You will take your words (or pictures) and place them into categories. In a Google Doc, you can create tables to organize your categories.

• As you work, provide each category a name/heading

I take each word and place them together if I feel that they fit together.

If I feel that they don’t, they go into a new category.

I, then, label the categories with appropriate headings.

Next, I combine (or consolidate) categories that I feel fit together.

I may eliminate a weak category (or one that I find least interesting).

Ideally, I want three categories.

Something to keep in mind later…

• Chances are, your original keywords will become your sub-headings within your outline and the category headings will be the broad terms that you will use in your thesis statement and become your main headings in the outline.

• Save your work today to refer to when you develop your outline, later.

It’s time to start drafting

• You now choose whether you are writing an enumerative thesis statement or an umbrella thesis statement.

• The following slides will help you develop either type.

Build Thesis Statement (enumerative style)

Try to string your categories into a formula for an enumerative thesis statement.

(Insert statement) because of Point A, Point B, and Point C

Enumerative: Arrangement

• The arrangement within the enumerative thesis statement will be your roadmap to your paper. You are committing to talk about point A first, B second, and C last.

• Consider that as you place your main supports into an order. It’s often smart to open strong and end powerfully. However, you may find that there is a natural sequence that is already apparent to you.

Enumerative Example…first (and not best) draft

Artistic forms of protest have been present throughout history; they have come in various forms, they have been infused with literary devices, and served the purpose to create change.

Build Thesis Statement (umbrella style)

• While not as formulaic as the enumerative, the umbrella style can display that you have developed into a more sophisticated writer.

• Umbrella thesis statements still must capture the concepts for your entire paper into one or two sentences but it does not serve as a roadmap for the paper/commit to the arrangement of information, as an enumerative would.

• Have no fear! A good outline will still serve to help you to arrange your paper into a well organized piece of writing. While your outline must be long enough to yield the size paper that you will write, the coverage of each topic within the outline does not have to be exactly equal. On the flip side, there must be enough supportive material within each main topic in the outline to have “weight”.

Umbrella Example…first (and not best) draft

Protests have been fueled and ignited as a result of many forms of expression which have often been infused with symbolism and other devices with the intent to serve as a catalyst for change.

While not in enumerative formula, you can usually dissect an umbrella thesis statement into categories representing the main ideas. It is just not as evident as the enumerative thesis statement makes it.

Place the subtopics in the order that you want to arrange them in your paper.

Check whether you can identify three unique thesis points. If you have two subtopics that are too similar, you will become frustrated while you are writing because it won’t be clear in which section to place and discuss information.

Point B (symbolism and devices)Point C (catalyst for change)

Point A (many forms of expression)

Each subtopic must be researchable. Ask yourself, “Will I easily locate information on each of these subtopics?”

Each subtopic should utilize the formal wording that is most often used in books or published articles.

Be watchful of subtopics that are likely to produce lists! In your paper, you should not discuss every artistic form; your teacher does not want to read a list. For any section that could easily turn into a list, pick about three compelling examples to write about to illustrate your point instead of turning this portion of your research paper into a list.

Now, take each word and write down some feelings, beliefs, or assumptions connected to the words.

I wanted you to get your ideas organized with the first draft of your thesis statement, but this exercise will now help you infuse feeling into your writing. Use some of these words to connect to your reader.

• Why do people care about each topic?

• What emotions are stirred as a result of this topic?

• Is there a specific group of people whose lives are impacted by this topic?

Finally, consider whether you would like to make a statement on the progress of your topic.

• Has great progression occurred?• Has limited progress taken place?• Has a serious setback occurred?• What do you forecast for this topic?

You may want to determine if you want to include an indication of progress within your thesis statement. This may serve as a nice start or finish for your thesis statement.

Draft ProcessNow it’s time to create a few drafts.

• You might want to compare and decide what you like about each draft and what you dislike. Attempt to pull the best of each together!

• As I added feeling and emotion into my writing, I lost the conciseness of my first draft. This is common, try to make it concise again without losing emotion.

Enumerative Example…later drafts

First draft:Artistic forms of protest have been present throughout history; they have come in various forms, they have been infused with literary devices, and served the purpose to create change.

Second draft:Artistic forms of protest have often been companions to oppression; the mediums have included art, music, and literature, each form has been infused with symbolism and other devices, and all products have served the intent to force change.

Third (and possibly not final) draft:As companions to oppression, artistic forms of protest have been present throughout history; whether art, music, or literature, each medium has been infused with symbolism and other devices, serving the creator’s intent to empower others and inspire change.

Umbrella Example…later drafts

First draft:Protests have been fueled and ignited as a result of many forms of expression which have often been infused with symbolism and other devices with the intent to serve as a catalyst for change.

Second draft:Throughout history, brave people have responded to human oppression by creating various forms of expression that they have infused with soulful, stirring elements which ultimately served as catalysts to empower others and fuel protest.

Third draft:Throughout history, brave people have fueled protests through artistic mediums; infused with soulful and stirring elements, these works have been created with the intent to empower others, force change, and end oppression.

Here is an example about how you can STILL edit your drafts:Play around with different wording and then compare, again!Get feedback from others on your favorite drafts to help you select your final draft.Your drafted thesis statements should get better and better the more you work and analyze them.

Option #1Throughout history, brave people have fueled protests through artistic mediums; infused with soulful and stirring elements, these works have been created with the intent to empower others, force change, and end oppression.

Option #2During times when humans have suffered oppression and have been stripped of basic human rights, there have also been witnesses to this suffering who have bravely harnessed and created various expressive mediums, ultimately using them to empower others to force societal change.

Good luck!

As with any writing, you may not have (or want to take) the time to develop your thesis statement into something really strong, but if you do, it will greatly pay off.

You may even surprise yourself at how well you can write as you go through a few edits. You may not have ever known that you had the capacity to become a sophisticated writer (…but you DO!)

Your thesis statement can change as you conduct your research. That is typically fine with your instructor (as long as you communicate well with them).

Next Steps

I instruct my students, next, to open the Thesis Statement Google Doc and copy and paste the Main Body section from our Example Outline and fill in the Main Categories and follow by arranging the details based upon the content that they created in their tables during the thesis statement work.

They are asked to put the details which will support their main categories in:• Powerful order• Rational order• Avoid lists (pick 3 choices to discuss in the paper and

eliminate the rest because the paper does not need to be an encyclopedia on the topic.)

Additional Resources

• Easiest Way to Write a Killer Thesis Statement• Concept Word Sort: Thesis/Outline/Body• Purdue OWL link to Thesis Statements (with

examples for each style of writing)• Thesis Builder (and Outline Builder)• Thesis Statements for Expository Writing