The Thesis Statement

Lesson # 4 Thesis Development

Writer’s Prompt:

• Describe in one or two paragraphs, one or two things you would like to see President Obama achieve during his first year in office.

Grammar Grappler:

• Their is know piece in this town.

• What grammar term is being utilized in the above sentence?

• Homophone

• More – one/won; eye/I; need/knead; buy/by; hi/high

Assignments

• Read Chapter 3 – “Drafting and Revising” in The Little, Brown Handbook

• Do Exercise 3.9 (NEW) or Exercise 9 (OLD) in The Little, Brown Handbook

Assignment Review

• Handout 2.6 – Shaping the thesis

The Thesis StatementA Road Map for Your Essay

ESSAYIntroduction

Thesis StatementBody Paragraph #1Body Paragraph #2Body Paragraph #3

Definition• A thesis statement is a complete

sentence that contains one main idea.

• This idea controls the content of the entire essay.

• A thesis statement that contains sub points also helps a reader know how the essay will be organized.

Review the following…

When I was young, I always knew that I wanted to become a teacher someday. When I played, I would often gather my dolls together and pretend to teach them how to do math problems or how to read a book. As I grew older, my desire to become an ESL teacher became clearer as I did some volunteer teaching overseas and in the United States. As I look back on my reasons for becoming a teacher, there are three reasons that stand out. They are: my love for the English language, my innate interest in how people learn, and my desire to help other people .

•WHAT’S THE THESIS?

When I was young, I always knew that I wanted to become a teacher someday. When I played, I would often gather my dolls together and pretend to teach them how to do math problems or how to read a book. As I grew older, my desire to become an ESL teacher became clearer as I did some volunteer teaching overseas and in the United States. As I look back on my reasons for becoming a teacher, there are three reasons that stand out. They are: my love for the English language, my innate interest in how people learn, and my desire to help other people .

Psychologists have argued for decades about how a person’s character is formed. Numerous psychologists believe that one’s birth order (i.e. place in the family as the youngest, oldest, or middle child) has the greatest influence. I believe birth order can have a significant impact in the formation of a child’s character based on my own experience growing up in a family of four children. Birth order can strongly affect one’s relationship with parents, relationships with others, and how one views responsibility as an adult.

•WHAT’S THE THESIS?

Psychologists have argued for decades about how a person’s character is formed. Numerous psychologists believe that one’s birth order (i.e. place in the family as the youngest, oldest, or middle child) has the greatest influence. I believe birth order can have a significant impact in the formation of a child’s character based on my own experience growing up in a family of four children. Birth order can strongly affect one’s relationship with parents, relationships with others, and how one views responsibility as an adult.

More Examples

Informative/Descriptive Thesis

• The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent studying, attending class, and socializing with peers.– The paper that follows should:– explain how students spend their time

studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Persuasive Thesis

• High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness.– The paper that follows should:

– present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

Process Analysis Thesis

• An analysis of the college admission process reveals one challenge facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.– The paper that follows should:

– explain the analysis of the college admission process

– explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

How To Create A Thesis

Purpose

• What do you want the reader to know, do, or feel as a result of reading your text?

• Are you informing, evaluating, persuading, describing, confessing, or entertaining?

• What literary style are you using – informal, formal, satirical…?

Audience

• Who are your readers?

• What is their approximate age/ interest and knowledge level/ educational level in your subject?

• Are they experts, “general public,” your peers or fellow students?

• Do they agree or disagree with your point of view?

The Functions of a Thesis Statement

Narrows your subject

– The thesis statement narrows your subject to a single, central idea that you want readers to gain from your essay.

– The thesis statement claims something specific and significant about your subject, a claim that requires support.

– Anyone reading your thesis should be able to clearly and directly know exactly what you are going to write about

Conveys Your Purpose

– The thesis statement conveys your purpose, your reason for writing.

– What is your point of view?

– Where are you going with this essay of yours?

– What direction are you taking?

– What’s your position?

Previews What’s to Come

The thesis statement often concisely previews the arrangement of ideas.

It gives a preview of the subjects to be covered within your essay – from first to second to the final conclusion.

is usually at the end of an introduction.

A Thesis Checklist

Checklist

– How well does the subject of your statement capture the subject of your paper?

– What claim does your statement make about your subject?

– What is the significance of the claim? How does it answer “So what?” and convey your purpose?

Checklist

– How can the claim be limited or made more specific? Does it state a single idea and clarify the boundaries of the idea?

– How unified is the statement? How does each word and phrase contribute to a single idea?

Thesis Sentences for Revision

• Which of the following thesis sentences are effective? Ineffective?

• Explain what is wrong with each of the ineffective theses and revise them.

• Assume an essay of 500 words and an audience of generally educated adults whom you do not know personally.

Sample Thesis #1

ORIGINAL: George Washington was the first president of the United States.

REVISED: As the first president of the United States, George Washington had to resist those who wanted to turn him into a king.

• The original sentence is a statement of fact, something accepted as true rather than a worthwhile assertion.

Sample Thesis #2

ORIGINAL: Student government at my university is worthless.

REVISED: Student government at my university has no money, no power, and no mandate.

• The original sentence is unrestricted, with a vague predicate. It sounds like what will follow will be an emotional tirade rather than sound reason.

Sample Thesis #3

• ORIGINAL: Many colleges exploit their athletes, using them as revenue-producing machines, ignoring their needs as students and failing to regard bright students who do not happen to be athletes.

• REVISED: Many colleges exploit their athletes, using them as revenue-producing machines while ignoring their needs as students.

• The original sentence lacks unity, containing at least three ideas not clearly related.

Sample Thesis #4

ORIGINAL: Strawberry cheesecake is the best kind.

REVISED: No longer must the cheesecake worshipper settle for plain cheesecake: he or she can find everything from the delightful (strawberry) to the exotic (kumquat).

• The original sentence is unworkable because a simple preference cannot be proven, only asserted. The revised sentence reflects a change to the informative process.

Sample Thesis #5

ORIGINAL: Shakespeare was a great writer.

REVISED: In Julius Caesar, we see one dimension of Shakespeare’s greatness: he offers something for everyone, from the bawdy puns of the opening scene, to the comparison of different styles of leadership that informs the whole play.

• The original sentence is unrestricted and obvious.

Sample Thesis #6

ORIGINAL: I just moved to Oregon.

REVISED: Moving from Boston to Oregon still means moving from the Old World to the New.

• The original sentence was a simple statement of fact, of little interest to readers who do not know the writer personally.

In Class Exercise – You Write the Thesis

• After reading the following handouts of excerpts from student essays, as a group, write a good thesis statement for the essay.

• Use the checklist for revising the thesis statement as a guideline