Writing a Thesis Statement

1. Writing a Thesis Statement

2. What is a Thesis Statement? • A sentence that presents your thoughts or opinions on a subject • The basis for any essay • A sentence containing a subject + an opinion • An answer to a topic question * Tip: a thesis statement should never contain I think, I believe, in my opinion, etc. State your opinions as facts.

3. What Does a Good Thesis Look Like? • A good thesis is short but simple. It should be one sentence no matter the length of the essay. Good: Instant gratification doesn’t pay off in the long run. Bad: While instant gratification feels good immediately, and a lot of people can find it on the internet and so they pursue that more often than anything else, it only lasts for a short while, and it doesn’t pay off in the long run.

4. What Does a Good Thesis Look Like? • A good thesis is limited to one main idea. Good: The key to success is precise goal setting. Bad: The key to success is precise goal setting, which can also be useful in dieting and running a small bakery.

5. What Does a Good Thesis Look Like? • A good thesis is a declarative sentence with no modifiers (might, maybe, perhaps, etc.) Good: Citizen Kane’s masterful screenplay and innovative cinematography make it the most important American contribution to cinema of all time. Bad: Citizen Kane’s masterful screenplay and innovative cinematography just might make it the most important American contribution to cinema of all time.

6. What Does a Good Thesis Look Like? • A good thesis is a statement, not a question. Good: Airplane! is the best American comedy made in the past fifty years. Bad: Could Airplane! be the best American comedy made in the past fifty years?

7. Steps for Writing a Thesis Statement • Step 1: Make sure you understand what the prompt is asking • Step 2: Brainstorm a claim • Step 3: Jot down that claim in a complete sentence • Step 4: Check to make sure your sentence doesn’t break any of the previous rules • Step 5: Rewrite the sentence in multiple ways and decide which one best expresses your idea • Step 6: Revise your best sentence many times Tip: If you’re having trouble deciding which side of an issue to argue, write a thesis statement for each side and pick which one you think best represents your opinion.Still can’t decide? List facts for each side of the argument. Whichever statement has the most facts backing it up should be the one you choose.

8. Exercise 1 Prompt: Is possible to help someone so much that you’re actually harming them? • Discuss with your group • As an individual, write down your opinion in a single sentence on a piece of paper • Write your opinion two more ways • Pick which statement you like the best • Revise it once • Edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation and rewrite it cleanly on a slip of paper • Turn in the slip of paper to Ms. Taylor

9. The Persuasive Thesis Statement • A thesis statement for a persuasive essay must be debatable. Good: Federal income tax should be abolished and replaced with a “flat tax.” Bad: Pollution is bad for the environment.

10. The Persuasive Thesis Statement • A persuasive thesis must be narrow enough to be completely explained in the course of your essay. Bad: Illegal drug use is detrimental to society. Good: Illegal drug use is detrimental to society because it encourages gang violence. TIP: Qualifiers such as “typically,” “generally,” “usually,” or “on average” also help limit the scope of the claim by allowing for the exceptions to the rule.

11. Type of Claims • The claim you make is your thesis will typically fall into one of four categories: • Claims of fact or definition • Claims of cause and effect • Claims about value • Claims about solutions or policies

12. Claims of Fact or Definition • These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example: What some people refer to as global warming is actually nothing more than normal, long-term cycles of climate change.

13. Claims of Cause and Effect • These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. Example: The popularity of SUVs in America has caused pollution to increase.

14. Claims About Value • These are claims made about what something is worth, whether we value it or not, and how we would rate or categorize something. Example: Bullying is the most pressing challenge facing today’s middle and high school students.

15. Claims About Solutions or Policies • These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example: Instead of funding NASA, the federal government should offer increased tax incentives to privately owned space exploration companies.

16. Exercise 2 • Discuss the following topics with your group: • The need for physical education in schools • Performance enhancing drugs in sports • NSA spying • Once you’ve decided how you feel and where you stand on each subject, complete the following individually: • Pick the topic you feel most passionately about. • Write down your position on it. • Does it conform to the rules of a thesis statement? If not, tweak it to be one. • Rewrite your position in two different ways. • Pick which one best represents your position. • Revise it once. • Edit it for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. • Decide which type of claim it represents. • Show it to Ms. Taylor for approval.