Finding a Thesis Statement

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Finding a Thesis Statement
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Why a topic is not a thesis

• Topic
• ? from topos
• a (common) place

• Thesis
• ? from tithemi
• to place or position (oneself)

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The topic is the landscape you travel in the
thesis is your position in the landscape

• In its ideal formation, it is the essayists
  crystal-clear apprehension of purpose intent!
  that acts as gravitational centre and
  navigational device throughout the course of
  writing the essay.
• Thinking it Through

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Audience

• Remember that all writing is meant to be read
• Think about whom you are writing to as well as
  what you are writing for
• Make sure that you have grounds for shared
  assent (Gage 58)

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Definition

• A thesis is an idea, stated as an assertion,
  that represents a reasoned response to a question
  at issue and that serves as the central idea of a
  composition (Gage 70).

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Idea

• Must be about something
• Not just a general topic
• Must be a complete sentence (at least one)
• The verb is key!

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Stated as an assertion

• Claims that some condition is the case
• Proposes ideas that may be agreed or disagreed
  with

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That represents a reasoned response

• Make sure your thesis is both logical and ethical!

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To a question at issue

• Not everyone believes it (there is no shared
  answer, or the answer that is shared needs to be
  questioned)
• Other people should care whether its believable
  (sometimes you need to make them care!)
• Can be answered (or may have been the result of
  answering) Yes, but . . . or No, but . . . or
  Why?

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The most important step in finding your thesis

• Look for it! Even if you dont find what you
  were looking for, youre sure to find something
  valuable and worth writing about.
• You are much more likely to locate that powerful
  controlling idea that accurately centers on what
  you are discovering if you are always looking for
  it than if you are not. In the course of careful,
  attentive, and always-ready-to-be-fooled
  prediction, we probe toward, and ultimately see,
  exactly what is there.

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That is,

• Try to decide beforehand what question your
  thesis will try to answer.
• This means formulating a question

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Stasis Questions

• Stasis a stable state, a point of balance . . .
  In argumentative writing, the term is used to
  identify the place where two ideas come into
  conflict, the meeting point of two balanced
  assertions (Gage 59)
• That is, this is the place where the argument can
  happenthe point in the landscape of ideas you
  are arguing about. The point is stable because it
  has been clearly identified, which means that you
  and your dialog partner as actually addressing
  the same issue.

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Stasis questions generally take one of six forms

• Questions of fact
• Does this exist?
• Questions of definition
• What is this?
• Questions of interpretation
• What does this mean?
• Questions of value
• Is this good?
• Questions of consequence
• What will this cause? Did/will this cause that?
• Questions of policy
• What should be done about this?

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Look deeper, and avoid a yes/no answer

• What . . .
• caused something to happen
• effect does a particular event, or image, or
  point of view, or metaphor (etc.) have on the
  whole
• strengths and weaknesses does a particular theory
  have
• are the advantages and disadvantages of a series
  of images, or a particular narrative voice or
  frame or tone
• are the similarities and differences
• Caveat (again) with these and any other
  questions, it is vitally important to also define
  why this matters. Why are you choosing to write
  about this? What significance does it have for
  you, or should it have for your reader? How does
  your argument move forward everyones
  understanding?
• A good word to begin with Although . . .

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Thesis Statement Checklist

• Does your thesis statement do more than restate
  the topic or question? (Its ok for the essay to
  begin with this, though)
• Does your thesis statement reflect the
  restrictions which your essay will impose on the
  subject?
• Is your thesis statement written clearly so that
  it states the central idea of your essay
  precisely?
• Does your thesis statement convey the priorities
  of your argument?
• Is your thesis statement brief, written in one or
  two sentences?
• Does your thesis statement present a proposition
  which can be proven (and/or argued against)?
• And the biggest question

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So What?