A Thesis Statement

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A Thesis Statement?
Nathan Garrelts
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What Is A Thesis Statement?

• One or two sentence preview of your essay.
• Placed at the end of the introduction.
• Acts as a guide for your reader.
• Answers a question posed by you or your
  instructor.
• Asserts your conclusions or takes a stand.
• Grabs the interest of your reader.

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Example

• While tabloid television broadcasts news in order
  to entertain viewers, the nightly news broadcasts
  news in order to inform viewers. The difference
  in motive affects the content of each type of
  program and makes tabloid television less
  practical than the nightly news.

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Can A Thesis Benefit Me?

• A thesis helps you define relationships between
  ideas and organize your essay.
• A thesis that answers a question helps you stay
  on the assigned topic.
• When you assert your position you take ownership
  of the essay.
• Proving a thesis makes you a better writer!

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How Do I Write A Thesis?

• A thesis results from thinking, selecting, and
  organizing ideas. Before you write you should
  T.S. and O.
• Strategy Reduce the assignment to a single
  question, or write your own question.
• Compose one or two complete sentences answering
  that question.
• The answer to the question is the working thesis
  for the essay.

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Example Question

• Analyze the experience of one or more groups of
  immigrants on the American Identity Explorer
  CD-ROM and juxtapose this with the experience
  your family had with immigration and migration
  (ask your parents, grandparents, other family
  members).
• Distilled Question What was life like for one
  immigrant group on the CD-ROM and how was this
  similar or different from my familys experience?
• Answer (Thesis) Chinese immigrants were forced
  to endure the demeaning and debilitating practice
  of Americanization. Although the Native American
  portion of my family did not immigrate to the
  United States, they were still forced to suffer
  through the same frustrating practice.

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Dont Try For Perfection!

• A thesis is the first and last thing you will
  write.
• During the writing process many writers discover
  what they really want to say.
• It is easier to revise your thesis than to write
  a new essay!

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What If I Get Stuck?

• Formulas can help you get started.
• I (explain, argue, demonstrate, analyze, etc.)
  that (topic) (your position on it) because
  (reason 1), (reason 2), and (reason 3).
• Example I argue that the current alcohol laws
  are unreasonable because eighteen year old
  citizens can vote, go to war, and buy guns.
• Formulas can keep you from becoming a better
  writer.

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How Do I Evaluate My Thesis?

• Does the thesis preview the essay?
• A thesis is like an umbrella.
• Does the thesis answer the question posed?
• Does the thesis make an important point, assert
  conclusions, or take a stand?
• Can a reader easily find the thesis?

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Hypothetical Thesis Exercise

• Question Why is it essential that composition
  instructors teach their students about thesis
  statements?
• The body of the essay discusses how students
  might benefit, how readers might benefit, and
  concludes that it is essential for instructors to
  teach this skill.

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Possible Thesis Statements

• Thesis 1 It is good and bad when teachers teach
  students how to write thesis statements.
• Thesis 2 Teaching students to write thesis
  statements empowers both students and audiences.
• Thesis 3 Because a thesis helps students choose,
  organize and connect content within an essay, and
  helps audiences distill the information in an
  essay, instruction in writing a thesis must be
  taught in composition classes.

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A Thesis Statement!

• Nathan Garrelts