Tuesday, March 3, 2009

YOUR THESIS STATEMENT


Your thesis statements are due this week. I will help you in class on Wednesday if you need it. I cannot help you if your topic has not been posted AND approved. Rest assured, I will explain this in class, but this is for my students who want to come to class with something in hand.

First, you need to find the major points of your topic that relate to the themes, events or characters in the novel. AS YOU ARE DOING THIS, START A NOTES PAGE with each source you use, the name of the book, author, year it was written, and/or the URL of site you may use, as well as the page numbers you select quotes from, and the quotes you plan to use. Just save a document with this info on your desktop because you will need to refer to it as you write your paper; and when you have to write your reference page (bibliography), you will already have much of the info.

You may be asking, what kind of paper will you be writing? Well, it's an argumentative paper. An argumentative
paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that your claim is true based on the evidence provided.

Some tips on writing your
thesis statement:

  • for most student work, it's a one- or two- sentence statement that explicitly outlines the purpose or point of your paper. A thesis is to a paper what a topic sentence is to a paragraph

  • it should point toward the development or course of argument the reader can expect your argument to take, but does not have to specifically include 'three supporting points' as you may have once learned

  • because the rest of the paper will support or back up your thesis, a thesis is normally placed at or near the end of the introductory paragraph.

  • it is an assertion that a reasonable person could disagree with if you only gave the thesis and no other evidence. It is not a fact or casual observation; it must beg to be proved. And someone should be able to theoretically argue against it (how successfully will depend of course on how persuasive you are)

  • it takes a side on a topic rather than simply announcing that the paper is about a topic (the title should have already told your reader your topic). Don't tell a reader aboutwhat about something. Answer the questions "how?" or "why?" something; tell them

  • it is sufficiently narrow and specific that your supporting points are necessary and sufficient, not arbitrary; paper length and number of supporting points are good guides here

  • it argues one main point and doesn't squeeze three different theses for three different papers into one sentence.

Here is an example of a thesis statement (I will demonstrate one for you in class that relates to our novel):

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave "civilized" society and go back to nature.

12 comments:

rachel1509 said...
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Mrs. Rodriguez, the teacher who loves you! said...
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chrisr said...

idk what quote to use cause idk which ones are taken ?
help plzzz !!!!

Mrs. Rodriguez, the teacher who loves you! said...

I added the quotes taken by the name of the leader. Check it out.

Kaitlynn G. said...

So... the statement is two sentences about the main comparison between the topic we picked and the Secret Life of Bees? (Basically...)

Mrs. Rodriguez, the teacher who loves you! said...

One sentence will work, too.

We will discuss this in class tomorrow.

SMILE!

MarvinFernandez said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
moisesruiz said...

sake!!

MarvinFernandez said...

"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." MLK
Ill like to work on this quote for my research paper
P.S. Sorry for being late

Mrs. Rodriguez, the teacher who loves you! said...

Marvin - Your topic was supposed to go under the post for topics. Even still, I will accept it. Good job!

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