Title: Thesis Statement Requirements
1 English 10 2 Thesis Statement Requirements
I evaluate your evaluation (eight page) essay
based on the effectiveness of your central idea.
2Carcinogens in work place
Water pollution
Home energy waste
Solid waste
Car emissions
Acid rain
Industrial
Individual
Pollution
Overcutting forests
Overpopulation
Environmental Problems
Saving Rain Forests
Global warming
Developing alternative energy sources
3You know you have a thesis if it can generate an
antithesis.
- We can save the Amazon rain forest by limiting
tourist presence, boycotting goods made by
companies that deplete the forest's resources,
and generally educating people about the need to
preserve the rain forest in order to preserve
the earth's ecological systems. - We cannot save the Amazon rain forest since the
companies that deplete its resources in their
manufacturing are so widely spread throughout the
world, so politically powerful in their
respective countries, and wealthy enough to fight
the opposition fully.
4More Antithesis Examples
SCC offers more user-friendly internet enhanced
classes than does South Mountain Community
College.
SMCC offers more user-friendly internet enhanced
classes than does Scottsdale Community College.
Privatization of Social Security would require
potentially debilitating borrowing upfront over
the next twenty-five years in exchange for a
drastically reduced benefit later on, no matter
how well, or poorly, private accounts performed
exhausting the trust fund should never be
allowed to happen.
Between now and 2030, the government could
continue to meet all of its obligations to the
Social Security system and stll allow retirees to
effect a stable fund to help their children and
grandchildren congress should pass a law to
enact the proposed privatization policies.
5 Structuring a Thesis
An effective thesis for an argumentative essay
may consist of two parts an independent clause
stating the pro side of the argument--the side
you support--and a dependent element (clause or
phrase) stating the con side in which you
acknowledge the opposition. Common openers of
the dependent element are although, despite, and
despite the fact that. In addition, especially
for longer essays, an argumentative thesis is
often divisional it contains specific parts that
give the reader a clearer focus on the direction
and scope of the essay. Example Although the
U.S. government has made many efforts to advance
minorities, their upward movement through social
class is still hindered by obstacles in
employment, housing, lending, and education.
6Example Thesis Statement
Broad Area Public Education Narrowed to
Alternatives to Public Education in Arizona
Narrowed to Home Schooling in Arizona Thesis
Specific Subject Predicate which asserts an
opinion about
the subject Example Although some parents in
Arizona think that teaching their own child might
undermine the youngsters education, home
schooling is a viable alternative to public
education because it enables the youth to seek
more academic and artistic freedom, permits him
or her to participate in the discussion of family
values and morals, and strengthens familial
relationships.
7This statement is not a thesis
Approximately twenty percent of Arizona parents
think the states public education system has
significant problems and that alternative methods
of educating their children, like home schooling,
may offer better solutions.
8Web sites to help you write a better thesis
- Purdues OWL
- Indiana University
- University of North Carolina
- Rensselaer Polytechnic