Introduction to the Essay writing

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Introduction to the Essay writing
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• Writing in college often takes the form of
  persuasion, i.e. convincing others that you have
  an interesting, logical point of view on the
  subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill
  you practice regularly in your daily life.

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• You persuade your roommate to clean up, your
  parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to
  vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In
  college, course assignments often ask you to make
  a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to
  convince your reader of your point of view.

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• This form of persuasion, often called academic
  argument, follows a predictable pattern in
  writing. After a brief introduction of your
  topic, you state your point of view on the topic
  directly and often in one sentence. This sentence
  is the thesis statement and it serves as a
  summary of the argument you'll make in the rest
  of your paper.

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What is a thesis statement?

• A thesis statement
• tells the reader how you will interpret the
  significance of the subject matter under
  discussion.
• is a road map for the paper in other words, it
  tells the reader what to expect from the rest of
  the paper.

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• . directly answers the question asked of you. A
  thesis is an interpretation of a question or
  subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or
  topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby
  Dick a thesis must then offer a way to
  understand the war or the novel that others might
  dispute.

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• is usually a single sentence somewhere in your
  first paragraph that presents your argument to
  the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of
  the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that
  will persuade the reader of the logic of your
  interpretation

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• Why Should Your Essay Contain A Thesis Statement?
• to test your ideas by distilling them into a
  sentence or two
• to better organize and develop your argument
• to provide your reader with a "guide" to your
  argument

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How do I get a thesis?

• A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking
  process. Formulating a thesis is not the first
  thing you do after reading an essay assignment.
  Before you develop an argument on any topic, you
  have to collect and organize evidence, look for
  possible relationships between known facts (such
  as surprising contrasts or similarities), and
  think about the significance of these
  relationships

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• Once you do this thinking, you will probably have
  a "working thesis," a basic or main idea, an
  argument that you think you can support with
  evidence but that may need adjustment along the
  way.

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• Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate
  their thinking and to help them clarify
  relationships or comprehend the broader
  significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis
  statement.

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How do I know if my thesis is strong?

• - Do I answer the question? Re-reading the
  question prompt after constructing a working
  thesis can help you fix an argument that misses
  the focus of the question.

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• - Have I taken a position that others might
  challenge or oppose? Thesis statements that are
  too vague often do not have a strong argument. If
  your thesis contains words like "good" or
  "successful," see if you could be more specific
  Why is something "good" What makes something
  "successful"?

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• Does my thesis pass the 'So What?' test? If a
  reader's first response is, "So what?" then you
  need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to
  connect to a larger issue

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• - Does my essay support my thesis specifically
  and without wandering? If your thesis and the
  body of your essay do not seem to go together,
  one of them has to change. Remember, always
  reassess and revise your writing as necessary.

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• - Does my thesis pass the how or why test? If a
  reader's first response is "how? or why? your
  thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance
  for the reader. See what you can add to give the
  reader a better take on your position right from
  the beginning.

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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

• 1.Determine what kind of paper you are writing
• An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an
  idea into its component parts, evaluates the
  issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and
  evaluation to the audience.
• An expository (explanatory) paper explains
  something to the audience.

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• 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 the claim is true based on the evidence
  provided.

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• 2. Your thesis statement should be specificit
  should cover only what you will discuss in your
  paper and should be supported with specific
  evidence.
• 3. The thesis statement usually appears at the
  end of the first paragraph of a paper.
• 4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may
  need to revise your thesis statement to reflect
  exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

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• Thesis Statement Examples
• Example of an analytical thesis statement
• An analysis of the college admission process
  reveals two principal problems facing counselors
  accepting students with high test scores or
  students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.

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• The paper that follows should
• explain the analysis of the college admission
  process
• explain the two problems facing admissions
  counselors

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• Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis
  statement
• The life of the typical college student is
  characterized by time spent studying, attending
  class, and socializing with peers.
• The paper that follows should
• explain how students spend their time studying,
  attending class, and socializing with peers

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• Example of an argumentative thesis statement
• High school graduates should be required to take
  a year off to pursue community service projects
  before entering college in order to increase
  their maturity and global awareness.
• The paper that follows should
• present an argument and give evidence to support
  the claim that students should pursue community
  projects before entering college

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Examples of thesis statement

• A strong thesis takes some sort of stand.
• Remember that your thesis needs to show your
  conclusions about a subject. For example, if you
  are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you
  might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss
  product to evaluate. Here are two thesis
  statements

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• There are some negative and positive aspects to
  the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.
• This is a weak thesis. First, it fails to take a
  stand. Second, the phrase "negative and positive"
  aspects" are vague.

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• Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid
  weight loss that results in the loss of muscle
  and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger
  to customers.
• This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand.

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2. A strong thesis justifies discussion.

• Your thesis should indicate the point of the
  discussion. If your assignment is to write a
  paper on kinship systems, using your own family
  as an example, you might come up with either of
  these two thesis statements

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• My family is an extended family.
• This is a weak thesis because it states an
  observation. Your reader won't be able to tell
  the point of the statement, and will probably
  stop reading.

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• While most American families would view
  consanguine marriage as a threat to the nuclear
  family structure, many Iranian families, like my
  own, believe that these marriages help reinforce
  kinship ties in an extended family.

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• This is a strong thesis because it shows how your
  experience contradicts a widely accepted view. A
  good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to
  show that the topic is controversial. Readers
  will be interested in reading the rest of the
  essay to see how you support your point.

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3. A strong thesis expresses one main idea.

• Readers need to be able to see that your paper
  has one main point. If your thesis expresses more
  than one idea, then you might confuse your
  readers about the subject of your paper. For
  example

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• Companies need to exploit the marketing potential
  of the Internet, and web pages can provide both
  advertising and customer support.

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• This is a weak thesis statement because the
  reader can't decide whether the paper is about
  marketing on the Internet or web pages. To revise
  the thesis, the relationship between the two
  ideas needs to become clearer. One way to revise
  the thesis would be to write

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• Because the Internet is filled with tremendous
  marketing potential, companies should exploit
  this potential by using web pages that offer both
  advertising and customer support.

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• This is a strong thesis because it shows that the
  two ideas are related. Hint a great many clear
  and engaging thesis statements contain words like
  "because," "since," "so," "although," "unless,"
  and "however."

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4. A strong thesis statement is specific.

• A thesis statement should show exactly what your
  paper will be about, and will help you keep your
  paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you
  write a paper on hunger, you might say

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• World hunger has many causes and effects.

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• This is a weak thesis statement for two major
  reasons. First, "world hunger" can't be discussed
  thoroughly in five or ten pages. Second, "many
  causes and effects" is vague. You should be able
  to identify specific causes and effects. A
  revised thesis might look like this

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• Hunger persists in Appalachia because jobs are
  scarce and farming in the infertile soil is
  rarely profitable.

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• This is a strong thesis because it narrows the
  subject to a more specific and manageable topic
  and it also identifies the specific causes for
  the existence of hunger.