A Guide to Success

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Thesis Statement

• A Guide to Success

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Thesis Statement

• Yes, this is a research project where you present
  facts, but you should still be trying to PROVE
  something
• It is the main idea of your entire project
• It is the product of your own critical thinking
  after you have done some research
• It is about the topic, not about YOU. Do not
  write in first person!

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How do you write it?

• Look at the side you are arguing for
• Look at the kinds of information you found in
  your sources
• Decide what kind of statement you have enough
  evidence to prove

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Working Thesis Example

• I statements

• Working Thesis

• "I want to know why Christians and Muslims fought
  so intensely with each other during the middle
  ages.

• Even though Christians and Muslims were
  supposedly fighting for religious power, their
  disagreements were most strongly fueled by a
  desire for land and economic power.

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Working Thesis Example

• "I" Statement

• Working Thesis

• One section of FDRs New Deal, The Works Progress
  Administration, created jobs for unemployed
  Americans during the Depression, stimulating the
  economy and peoples confidence in their
  government, eventually leading to the United
  States stabilization.

• I think the New Deal created jobs for people in
  the 1930s and was a good program.

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Including reasons in thesis statement.

• One section of FDRs New Deal, The Works Progress
  Administration, created jobs for unemployed
  Americans during the Depression, stimulating the
  economy and peoples confidence in their
  government, eventually leading to the United
  States stabilization.

• What do created jobs and stimulated the
  economy do in this thesis statement?
• Talk with your elbow partner and answer these
  questions. Write your answer down!

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Overcoming Objections

• Even though Christians and Muslims were
  supposedly fighting for religious power, their
  disagreements were most strongly fueled by a
  desire for land and economic power.

• What does the Even though statement do?
• How does it make your argument stronger?
• Talk with your elbow partner and answer these
  questions. Write your answer down!

8
Practice Claims, counterarguments, reasons

• The rise in technology amongst teens has resulted
  in
• declining academic skills and poor attention.
• Colleges and universities implementation of
  speech codes violates first amendments rights and
  discourages academic discourse which defines
  higher education.
• Although technology brings many benefits to
  teens, its negative consequences, including
  declining academic skills and poor attention
  outweigh the benefits.

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A Little About Your Reasons

• Wrong Free speech protects us all.
• Why?
• Wrong Basically, its about being civil to each
  other.
• 
  Why?
• Wrong Two-thirds of students surveyed say they
  prefer speech codes.
• 
  Why?

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Good reasons are

• Written in academic language as complete thoughts
• Strong opinions that can be backed up with
  evidence from the text
• Relevant to the claim and the audience
• Specific and not overwhelming
• An opinion that is broad enough to cover all of
  the evidence provided to support it
• Written in the third person

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Good reasons

• Are NOT written in first or second person
• Do NOT use Broad, overarching language
• Are NOT vague
• Are NOT evidence or examples
• Are NOT personal preferences that are not
  important to the cause or the audience
• Do NOT use hypothetical situations (The What
  If...)