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(Strong Thesis!)

 

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Your essay must have a clear, concise, and engaging thesis statement.

Learning how to formulate a strong thesis statement is the key to constructing a good argument and to writing a good essay. Learning the process which you go through to formulate a strong thesis may be the most important single skill you will develop in high school.

A good thesis statement grabs the reader's attention and draws him into the rest of your essay. A good thesis statement is provocative, not obvious; it aggressively presents your personal interpretation of the text. Often it answers "Why?" or "How?"

Some students like to brainstorm until they find a good main idea; others need to talk with another person after doing some thinking and writing. Still others need to write an entire rough draft of their papers before they discover an outstanding thesis. Observe your own writing process as you develop your essay. See if you can identify the moment when you say, "A-ha! I've got it!" linejpeg.JPG

The Thesis Statement (Darling et al)
Writing A Thesis Statement (Purdue OWL)

Introductory Paragraphs (Darling et al)
The Five Paragraph Essay (Darling et al)
Writing About Literature (Darling et al)

Finding Your Focus (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Organizing Your Argument (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)

Overcoming Writer's Block (Purdue Owl)
Coping With Writing Anxiety (Purdue Owl)
Writing About Literature (Purdue Owl)
Writing About Fiction (Purdue Owl)

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(Thesis is inadequate; re-think and sharpen your main idea.)

 

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Weak thesis statements often come in two different forms.

The most common weak thesis statement is "self-evident". In other words, this student has set out to prove a proposition which is not worth arguing. Saying that Shakespeare's purpose in Macbeth is to prove that Macbeth is a bad man or that killing a king is a reprehensible act may be true, but is it worth writing a whole essay to prove? Seeking to prove that Mark Twain condemned racism in Huckleberry Finn is not worth the effort. However, seeking to understand how Huck overcomes his racist upbringing may very well be worth exploring.

Examples:

"The North won the Civil War."
"The North finally won the Civil War in 1865."
"After years of the bloodiest fighting in U.S. history, the North finally emerged victorious in the Civil War in 1865."

  • All of these are obvious, irrefutable statements of historical fact, not thesis statements.  They describe what happened but make no argument.  Adding phrases and information makes them longer, not better.

"The North won the Civil War mainly because of its industrial superiority."

  • This is a better thesis statement because it makes an argument that can be disagreed with.  It goes beyond stating a fact and tries to answer the question, "Why?"  It is likely to lead to a more interesting paper instead of a paraphrased encyclopedia entry.

Other times the student has begun to articulate an interesting thesis but has not yet expressed his idea in the clearest words possible. To improve the clarity of the idea will require discussion and revision. Often times, a student only discovers the great thesis statement after writing a complete rough draft. Look at your concluding paragraph and compare your main idea with the one expressed in your introduction. See if you haven't found a much better way of articulating your thesis. Or take the time to talk with a friend, a parent, or your teacher after you have written a draft of your thesis. Many times bouncing an idea off of another person will help you find the way to sharpen and clarify its expression.

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The Thesis Statement (Darling et al)
Writing A Thesis Statement (Purdue OWL)

Introductory Paragraphs (Darling et al)
The Five Paragraph Essay (Darling et al)
Writing About Literature (Darling et al)

Finding Your Focus (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Organizing Your Argument (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)

Overcoming Writer's Block (Purdue Owl)
Coping With Writing Anxiety (Purdue Owl)
Writing About Literature (Purdue Owl)
Writing About Fiction (Purdue Owl)

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(Strong topic sentence!)

 

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An excellent topic sentence links the paragraph directly to the essay's thesis. Every paragraph in your essay must be logically linked to your main idea. Make each paragraph into a building block in the sequence of ideas leading to the proof of your thesis. 

Here is an example of an excellent topic sentence from Ben's artifacts essay:

A new musical movement called Modernism rose up during the beginning of the Twentieth Century.  One of the major composers of this movement was Igor Stravinsky.  Influenced by the powerful movements around him, especially the exploration of the unconscious realm, Stravinsky sought to evoke the power of the unconscious, of the uncivilized.   He created a musical style called Primitivism.  This is very much characteristic of the explorations of Freud and Jung to demonstrate the massive power of the unconscious.  Using “The Rite of Spring” to demonstrate this immense force, Stravinsky employed tremendous rhythmic drive and unrelenting dissonance.  The constantly heavy rhythm evokes a sense of power and huge forces.  Stravinsky also based “The Rite of Spring” on Russian tunes, looking back to the ancient Russian primitive traditions.  Finally, the incessant dissonance creates an atmosphere of chaos and confusion.   The listener is constantly in discomfort at the sound.   

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The Topic Sentence (Strunk and White)
Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences (Darling et al)

The Paragraph (Purdue OWL)

Finding Your Focus (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Organizing Your Argument (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)

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(Topic sentence is weak. Align it with both thesis and paragraph.)

 

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An excellent topic sentence links the paragraph directly to the essay's thesis.

"As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence..." (Strunk and White)

Many times a student will launch into an analysis of a section of a novel, play or poem without a clear idea of how this section of his essay relates to his main idea. Sometimes the paragraph will wander on for a page or so without finding an idea which provides a coherent center to your argument. If you get into this situation, it is a good idea to  look at your thesis once again and see how you can revise the paragraph so that its topic is directly connected to your overall argument. Perhaps you will discover a way to revise your essay's main idea at this point.

Revision is the key to improving your essay's coherence and persuasive power.

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The Topic Sentence (Strunk and White)
Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences (Darling et al)

The Paragraph (Purdue OWL)

Finding Your Focus (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Organizing Your Argument (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)

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Flawed Organization. This idea belongs in another paragraph.

 

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Nine times out of ten, the key skill  that writing students need to develop in order to master essay form is good organization. Frequently, students will have excellent ideas, but they haven't learned how to organize those ideas into a coherent and persuasive argument. When a student has not organized his thoughts, the body of his essay frequently reads more like a brainstorm than an orderly argument. Some ideas may belong in completely separate paragraphs. 

You must take the time to organize your argument.  First, before you write your paper, create an outline.  A good outline will minimize organizational problems in your essay.  Second, take the time to revise your paper.  Revision will fix any remaining organizational problems. Read your writing out loud. Discuss your point with a parent or fellow student. See if you can find the best place in the body of your essay to explore this idea.  

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The Topic Sentence (Strunk and White)
Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences (Darling et al)

The Paragraph (Purdue OWL)

Finding Your Focus (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Organizing Your Argument (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)
Understanding Writing: The Rhetorical Situation (Powerpoint) (Purdue OWL)

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