Transcript Your Thesis Statement:

Your Thesis Statement:
The Only Sentence Worth More
Than A Thousand Words
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Your Introduction Paragraph
First, grab you readers attention with a general
statement about your topic .
Then, give your reader a brief explanation (2-5 sentences)
of what you will be explaining about your topic.
End your introduction with a strong statement/claim that
tells your reader what you intend to prove to them
about your topic.
Attention
Grabbing
Thesis
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What to think about…
• Define a problem and state your opinion about it
• Put forth a possible solution to a problem
• Look at an issue/topic from a new, interesting
perspective
• Theorize how the world might be different today if
something had or had not happened in the past
• Put out your ideas about how something was
influenced to be the way it is or was.
Thesis Statements Are Not
As Hard As You May Think…
First, let’s look at
what a Thesis Statement
is NOT!
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Your Thesis Statement is NOT Your Topic!
Your topic tells your reader
what you are talking about.
For Example:
I will discuss WWI.
This is not a thesis, it is only a
topic.
Your thesis tells your reader
your position on your topic. For
Example:
WWI was a direct result of the
alliance system; had it not been for
the alliance in place previous to the
start of the war, WWI may have not
involved as many countries.
This is a successful Thesis
Statement
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The Thesis Statement is NOT JUST A FACT About Your
Topic!
Surprisingly, your thesis should
be an arguable OPINION - NOT A
FACT!
WHY? …Because that is what
makes your paper interesting to
your reader!
Your thesis should always be a
statement that demands PROOF!
If not, what will you write
in the following pages? Your Thesis
You spend the rest of your
paper CONVINCING your
reader of why YOUR
OPINION is TRUE!
Your thesis prepares your
reader for the facts that will
prove your opinion about
your topic to be true-it can
Should Take A not be a fact itself.
STAND!
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Let’s Look At An Example
Native Americans have
the ability to live off of
the land without any
modern technology.
Since the Native Americans
taught the colonial settlers how
to cultivate the land using only
primitive tools, the early
settlers were able to survive
the first decade they landed in
America.
Now, that
is a
strong
thesis!
That is a
fact, not a
strong
thesis!
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What a Thesis Statement is…
It is the sentence that answers your
readers biggest question:
By telling your reader your point
in the first paragraph, you set the
tone and make sure they are not
frustrated and confused while
reading the rest of your paper.
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What a Thesis Statement is…
Which of the following is TRUE about your THESIS
STATEMENT?
It Tells your Reader Your Topic
It Tells the Reader a Fact About Your Topic
It Tells the reader your Point
Now That You Know What A Thesis Statement Is,
Let’s Look At What Makes A Strong Thesis Statement…
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Requirements For a Strong
Thesis:Let’s look at each of
1. It should not be
TOO BROAD!
these requirements
a bit closer…
2. It should not be
TOO NARROW!
3. It should not be
TOO VAGUE!
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There Are Three (3)
Requirements For A
Strong Thesis
Statement.
A Strong Thesis Should Not Be Too Broad!
You may find
yourself
drowning in
information,
unable to prove your
point!
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A Strong Thesis Should Not Be Too Broad!
Let’s Look At An Example
People liked helping during
World War II because of
propaganda.
That would
definitely
leave you
drowning:
The propaganda committee initiated
by President Wilson was so effective
that by the time President Roosevelt
was in office, he had millions of
Americans volunteering during World
War II.
Much Better!
That definitely is
an opinion
narrow enough
to be proven in
an essay!
TOO
BROAD!
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A Strong Thesis Should Not Be Too Narrow Either!
You may find
yourself trying to
stretch your
information and
begin repeating
yourself too much
in the paper!
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Let’s Look At An Example
Though this may be
interesting, it would take
some tugging to stretch it
into an entire essay!
Most girls living in the
Midwest, in the town of
Oklahoma City, were
married before they
were 18 years old,
which caused them to
be mothers at a young
age.
That looks like a thesis
statement we wouldn’t
have to stretch far!
At the turn of the 19th
century, females were
viewed as adults by the
time they were
teenagers, which
caused their lifestyle to
be vastly different than
the teenagers in the
2000s.
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A Strong Thesis Should Not Be
Vague!
Your paper
will
not make
any
sense
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Requirements For a Strong Thesis:
A Strong Thesis Should Not Be Vague
Let’s Look At An Example
To Fix It
The word
HORRIBLE is
hard to define! It
makes this
thesis
Define the term
“horrible idea” for
your reader.
Outlining the major
points of your essay
would also help.
Too VAGUE!
Getting rid of
welfare in the
United States
is a horrible
idea.
If the United States were
to eliminate the welfare
system, it would
aggravate an already
severe homeless problem
and cause a rise in crime.
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Where To Start
Once you have gathered your information,
Ask Yourself a Few Questions:
What has my research
shown me about my topic?
What will be the point
of my paper?
What would my
reader want to
know about my
topic?
What is the most
important thought
that I have about
my topic?
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Remember the
structure of your
THESIS
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A Working Thesis
A Working Thesis is Made Up of Two Parts:
AND
For Example:
Planes were viewed as new technology that
changed how wars were fought, especially
since the day the Atomic Bomb was
released from a plane over Japan.
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Refining Your Working Thesis
To turn your Working Thesis into a Final Thesis Statement,
compare it to the requirements for a strong thesis statement:
1. Is it TOO BROAD?
2. Is it TOO NARROW?
3. Is it TOO VAGUE?
IT IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO REWORD YOUR THESIS, ESPECIALLY ONCE
YOU’VE FOUND MORE INFORMATION!
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Review:How Do You Write A Thesis
Statement?
1.
Start off with your TOPIC!
2.
Before trying to decide on a thesis, choose a topic you are
interested in researching!
3.
Once you have gathered some information, ask yourself a few
questions:
•
What is the most important thought that I have about my topic
•
What has my research shown me about my topic?
•
What would my reader want to know about my topic?
•
What will be the POINT of my paper?
4.
Use your answers to write a thesis.
5.
Edit your thesis several times until it meets all the requirements.
6.
Is it too broad? Is it too narrow? Is it too vague?
7.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, What is your opinion?!
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Research 101!!
Researching Steps and Tips
Why use note cards and an outline?
• It helps you to...
– stay on course and not get off-track when you put your final
product together.
– see if you have enough (or too much) material to support your
thesis statement.
– figure out the order in which your subtopics will appear in
your final product.
• Figure out the most logical flow of information, the best order for
the information to be in.
• It is useful to take notes on index cards because it gives you the
flexibility to change the order of your notes and group them together
easily.
• Start with an introduction and end with a conclusion
How to Create Note Cards
1. Write the subtopic heading of the note at the
top Left of each note card.
2. Cite author/page number in upper right hand
corner
3. Use 1 fact or detail that supports your main
idea on each card.
4. The notes on a single note card should be
from the same source and on the same topic.
5. Only write information directly related to
your thesis.
6. Your note cards should have main ideas.
7. Distinguish between 'fact' and 'opinion'.
8. Use the word 'over' to indicate information
on the back of the card.
9. Write only essential words, abbreviate
when possible.
10. Be accurate: double check direct quotes
and statistics.
11. Identify direct quotes with quotation
marks and the person's name.
12. Use ellipsis points (...) where you leave out
non-essential words from a quote.
13. Bracket your own words [ ] when you add
them into a quote. This is sometimes
needed for the quote to make sense.
14. Produce your final product from your own
notes cards and you have a better chance
of not plagiarizing your project
15. make sure you can tell which topic the
information refers to
16. make sure you can identify the source and
the page for each piece of information
Let’s Look at an example... Our
topic is Propaganda…
• Thesis: The propaganda committee initiated
by President Wilson was so effective that by
the time President Roosevelt was in office,
he had millions of Americans volunteering
during World War II.
Subtopic (left hand corner)
Author and Page Number
(right hand corner)
(This is also how your parenthetical
Documentation will look)
Posters
McLean 30
Posters were hung in schools
... Effect= young men will join the armed forces
Quote from
The author
“Had it not been for posters, some of the brightest men
may not have ever joined after they graduated high
school. Then, America may not have been as successful
during WWII.”
One
Set Of
Facts
Supporting
The
Thesis
How to Write an Outline
• Why do it?
– to organize your paper.
• What is it?
– phrases that identify the sections of your paper or project.
– come from the words you select to label and then group
your own questions.
• How to do it:
– Look over the questions you brain stormed
– Decide on some words or phrases that are common to
groups of questions.
– Turn those words or phrases into specific subtopic
headings.
10 History Writing Tips
1.
Don’t use contractions in formal writing.
2.
Keep Capitalization Consistent.
3.
Always use past tense to describe history.
4.
Make it clear when using “he” or “she.”
5.
Introduce your quotes.
6.
Single space and indent when the
quote is more than 4 full lines.
7.
Use “percent” or “per-cent,” …..not “%,”
“twenty,” …..not “20,” “dollar,” not “$.”
8.
Use ellipses (…)
9.
Use a dictionary!!!
10.
Get punctuation right in quote marks.
[“Blah blah blah,” not “Blah blah blah”,
and “Yada yada yah.” not “Yada yada yah”.].
Quotation Basics
• General rules…
• Don’t quote too often or too much
• When quoting…
• DON’T FORGET TO SET QUOTATION MARKS!!!
• Make sure the statement makes sense
• Don’t make it longer than necessary
• Don’t take up more than 2 or 3 lines
• Identify the source BEFORE you quote
• NO: The strikers were “a dangerous mob.”
• YES: According to D.H. Dyson, the plant manager, the
strikers were “a dangerous mob.”
• Use ellipses (…) when you leave words out and brackets [
] when you add words that were not there before.
• According to J.D. Rockefeller, “Selling oil made him
wealthy… [and] had a lot of power in America.”
How to Write Quotations
•
Short Quotation Example:
• The early settlers were not hostile to the Native Americans. As pointed out
in by the Claxton Banner in 1836: “Our Sioux neighbors, despite their fierce
reputation, are a friendly and peaceable people.”
•
Short Quotation Example with Omission (use ellipses):
• “As pointed out by the Claxton Banner in 1836: “Our Sioux neighbors… are
friendly and peaceable people.”
•
Long Quotation Example:
• The early settlers were not hostile to the Native Americans. As pointed out
by the Claxton Banner in 1836:
Our Sioux neighbors, despite their fierce reputation, are a friendly
and peaceable people. No livestock have been disturbed, and
the outermost cabins are unmolested. We trust in God that our
two peoples may live in harmony in this territory.
How to Use MLA Parenthetical Citation
(In-text
citation)
• In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using
what's known as parenthetical citation. Immediately following a quotation from
a source or a paraphrase of a source's ideas, you place the author's name
followed by a space and the relevant page number(s).
– Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals"
(Burke 3).
MLA Citation!
(Includes the author and page number)
• Your in-text citation will correspond with an entry in your Works Cited page,
which, for the Burke citation above, will look something like this:
Notice that the last name is written first.
Also, it is indented and double spaced.
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life,
Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of California P, 1966.
REMEMBER…
• Each source that you use to help you write
your paper needs to be cited a specific way
IN YOUR PAPER AND THE WORKS
CITED PAGE.
• USE THE WEBSITES TO HELP YOU…
– Citationmachine.net
– http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/
01/
(Make sure you chose MLA formatting)
How to Write a Conclusion
• Summarize the main points of essay
• Examine intro
• Did you cover everything you said you’d cover?
• Remind the reader of the significance of what they
read
• Answer the “Why’s”
• This is where you state your opinion
• Be more objective, but this is where you’d
emphasize why you chose this topic
• Don’t end with a quotation.
• Respect your own work. End with YOUR thoughts.
How to Create a Works Cited Page
• When in doubt…
• Use the Modern Language Association Format for
Referencing Sources.
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/06/
• ALPHABETICAL by author
• “No Author” is alphabetized according to the 1st word of the
title
• (except for “A”, “An”, “The”)
• Double space each entry and between each item
• Begin each entry @ left margin and indent any additional lines
FIVE SPACES
– Hanging Indent