unit 3 thesis intro
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TRANSCRIPT
What is a Thesis?The thesis should focus on an interesting and significant issue that engages your energies and merits your consideration.
Your thesis determines what does and doesn’t belong in the essay
The thesis helps focus the reader on the central point and helps you achieve your writing purpose.
Writing an Effective ThesisAn effective thesis has two parts:– It presents your paper’s limited subject.– It presents your point of view or attitude about
that subject.
For example:
Education-- Computer programs in arithmetic can individualize instruction more effectively than the average elementary school teacher can.
Transportation-- Although Philadelphia’s transit system still has problems, it has become safer and more efficient in the last two years.
Work– The internship program has positive consequences for students.
• An effective thesis establishes a tone and point of view.
For example, you want to say that electronic technology can never replace a teacher in the classroom.
• “Ditch the screens and cutesy iPads and put the bucks where they count- in teachers.”
• “Education won’t be improved by purchasing more electronic teaching tools but by allocating more money to hire and develop good educators.”
Implied Patterns of Development• Computer programs in arithmetic can
individualize instruction more effectively than the average elementary school teacher can.
• compare contrast• Although Philadelphia’s transit system still has
problems, it has become safer and more efficient in the last two years.
• illustration• The internship program has positive
consequences for students.• Cause and effect
Include a plan of development• Baseball’s inflated salaries hurt the fans, the
sport, and most of all, the athletes.• Many parents have unrealistic expectations for
their children. These parents want their children to accept their values, follow their paths, and succeed where they have failed.
Note that the plan of development is expressed in grammatically parallel terms.
DON’T
• Don’t write a highly opinionated statement–“With characteristic clumsiness, the
state government bumbled their way through the recent budget crisis.”–“State legislators had trouble
managing the recent budget crisis effectively.”
• Don’t make an announcement My essay will discuss whether MCCS students
should be allowed to wear jeans to school.Mount Calvary Christian School students
should be allowed to wear jeans to school.I want to discuss cable television.Cable TV has not delivered on its promise to
provide an alternative to network programming.
• Don’t make a factual statementIf a fact is used as a thesis, you have no place to go; a fact doesn’t invite much discussion.
-Many businesses pollute the environment.-Tax penalties should be levied against
businesses that pollute the environment.America’s population is growing older.The aging of the American population will
eventually create a crisis in the delivery of health-care service.
• Don’t make a broad statementAvoid stating your thesis in vague, general, or
sweeping terms. Nowadays, high school education is often
meaningless.High school diplomas have been devalued by grade
inflation.Newspapers cater to the taste of the American
public.The success of USA Today indicates that people
want papers that are easy to read and entertaining.
Placing the thesis in the essay• The thesis is often located in the middle or at the
end of the introduction. • You may choose to delay the thesis if you feel the
background information needs to be provided before the reader can understand your key point- especially if the concept is complex.
• If you feel the reader appreciates the direct, forthright approach, the thesis may be early in the essay.
• Somewhere the thesis is reiterated, using fresh words, in the conclusion.
Finally
• Once you start writing your first draft, some feelings, thoughts, or examples may emerge that modify or even contradict your initial thesis. Don’t resist these ideas. Keep them in mind and process them to move toward a more valid and richer view of your subject.