Download The Thesis Statement - Nicolet High School

In one sentence, convince me:
• Which student should be allowed an extra
homework pass each semester?
• Which student should be nominated “class
president” and allowed to grade the
homework?
The Thesis Statement
A. Categories of Thesis Statements
1. Outline:
• Physical education should be banned from
schools because it humiliates uncoordinated
kids, ruins complicated hairstyles, and forces
students to wear nasty polyester gym
uniforms that do nothing for their skin tones.
A. Categories of Thesis Statements
2. Position:
• Instead of building healthy students, physical
education ultimately destroys their fragile
psyches and should be banned.
B. A good thesis statement…
1. Answers WHAT and SO WHAT?
a.
Question: How does Shakespeare use natural
imagery to show the change in Macbeth’s
character?
Answer: Shakespeare uses increasingly violent
storm imagery to show Macbeth’s…..
B. A good thesis statement…
Hint:
Note: you can’t prove that something is
interesting, important, different – unless you
plan on qualifying those words. In and of
themselves, they’re meaningless in a thesis.
B. A good thesis statement…
1. Answers WHAT and SO WHAT?
b.
B. A Good Thesis Statement…
b.
NO: The characters of Lenny and Sam are
different.
YES: The author contrasts the characters of
Lenny and Sam to show how prejudice can
destroy a friendship.
NO: The Civil War was an important war.
YES: The Civil War ultimately determined the
issue of state vs. federal power.
B. A good thesis statement…
2. Answers the prompt!
If your prompt is “What can we learn about
human nature by comparing and contrasting
characters from Bleak House?
Pick out the key words:
B. A good thesis statement…
2. Answers the prompt!
If your prompt is “What can we learn about human
nature by comparing and contrasting characters
from Bleak House?
Charles Dickens’ novel Bleak House uses characters
such as Mr. Gump and Mrs. Gradgrind to show
the corrupt side of human nature.
B. A good thesis statement…
3.
NO: A healthy diet is important.
NO: People should eat better food.
Yes: A healthy diet is important because it
increases energy, prevents illness, and
promotes well-being in all people.
A good thesis statement…
4.
NO: School uniforms often cause dissention.
Yes: School uniforms create a negative
atmosphere by taking away student rights,
forcing a false sense of unity, and inhibiting
creativity.
B. A good thesis statement…
4.
NO: Ensuring a stable, clean water supply is
important.
NO: Many people dump prescription medication
into sewers and it gets into the water.
YES: Because ensuring a stable, clean water supply
is vital to human existence, the dumping of
prescription medication should be made illegal.
C. Types of Thesis Statements
1. Literary analysis –
a. Looks at a technique and how it is used.
EX: Poe uses symbolism to convey the main
character’s growing insanity.
C. Types of Thesis Statements
1. Literary analysis –
b. Looks as how a character changes and why.
EX: In watching Atticus’s behavior, Jem
ultimately learns to stand firm against
intolerance.
C. Types of Thesis Statements
1. Literary analysis –
c. Makes a judgment/real-life connection.
EX: Vonnegut criticizes the government though
the use of indirect characterization, irony, and
conflict.
C. Types of Thesis Statements
1. Literary analysis:
c. mention author/work (genre?), name of
character/technique under discussion, and your
opinion.
EX: In Hawthorne’s short story “Dr. Heidegger’s
Experiment,” symbols such as the butterfly and
the mirror reflect the theme of unavoidable
mortality.
(Note: if you mention the author in the preceding
sentence, you can avoid mentioning it in your
thesis.)
C. Types of thesis statement
2. Expository/History
a. Explores the causes of a conflict or change.
EX: The most important force behind the
Bolivian revolution was a growing sense of
nationalism.
C. Types of thesis statement
2. Expository/History
b. Emphasizes the significance of an event,
invention, or person
EX: Dorothea Lange used photojournalism to
change American ideas of – and ultimately
government policy toward -- Dust Bowl
poverty.
Persuasive
• Problem – solution
EX. If we wish to save our environment, nuclear
energy is our only option.
NOT: If we wish to save our environment, we must
make changes.
You MUST establish your problem in order to create
a sense of common ground.
Your opinion should generate argument.
Your opinion should suggest a specific course of
action.
Persuasive
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Claim Checklist:
Do you make reference to the problem?
Do you suggest a specific solution?
Is your solution general enough to generate three
paragraphs?
• Do you reference only one solution?
• Does your solution waffle? (might, could,
perhaps, maybe…)
• Qualifier?