thesis statements powerpoint

7/29/2019 Thesis Statements PowerPoint

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Athesis is the main idea

of your paper.

It is contained in athesis statement.


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So, just what the

heck IS athesis

statement, anyway?


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Athesis statement is a sentence that

answers these questions for your readers:

What is the subject of this essay?

What is the writers opinion on this

subject?

What is the writers purpose in this

essay?


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What if I am not sure

what mythesis is

going to be in my

early drafts?


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In your early drafts

you will use a

working thesis.


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Aworking thesis is a

statement of your

main point in therough draft phase.

It helps to keep youon track.


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But what happens if I

change mythesis as I

revise my paper?


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Aworking thesis may

change as you revise and

redraft what you write.

This is okay.

You are not locked into

your original idea if you

think of something better.


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Clearly defineyour opinion.

Make sure yourreaders know what

you think.


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Many people have differentopinions on whether people

under twenty-one should bepermitted to drink alcohol,

and I agree with some ofthem.


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The question of whetherwe need a national law

governing the minimum ageto drink alcohol is a

controversial issue in manystates.


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I want to give my opinionon the national law that

sets twenty-one as thelegal age to drink alcohol

and the reasons I feel thisway.


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To reduce the number ofhighway fatalities, our

country needs to enforce anational law thatdesignates twenty-one as

the legal minimum age topurchase and consume

alcohol.


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The legal minimum age topurchase alcohol should be

eighteen rather thantwenty-one.


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Have only

ONE main idea.

This is not as easyas it sounds.


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The proposed no-smokingordinance in our town will

violate a number of ourcitizens civil rights, and no

one has proved secondarysmoke is dangerous anyway.


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Two Theses:


violate a number of ourcitizens civil rights.

No one has provedsecondary smoke is

dangerous.


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To improve, pick one:


violate our civil rights.


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The most recent U.S.Health Department studies

claiming that secondarysmoke is dangerous to

nonsmokers are based onfaulty research.


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High school athletesshouldnt have to maintain a

certain grade-point averageto participate in school

sports, and the value ofsports is often worth thelower academic average.


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Two Theses:


certain grade-point averageto participate in schoolsports.

The value of sports isoften worth the lower

academic average.


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certain grade-point averageto participate in school

sports.


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For some students,

participation in sports maybe more valuable than

achieving a high grade-point average.


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Saysomething

worthwhile.


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If you write it well,any subject can be

made interesting.But some subjects

are morepredictable andboring than others.


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Dogs have always beenmans best friends.

This essay may be full ofboring clichs about dogs

faithfulness to theirmasters.


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Friendship is a wonderfulthing.

DUH!

Again, watch for tired oldideas that just restate theobvious.


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Food in the schoolcafeteria is horrible.

Although this essay can belivened up with some really,

truly gross descriptions,the topic has been done to

death


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To Improve The Last 3:

PICK A DIFFERENT TOPIC


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Sometimes you areasked to writeabout yourself in

an essay; after all,you are the worlds

greatest expert onyou.


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The problem withthis is that not alltopics you generate

this way willinterest others as

the subject is justtoo personal.


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In this case youneed toUNIVERSALIZE the

thesis so thatothers can get into

it.


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The four children in myfamily have completely

different personalities.This might be true, but

would anyone outside yourfamily and friends really

care?


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Universalize the Thesis:

Birth order can influencechildrens personalities in

startling ways.You can use the same

examples from the lastthesis, but now others are

more likely to buy into it


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I dont like to take coursesthat are held in big lecture

classes at this school.Why should your readers

care one way or anotherabout your class

preference?


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Universalize the Thesis:

Large lecture classesprovide a poor environment

for the student who learnsbest through interaction

with both teachers andpeers.


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Limit the thesisto fit the

assignment.


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Nuclear power should bebanned as an energy source

in this country.Can you really give the

broad subject of nuclearpower a fair treatment in

250 to 500 words?


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Narrowed Topic:

Because of its poor safetyrecord during the past two

years, the Collin Countynuclear power plant should

be closed.


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African-American artistshave always contributed a

lot to many kinds ofAmerican culture.


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Narrowed Topic:

Scott Joplin was a majorinfluence in the

development of the uniquelyAmerican music called

ragtime.


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State the thesisin specific terms.


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More Specific:

The Alabama WomensParty is working to ensure

the benefits of equal payfor equal work for both

males and females in ourstate.


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Living away from home inan apartment for the first

time can teach you manythings about taking care of

yourself.


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The thesis should be

easily recognizableas the main idea.

Ideally the thesisstatement should

show up in the firstor secondparagraph.


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An expository or persuasiveessay is not a story. Youneed the thesis up front in

order to give your readersa context for the

supporting details in thepaper.

thesis statements powerpoint

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