Working On the Thesis Statement and Subtopics

Thesis statement:

• The sentence that states the main point you are making for the entire essay. All points made in essay are meant to support this statement (sometimes posed as a question).

• Use specific language over abstract/too general words, whenever possible.

• Use an action verb to indicate to your reader how dynamic you are looking at your subject (in Essay 1, your mnemonic device). 

• The more action on the subject, the more you transform our view of it. The more you can pose questions about subject with that verb.

• something is  v. something illustrates.

• DO NOT BE ELUSIVE. DO NOT TEASE YOUR READER!!!

• One of the biggest weaknesses in an otherwise strong thesis (or even entire introduction), is the statement that suggests more specifics, but doesn't give those specific details in the thesis statement or doesn't have a phrase that refers back to specific parts already outlined (eh, hem, SPECIFICALLY) in the introduction...

• Instead, these poorer, less effective types of thesis statements annoy readers with "suspense" by being half laid out. They state that SUBJECT has X amount of characteristics/parts/lessons/etc. but they don't give X amount of examples.

• Poor, poor thesis teaser:  PRE teaches writers two main things about a focused paragraph.   (Pray-tell, what are those two things?)

• Better little thesis: PRE teaches writers to pay attention to these two topics to write more focused paragraph.

• Best of the three: In short, PRE teaches writers to pay attention to both the three general pieces of content that should show up in each body paragraph and how to order that information.

Thesis subtopics do the following:

• Develop the thesis point

• The thesis is the whole car; the subtopics are the car door, tires, steering wheel, etc.!

• 'Show up' in introduction

• Either in thesis statement or introduced as part of the contextual information provided in the entire opening paragraph....

• Each subtopic is then reproduced as a topic sentence of a body paragraph

• You want your body paragraph's to each open with an idea you have already introduced to them in the...introduction!  

• Hopefully, your BP topic sentences will: add detail and/or point of view to what you have already written about the subtopic earlier in the essay...

To generate starter subtopics, use some pre-writing strategies:  These activities help get out a lot of ideas so that we can look for patterns in language, in ideas, and where there is that overlap can help us understand some of the most valuable things we can 'say' in our essay:

• The questioning exercise we reviewed last class is very helpful to make a list of points you may (or will) make in your essay draft.

• From your answers, look for patterns. Write down a list of five ideas about your Mnemonic Device that you find are stated or implied from your answers. 

• And/or...If you are visual, it can help you to make a cluster/web of your device or main idea. To do so, here are a two ways that one writer may approach starting the web:

• (1) Put the main "lesson"/ function of the device in the center cluster, and then start making other clusters from there about how/reasons the device teachers that lesson. 

• Especially for those devices that rely on more than just an acronym, this type of cluster may help...

• Example: PRE's main function is to remember how to build an effective BP, so I would put "How to build an effective BP" as the center cluster and go from there.
• 
  
• (2) If you have an acronym like PRE, the easiest way to start a cluster is write that acronym in the first cluster and then web out from there each individual letter's word. Then, from there, cluster outwards the idea(s) that go with each word. Then, you can try and make visual connections from there, as you see fit...

• From your cluster, write out a list of the five main ideas you get from the cluster about your MD. 

• Narrow down to the 2-3 most important ideas you find should be addressed in order for outsiders to understand your thesis idea. 

• How do I determine 'importance'? Purpose of essay. Complexity of your subject. 

• What should each of my body paragraphs function as? Here are some (only some) ideas, thinking about what our topic and purpose are:

• One equals expanding definition or clarification of the MD?
• One equals the usefulness of the device, with examples of its use?
• One equals…?

• Let's discuss the possibilities in class, as there are many possibilities...