1. THE THESIS STATEMENT

2. WHAT IS A THESIS STATEMENT? Definition: “a short statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence.” It is the roadmap & preview for your paper. 2

3. WHAT 5 THINGS DO I NEED 1.Topic with Background 2.The Claim That You’re Making 3.Preceded by An Arguable Adverb 4.The 3 Points or 3 Reasons That Back or Support Your Argument 5.Universal Theme or Idea 3

4. TOPIC WITH BACKGROUND “Topic with background” means that you must introduce what you’re going to talk about in your writing &/or speech. You will do this by talking a little bit about it your topic as if your audience has never heard your topic & otherwise would have no idea what was going on in your piece. 4

5. THE CLAIM Your claim is the argument you’re making; it is what you are trying to persuade your audience to believe. 5

6. WHAT’S AN ADVERB? Definition: An adverb is a word that modifies. Okay, so what do they modify? Adjectives. As you may recall, adjectives are words that modify nouns (person, place, thing or idea). If you get confused, it’s any arguable word that modifies + -ly 6

7. ARGUABLE ADVERBS So, now that we know what an adverb is we need to figure out what an arguable adverb is. What makes an adverb arguable? http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adve rbs.shtml http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adve rbs.shtml 7

8. 3 POINTS, 3 TOPICS You must have at least 3 points/topics that you use to support your claim. These must be apparent in your thesis statement. Remember, you can have more than 3 points, but have at least to in support of your argument, & at least one in opposition of your argument. 8

9. UNIVERSAL THEME/IDEA A universal theme or idea is something that is relatable to every person across the world. See left wall entitled “Universal Themes.” These may help you/ 9