Thesis and Strong Topic Sentences Directions: copy down everything on the slides that are green

Thesis Statement A thesis statement tells the reader what the entire paper will be about. It sets the structure for the essay. Like a topic sentence, a thesis statement will have two parts. . It will state an opinion on one main idea and List the topics you will use to prove your opinion

Thesis Statement A strong thesis statement will: Take some sort of stand. Express one main idea. Be specific.

Thesis Statement Examples Take some sort of stand. There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement. This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague. Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers. This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.

Thesis Statement Examples Express one main idea. Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support. This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write: Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support. This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because, since, so, although, unless, and however.

Thesis Statement Examples Be specific. World hunger has many causes and effects. This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this: Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable. This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger. All Thesis Statement examples from: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml

Examples for Fear Prompt Method 1: Stating your main points Fear is dangerous to our society because it robs one of their destiny and destroys their health Method 2: Addressing the other side Although fear may be viewed as a necessity to maintain life, it will, in fact, rob one of it. Method 3: Present it in a unique way The fear that grips so tightly will rob it’s victims of life.

Directions: Return to your essay map Place a star next to the two evidence you would like to use within each body paragraph Flip over to the outline Craft a thesis sentence

Strong Topic Sentences

Review Topic Sentences A topic sentence has 2 parts: It names the topic. It expresses an idea about it.

What’s makes a topic sentence strong? Present a specific opinion It will not be a fact It will connect this new paragraph to your previous paragraph (known as a transition).

Example Weak: Some types of birth control should be provided by schools. Better: To prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, schools should provide every form of non-prescription birth control available.

Example Weak: I think that it is important for every woman to carry mace or pepper spray. Better: As violent criminals take over the city streets, women must carry mace or pepper spray to protect themselves.

Example Weak: The Surgeon General must be the Hercules that slays the Hydra of chemical addictions. Better: As Hercules slew Hydra, the Surgeon General must defeat the many-headed monster that is chemical addiction.

Examples for Fear Weak: Fear keeps you alive. Better: In a world full of predators, crime, and disease, fear is vital in maintaining life. Weak: Fear teaches you how to behave. Better: Not only will fear keep one alive, but it also will teach an individual how to behave in a civilized culture.

Transitioning What transitions do… Good transitions can connect paragraphs and turn disconnected writing into a unified whole. Instead of treating paragraphs as separate ideas, transitions can help readers understand how paragraphs work together, reference one another, and build to a larger point.

Key to a Good Transition The key to producing good transitions is highlighting connections– ideas -- between corresponding paragraphs.

Transitions Between Paragraphs 1.Arrange paragraphs logically Therefore, the transition will highlight a relationship that already exists by summarizing the previous paragraph and suggesting something of the content of the paragraph that follows. 2.To build an effective paragraph transition, a writer has to show the reason that one paragraph comes after another, just as a sentence can usually make sense only because of the sentence before it. 3. A transition between paragraphs can be a word or two, a phrase, or a sentence. 4. Location of Transitions: 1)at the end of the first paragraph, 2)at the beginning of the second paragraph, 3)or in both places. 5. Strive to create transitions by connecting ideas instead of resorting to cut & paste words (though they may be necessary to connect the ideas).

Example Within Paragraph Directions: identify the ideas that link these sentence together Eating a tart cherry pie has always made my cheeks salivate. Sometimes I drool so much that red juice runs down my chin. A waitperson at a restaurant even remarked to me once that appeared to be in a pie eating contest with myself.

Example Between Paragraphs . . . A waitperson at a restaurant even remarked to me once that I appeared to be in a pie eating contest with myself. I frequently find myself the recipient of personal comments bestowed by strangers who may imagine they are being helpful or at least funny. I always try to have a sense of humor and humility about myself, but self-deprecating humor is not my preferred way to connect with others. Suddenly having a person leap out and make a joke at my expense only pains my all-too-thin skin.

Example The prompt from this example is: Should school personnel be allowed to carry a gun?

Example of an idea transition & topic sentence: Even if the teachers receive a longer period of training (my previous body paragraph was about the lack of training) to prepare them, one cannot ignore that the gun would prove useless if the teacher had to keep it in a secure location. (In this paragraph I’m going to argue that to prevent accidents the gun would most likely be not loaded and locked away in a safe location. However, if only one person is able to shoot it, the likelihood of them being in the same room as the gun is highly unlikely.) Therefore, the only way it would prove useful is if it remained on the personal and was loaded. This sets me up to talk about accidents in my next paragraph.)

Practice Directions: take the two concepts below and create two strong topic sentences and a transition. Fear makes you think illogically Fear leads to phobia