1. Putting Your Thesis to the Test!
From National History Day In Wisconsin

2. VOLCANO Voice a position Opposition Leader Change Action No stand
Ask students if their topics still follow the VOLCANO (L- Leader, N – No Stand, O-Outside of the Box being the optional)
No stand
Outside of the box

3. A Checklist of Thesis Needs
The phrase “taking a stand”
Action taken besides taking a stand
Statement, not question
Use words “by”, “against”, or “for”?
Good sign that you are getting specific!
In this checklist, we want to see the phrase “taking a stand” being used in their thesis right away. We want to make sure some action is described in thesis, not just a belief held (“Martin Luther King Jr. took a stand by believing in equality” is true, by is an opinion the stand or was it his actions?) We also want to make sure that students are writing theses like in science class, where it is a question. We would like a statement, having their theses end with a period.
We would like to see students use the words “by”, “against”, “for”, “through” or any variation of those words. It means the students are telling us what the person’s opposition, cause, or methods were (MLK Jr took a stand against racial violence by/through acting peacefully. Alice Paul took a stand for women by participating in hunger strikes and civil disobedience)

4. Put these Theses to your Test
Susan B. Anthony took a stand by believing that women should have the right to vote.
Susan B. Anthony took a stand in history by protesting and fighting for women’s suffrage.
Taking a stand is more than an opinion or belief.
Remember, it is action!
Have students look at the thesis on the left, how would they change it? Click forward to see the answer we can up with and then, ask the students how would they change the thesis. Here, Susan’s belief in women’s suffrage isn’t what took a stand in history, it was her actions.

5. Inventing isn’t necessarily taking a stand.
Jonas Salk took a stand against Polio by creating the first successful vaccine.
Jonas Salk took a stand for public health when he refused to patent his Polio vaccine and through his public campaigns.
Inventing isn’t necessarily taking a stand.
Turn it into taking a stand for something else.
This one will be tricky for some students. It might be good to give them some background on who Jonas Salk is, an inventor AND public health advocate. Have students look at the thesis on the left, how would they change it? Click forward to see the answer we can up with and then, ask the students how would they change the thesis. Here is a common object/inventor thesis. Instead of focusing on the invention or object, tell students to look into how it was used. Steve Jobs could be another good example

6. There is a different type of opinion here, “boldest stand”?
Abraham Lincoln took the boldest stand in American History by freeing slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Abraham Lincoln took a stand politically by freeing only the slaves in the rebellion states in the Emancipation Proclamation
There is a different type of opinion here, “boldest stand”?
Have students look at the thesis on the left, how would they change it? Click forward to see the answer we can up with and then, ask the students how would they change the thesis. Here’s a different example of how belief can change a thesis. The example dictates that Abe took the boldest stand and says broadly that he freed the slaves. Some students will have trouble looking critically at their topics and it reflects in the thesis.

7. Anne Frank took a stand against the Nazis by keeping a diary about her life.
Miep Gies took a stand against the Nazis by hiding Anne Frank, saving her diary, and sharing her story with the world.
Was she writing to share her story? Or for herself? What was her action?
This is another common example of an unintended stand/historical figure, but we can still work with that. Perhaps give the overview of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl in hiding in WWII – being hid by a family. Have students look at the thesis on the left, how would they change it? Click forward to see the answer we can up with and then, ask the students how would they change the thesis.
Anne Frank’s diary wasn’t a stand in history, she was a young girl recording her experiences of WWII in a diary. She didn’t intend for its publiciation, but we can still talk about her. We would refocus the thesis on the family that hid her and then sharing the diary with the world.

8. Really general isn’t it? Could we look at a specific person or story?
The Allies in World War II changed history by taking a stand against the Axis Powers.
The Western Allied Forces took stand against the Nazis by opening the Second Front with the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day).
Really general isn’t it?
Could we look at a specific person or story?
Have students look at the thesis on the left, how would they change it? Click forward to see the answer we can up with and then, ask the students how would they change the thesis. While arguable, the first thesis is very broad. Bringing back the VOLCANO example here, a leader or group or single event would really focus this thesis.