LEAP-Developing a Thesis

AB
by Amy Betti0 views·Updated Nov 9, 2021
Create your own

Chapters

Audio TranscriptAuto-generated

  1. Hello
  2. developing a thesis statement
  3. can be
  4. one of the most challenging parts of academic writing.
  5. It's also
  6. one of the most important
  7. elements of academic writing.
  8. Having a strong
  9. thesis
  10. is
  11. setting you up to have a strong paper
  12. because throughout your paper you will continually go
  13. back to your thesis so that your reader understands
  14. the main point of your pain.
  15. This presentation will go through some important things to keep in mind
  16. when developing a these systems.
  17. A thesis statement
  18. expresses the main idea of your paper.
  19. It's a statement
  20. or claim,
  21. it's where you perhaps make an argument about something.
  22. It's also a map of how your paper will be organized
  23. in your thesis statement. You will let the reader know
  24. how you will support your statement or claim.
  25. The thesis statement
  26. typically comes at the end of the introduction.
  27. An introduction paragraph will give some background
  28. and context of the topic you're writing about
  29. at the very end of the introductory paragraph.
  30. You will have your thesis statement where you will explain specifically
  31. the argument or claim
  32. you're writing about in your paper
  33. and how your paper will be organized.
  34. The supporting details in the body paragraphs
  35. will connect back to the thesis statement throughout your writing.
  36. You'll want to revisit the thesis statement
  37. in the conclusion of your paper.
  38. There are different types of thesis statements
  39. and
  40. the writing assignment
  41. dictates the type of thesis statement to be used.
  42. Be sure you clearly understand
  43. the writing assignment
  44. before you start trying to develop a thesis.
  45. There are three types of
  46. thesis statements.
  47. Explanatory,
  48. analytical
  49. and argumentative
  50. and explanatory thesis statement
  51. explains the topic
  52. and outlines the major points that will be covered in the essay.
  53. For example,
  54. habits of a healthy lifestyle include nutritious food,
  55. daily exercise
  56. and sufficient sleep.
  57. With this thesis statement,
  58. the reader understands
  59. that
  60. the body paragraphs in the essay
  61. will explain
  62. nutritious food
  63. and how it is part of a healthy lifestyle,
  64. explain exercise
  65. and how it is part of a daily,
  66. How daily exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle
  67. and have sufficient sleep
  68. is
  69. part of a healthy lifestyle.
  70. And
  71. in body paragraphs
  72. the writer will have some
  73. information from experts to support
  74. their thesis with supporting details.
  75. This is not a type of thesis statement where
  76. you are trying to convince someone of anything.
  77. Rather, you're just explaining in detail information on the top.
  78. An analytical
  79. thesis statement
  80. evaluates aspects of the topic.
  81. For example,
  82. The COVID-19 global pandemic had a significant and
  83. long lasting impact on both education and employment.
  84. This is a thesis statement
  85. that will evaluate
  86. to what extent
  87. the global pandemic
  88. had an effect on education
  89. and employment.
  90. It lays out
  91. for the reader
  92. a map of the paper that will
  93. show
  94. first
  95. how the pandemic affected education and then how it affected employment
  96. and
  97. within both of those sections.
  98. The writers should have supporting details from outside sources
  99. and continually go back to re emphasize
  100. that this is statement.
  101. There's also argumentative these statements
  102. and this is where there's a clear statement of one side of a debatable topic
  103. and the reasons
  104. to support that statement
  105. or claim
  106. for example,
  107. the death penalty should be eliminated because it is immoral and ineffective.
  108. This thesis statement is making an argument
  109. about something, about something people debate about
  110. and it is explaining that
  111. there are reasons
  112. for the argument,
  113. it's immoral and ineffective.
  114. So
  115. be sure you understand the assignment. So you know what type of thesis statement
  116. you need to develop for your writing.
  117. These these statements
  118. can be strong or weak and of course
  119. you want a strong thesis statement in your writing.
  120. A strong thesis statement has a clear focus
  121. and it responds directly to the writing prompt.
  122. It also uses academic language
  123. and stays away from language such as I or we?
  124. A weak thesis statement shows uncertainty
  125. is when
  126. the writer says perhaps or maybe
  127. and believe it or not. A weak thesis statement is when
  128. the writer writes in the first person
  129. saying
  130. I believe or we believe
  131. a statement
  132. of fact is not a thesis statement.
  133. Here are some examples of strong versus weak piece of statements.
  134. A strong
  135. thesis statement example,
  136. this paper will explain the global problem of food insecurity
  137. described how the problem has become worse during the current
  138. covid 19 pandemic
  139. and discuss organizational and programs,
  140. organizations and programs that are working to eliminate the problem.
  141. Can you guess what type of thesis statement this is.
  142. Is it argumentative,
  143. analytical political
  144. or explanatory,
  145. this is an explanatory piece of statement
  146. and
  147. it very clearly states
  148. the topic
  149. food insecurity
  150. during the global pandemic.
  151. And it very clearly lays out a map for the reader
  152. of how
  153. this writer is going to support that top
  154. and
  155. the sections of the paper on
  156. organizations and programs that are working to eliminate the problem,
  157. defining food insecurity
  158. and how the
  159. problem became worse during the pandemic.
  160. This is kind of long for a thesis statement,
  161. but it's important to have all of
  162. the elements necessary to make a good,
  163. strong, sustainable.
  164. Here's some examples of weak thesis statements,
  165. malnutrition is a very bad problem.
  166. That's not really a piece of statement.
  167. That's just
  168. a statement of fact.
  169. This doesn't explain anything
  170. and it's not arguing anything
  171. and it's not evaluating anything.
  172. Sustainable farming is good for the environment.
  173. Access to food is difficult for many people.
  174. These are
  175. sentences that might be useful in an essay,
  176. but they're certainly not sentences that should be considered
  177. pieces statements.
  178. Again, a thesis statement
  179. is
  180. a challenging
  181. way
  182. too right?
  183. When you have to develop the sustainment, it's not easy.
  184. Sometimes depending on the class,
  185. an instructor may then give you a thesis statement to work with.
  186. If that's the case, make sure in your writing that you continually
  187. revisit and reinforce that
  188. the system.
  189. If you have to develop a thesis statement on your own for your writing
  190. be sure you understand the assignment
  191. ask questions,
  192. ask questions of your instructor or perhaps someone in a writing center.
  193. Getting started
  194. in a way where you have a good,
  195. clear thesis statement will only make your paper stronger
  196. and in fact easier to write.
  197. So good luck developing thesis statements.