...What Am I A Thesis? Limiting a Subject Before writing a thesis statement, you must choose a subject or topic for your paper. After choosing a subject or topic, you then must go through a process of narrowing the subject. In fact, narrow the subject until you have a topic that can be treated effectively in the assigned length of your paper. In many respects, the narrower your subject, the better off you are, as long as you haven't narrowed it to a point where nothing much can be said about it. With a properly limited subject, you explore only a small part of your general subject, but you explore it thoroughly. A paper of 500 words on education, for example, is doomed to be superficial at best. The topic is way too large. It might be possible, however, to write 500 words worth reading if the topic were limited to one of your teachers, essay versus objective examinations, your reasons for attending college (narrowed down to just one reason if you have enough to say), college registration procedures, abolishing of F grades, college fraternities, physical education requirements, and so on. With a sensibly limited subject, you start to have a fighting chance of producing a good paper. You are no longer doomed to superficiality. If you write a description of one of your teachers, for example, you possess immensely more knowledge about your subject than does anyone who has not taken a course from that teacher. Certainly, you are no longer at the mercy of every thought about...
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...Thesis Statements Sunderman/English 1A Adapted from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/resources/students/ac_paper/develop.html Why Is a Thesis Statement So Important? Good question. As we’ve stated in class, our goal as writers is to give information to our readers that is interesting and easily understood. The thesis statement is typically that one sentence that asserts the main point, and controls and structures the essay. Without a strong, thoughtful thesis, your paper might seem unfocused, weak, and not worth the reader’s time. How Do I Write a Good Thesis Statement? A good thesis statement will have the following characteristics: 1. A good thesis statement will make a claim. You need to develop an interesting perspective on a topic that you can support and defend. This perspective must be more than an observation. “America is violent” is an observation. “Americans are violent because they are fearful” posits an interesting perspective on violence in America. It gives a possible reason WHY America is violent—a reason that can be supported and defended with specific examples. You want to make sure that your claim is not too broad, and that you can successfully defend and support it in the required number of pages. “Disease has shaped human history” is an impossibly large thesis. It would be better narrowed down to a specific disease, a specific time period, and a specific way (or ways) that disease has shaped human history. “In the mid-1980s, AIDS...
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...Write a Thesis Statement What is a Thesis Statement? Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement. Why Should Your ILP/Research Project Contain a Problem/Thesis Statement? • to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two • to better organize and develop your argument • to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores. How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement? Here are some helpful hints to get you started. • How to Generate a Problem/Thesis Statement • How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One [pic] How to Generate your Problem/Thesis Statement Your problem/thesis statement needs to answer a question about the issue you’d like to explore. Your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about – this is your topic selection. A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes: • take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree • deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment • express one main idea • assert your conclusions about a subject Let’s see how to generate a thesis statement for...
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...|Working Thesis Statement: |ORAL PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION | |Nuclear has been the biggest fear in the world when it is used as |Nuclear Threat Nuclear weapon and its physical damage | |weapon and it has insurmountable negative effects on societies in |Nuclear weapon deterioration of health – what kinds of radiation are | |terms of its physical destruction and deterioration on human health. |emitted in a nuclear explosion and what effect do they have on human | |Not a thesis statement but a statement of fact. |beings? | |Try: Why is it best for nuclear attack victims to be right at Ground |http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway_pre_2011| |Zero? |/living_future/4_nuclear_radiation1.shtml | |Working Thesis Statement: Countries may use the nuclear weapons in |Oral Presentation Thesis Statement (must be based on PART of the | |future because of the possibility of religious war and the other |research project): The time between 1946 and 2012, no atomic bomb had| |reasons. |been used even as an overt thread threat in any warpolitical crisis, | |I will argue that there is a strong possibility that...
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...writing which are narrative, argument, and analysis. When completing assignments many factors play into have a good piece, such as conventions, evidence, thesis, organization, analysis, creativity, style, and accuracy. During the year I have excelled at some and have been inadequate at others. To focus on the many strengths and weaknesses I used my argument and analysis writing to create my reflection upon my work. By using this category of work you are able to see the main parts I achieved and areas that need improvements on....
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...and organizes them into a meaningful sequence. Revising – The stage in the writing process during which the author makes changes in focus, organization, development, style, and mechanics to make the writing more effective. Editing – The last stage in the writing process during which the writer focuses on the details of mechanics and correctness. Discovering Audience – The readers for whom a piece of writing is intended. Many essays are aimed at a general audience, but a writer can focus on a specific group of readers. Topic or Subject - The particular issue or idea that serves as the subject of a paragraph, essay, report, or speech. The primary topic of a paragraph may be expressed in a thesis statement. The main topic of an essay, report, or speech may be expressed in a thesis statement. Purpose – The writer's reasons for writing; what the writer wants to accomplish in an essay. Attitude – The attitude...
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...can lay out your argument in clear, coherent steps, so your reader or listener can see how you get from one conclusion to the next. Or you can appeal to authority. Here you may want to find experts or facts to support your argument—think about Tiger Woods endorsing golf clubs. (Of course, do we also trust Tiger to advise us on buying watches? Not so clear.) Or you can appeal to emotion. Emotional appeals can be extremely powerful, especially when you are able to relate your argument to your readers' values or needs. Most good arguments make use of all three appeals in some way. But how do you actually construct an argument? First things first: the thesis. The thesis is probably the single most important sentence in the entire paper, because it's what every other element of the paper is working to support. It's the anchor, providing a point for both the reader and you, the writer, to come back to. This puts a lot of pressure on you to choose a good thesis statement, but...
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...http://www2.ivcc.edu/rambo/eng1001/introductions.htm https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/02/identity-theft-tops-ftcs-consumer-complaint-categories-again-2014 http://blog.fraudfighter.com/bid/94512/Aug-14-2013-Identity-Theft-The-Fastest-Growing-Crime-in-America How can I prevent identity theft? Some of the things you can do and not a victim yet is to monitor your credit and keeping your information safe. We talked about not only making sure your information is safe when you’re out in the public, such as only carrying one credit card when you really need it, not carrying your social security card and birth certificate just to name a few, We don’t need to have these things with us everyday. Just keep the common things you need with you every day, like your drive’s license, one credit card, just to be safe. Don’t carry your checking account if you don’t need to write a check because again someone could take that information and really start writing checks that aren’t yours and can start causing a lot of damage down the road. Another things is when you’re checking credit, make sure that you’re checking it on a regular basis. You can get one free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus each year. So if you want to check that systematically, you could pull your first one from Equifax, and then three or four months later pull the next one from Experian, and then three or four months later pull the next one from Trans Union. So keeping...
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...FALE 1033 WRITING FOR SCIENCE Topics Covered Introduction to effective writing skills Writing thesis statement and topic sentences Definition , exemplification and classification Description Cause and effect Interpreting diagrammatic information Comparing and contrast Proofreading and editing Text Used 1. 2. Main Text: Oshima, A & Hogue. ( 1997). Introduction to Academic Writing. New York: AddisonWesley, Longman Zimmerman. (2003).English for Science. Singapore: Prentice Hall Additional Text Brannan, B. (2003). A Writer’s Workshop: Crafting Paragraphs, Building Essays. McGraw Hill Trible,C. (2003). Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press Method of Assessment 2 Assignments + 1 Test Assignment 1 -15% (Outlines) Assignment 2 – 15% (interpreting data) Test – 10% (Grammar/proofreading) Final Examination- 60% Section A- Essay Section B- Grammar Section C- Interpreting Graphic Data LECTURE 1 INTRODUCTION TO EFFECTIVE WRITING SKILLS What is Science Writing? Science writers are responsible for covering fields that are experiencing some of the most rapid advances in history, from the stunning advances in biotechnology to the exotic discoveries in astrophysics. A science writer may include coverage of new discoveries about viruses, the brain, evolution, artificial intelligence, planets around other suns, and the global environment, to name a few topics Aims and objectives for writing for science To provide students with the necessary knowledge of the...
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...ENG 1106 Week 6 Formulating a Thesis Statement Definition: The thesis statement is a summary, in one or a few sentences, of the topic, direction and argument to be found in your essay. The thesis statement acts as a sort of signpost informing your reader what the subject of your paper is and what line of reasoning you are going to follow. Examples of Thesis Statements: The overuse of air conditioners and inefficient automobiles in North America has needlessly contributed to global warming by damaging the ozone layer. Formulation: After choosing the topic for your paper and doing preliminary research you should be ready to create a rough, working thesis to give focus to your thoughts as you begin organizing and writing your essay. When formulating your thesis, keep the following in mind: 1. A good thesis statement makes a clear, definite and limited assertion that must be explained and supported by evidence and argument. a. The thesis statement must have a clear and specific point to it, a pronounced thrust in the direction of your argument. b. You must be careful, however, that the thesis statement is not too big for your paper. Ask yourself if, within the page limit assigned, you can truly explore everything and only things covered by your thesis. c. Your thesis should need to be proven rather than being instantly accepted by your reader. It shows your take on the topic, including your emphasis and the direction in which your argument will...
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...Gideon Mantonya What Makes a Good Writer? When an experienced author endeavors on any type of written work, he is equipped with several attributes that ensure the success of his piece. What are the characteristics that distinguish between a writer and a good writer? A good writer has proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. He has an overall understanding of how to follow his introduction, and ensures that every paragraph is relevant to his topic. A seasoned author knows the importance of a catchy or helpful title and a clear thesis statement. Anyone reading a written work produced by a writer with experience will not have any trouble understanding what was just read. Good writers, clearly convey their thoughts and ideas and place plenty of time and effort into his work, guaranteeing their best was put forth. A good author has proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling which are essential to make a good paper. Without proper punctuation the reader may have difficulty understanding the sentence. Punctuation is important to break up sentences, if the sentences carry on too long without being fragmented, a reader may lose interest. Punctuation is important for the acknowledgment of another person’s words, making a sentence declarative or a question, and generally to imitate speech. Knowing how to spell correctly is necessary because misspelled words are confusing and unprofessional. To avoid unprofessional-ism, an accomplished writer will follow his introduction and avoid...
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...I: Listening Analysis Part II: Small Group and Public Speaking Strategies Part III: Presentation Topics and Research Ideas DeVry University Part I: Listening Analysis On the personal analysis of my listening habits I realized my weaknesses which I also got a shock that I scored so low. I scored low on four important points where I can see myself need real improvements to becoming a great listener. Here are my four low scoring points: Need improvement on interrupting others when I disagree on their points; Feeling always to have the last word in; Let my anger influence my reception of the message, and assuming what the sender have to say. My total score is 36 which is a C grade. I have never done any research on how to become a good listener so with my experience I have been doing what suits me best regardless of the outcome. Even though I have always known that I was wrong in my judgments of my interpersonal skills. Especially when I am having a disagreement, I seem to always interrupt others to get my point across. I can now conclude that I need to work on my interpersonal skills such as listening. I now know that it is an important skill I need to possess in order for me to achieve a goal of diminishing my aggressiveness and tone of voice to others. Respond to the following prompts •Where in the stages of listening did you experience breakdown? I experienced breakdown while listening in the stages of: * Interrupting others when I disagree on their points ...
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...underlying several other important factors. He also tried to bring up few points to reinforce his statement. He argued that attorneys have deep working knowledge of the legal system, are skilled specialists and bring a noble value to society. The author focused solely on the abilities of attorneys in general without considering any counterclaim facts. Essential mistakes were made throughout his argument, such as poor formation of paragraphs, use of fallacies, lack of credible sources, absence of counterclaims and conclusion. Although the author may have presented crucial information, after a thorough analysis of the entire argument, the bad points prevailed over the good ones; hence, this argument is weak. A strong argument requires a good structure such as: a clear thesis statement, supporting facts, credible sources, counterclaims, coherence in paragraphs, a good structure, excellent grammar, good use of punctuation, clear introduction, body and conclusion, etc… The writer hardly satisfied any of these attributes. First, he included a thesis statement: “Although of the criticism of the present legal education environment are valid, I disagree that law schools are graduating too many JD’s.” (Paragraph 1). The goal of a thesis statement is to summarize the main point of the paper and state why the essay is important and worth reading. Not analyzing the quality of the thesis statement itself, the mere fact he had included one gave some strength to the structure of the argument. Secondly...
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...credentials to prove that they have been through some sort of training and have obtained their experience through another professional who taught them. For instance, a theology major is more likely to be listened to than someone with the experience but without the degree. So in terms of trustworthiness, the expert’s opinion should carry more weight. DQ #2 A good thesis statement helps guide the rest of your paper. Do you think this is true? Is it true of a poor thesis statement as well? Why? Generally speaking, I believe it is true for a strong thesis statement to guide the rest of one’s paper. A well written thesis statement gives the audiences the points one wants to make in his/her essay, essentially a good thesis statement, summarizes the entire paper. On the other hand, a poor written thesis will not provide a strong argument to the subject matter. A poorly written thesis fails to take a stand and not be specific towards the topic. Just making an observation or an overly broad claim will not work. The goal of the writer is the keep the audience entertained and wanting to know more, thus, a poor thesis will not provide...
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...introduction with a TOPIC SENTENCE which supports the main idea of the essay OR CLARIFYING STATEMENT. This will allow the reader to know the subject of the paper and an introduction to that subject. This is one of the most important things cited by the professors. Writing a Purpose Statement An example of a purpose statement is ‘Mutual funds are backbone of the economy of any country’. The Body of the Essay Paragraphs - First sentence contains the topic sentence, which supports the main idea of the essay. - The following sentences contain main points you're making about that topic - Other sentences support those main points with examples, explanations, etc. (Who, what, where, when, how, etc) The body of the essay is essentially the "meat and potatoes" of the paper. Several paragraphs will explain the topic that you are discussing. The paper will prove or disprove the purpose statement. There will be many citations, references and information which will lead the reader to understand what the paper is about. The body must be relevant to the subject, with clear and concise thoughts. Jargon or very technical terms should be explained so the reader does not become confused. Do not attempt to make the paper meet the required length by using "fluff" - repeating sentences or details in several different ways, but saying the same thing. Research needs to be done, and, in a really good essay, good research and a strong knowledge of the topic will show. The writer must also make...
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