Thesis Statements - Web Worksheet
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3Thesis Statements – Web Worksheet
By Nancy Armstrong
I. Functions and Purposes of a Thesis Statement
To announce the topic to the reader
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To reflect a judgment about the topic
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To provide the reader with a blueprint for what is to come in the paper
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II. Prewriting Techniques
A. Word Map
– use circles, etc. to show relation between ideas
B. Scratch Outline
– briefly highlight the main points of your paper
C. List
– list any and all ideas/items about your topic that you can
think of
D. Question & Answer– ask as many questions as you can think of
E. Free-write
– be the creator, not the editor of your work
It is extremely helpful to do some type of prewriting activity as a way of
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figuring out what you do and do not know about the topic
Prewriting allows you to develop a basic claim
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III.
Developing the Basic Claim – on the road to Thesis
A. Broad vs. Narrow Thesis Statements
B. Topic – Comment Approach
There are several ways to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a thesis
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statement
First, Broad Thesis Statements are claims that are vague, ambiguous or
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overreaching. These are claims that do not meet at least two of the 3 criteria
above and/or attempt to address a topic with too many issues to deal with in
the given writing assignment
Second, Narrow Thesis Statements are claims that do not meet at least two of
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the 3 criteria above and/or are too specific and single-minded to be
developed into a thorough essay
Next, use the topic-comment approach to specifically identify what you
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believe to be your topic and the comment about that topic
By isolating the topics from the comments, writers can evaluate the strengths
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and weaknesses of the comments they are attempting to put forth
Use the attached worksheet to practice these assessments
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V.
Generating a Working Thesis
After practicing with the worksheet, practice developing your own thesis
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statement for any current writing assignment
Use narrow/broad & topic/comment techniques to evaluate and revise thesis
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VII.
Finalizing the Thesis- visit a C.L.A.S.S. writing tutor to discuss your final draft
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