Bellringer: Sept. 16 Honors Period 1 1. Take out your draft response. Underline or highlight your CLAIM for the response. This claim will be your THESIS. If you don’t have your draft with you today, complete the explanation paper. I will be stamping your drafts, so have them out.

Writing the Thesis Statement By Worth Weller (with a little help from the Purdue and Dartmouth OWL)

What is it? for most student work, it's a one- or two- sentence statement that explicitly outlines the purpose or point of your paper. It is generally a complex, compound sentence

What does it do? it should point toward the development or course of argument the reader can expect your argument to take

Where does it go? because the rest of the paper will support or back up your thesis, a thesis is normally placed at or near the end of the introductory paragraph.

What does it contain? The thesis sentence must contain an arguable point. A thesis sentence must not simply make an observation -- for example, "Writer X seems in his novel Y to be obsessed with lipstick." Rather, it must assert a point that is arguable: “Writer X uses lipstick to point to his novel's larger theme: the masking and unmasking of the self."

What it determines The thesis sentence must control the entire argument. Your thesis sentence determines what you are required to say in a paper. It also determines what you cannot say. Every paragraph in your paper exists in order to support your thesis. Accordingly, if one of your paragraphs seems irrelevant to your thesis you have two choices: get rid of the paragraph, or rewrite your thesis.

Is it fixed in concrete? Imagine that as you are writing your paper you stumble across the new idea that lipstick is used in Writer X's novel not only to mask the self, but also to signal when the self is in crisis. This observation is a good one; do you really want to throw it away? Or do you want to rewrite your thesis so that it accommodates this new idea?

A contract Understand that you don't have a third option: you can't simply stick the idea in without preparing the reader for it in your thesis. The thesis is like a contract between you and your reader. If you introduce ideas that the reader isn't prepared for, you've violated that contract.

It provides structure for your paper The thesis sentence should provide a structure for your argument. A good thesis not only signals to the reader what your argument is, but how your argument will be presented. In other words, your thesis sentence should either directly or indirectly suggest the structure of your argument to your reader. Say, for example, that you are going to argue that "Writer X explores the masking and unmasking of the self in three curious ways: A, B, and C.” In this case, the reader understands that you are going to have three important points to cover, and that these points will appear in a certain order.

Other Attributes it takes a side on a topic rather than simply announcing that the paper is about a topic (the title should have already told your reader your topic). Don't tell readers about something; tell them what about something. Answer the questions "how?" or "why?” it is sufficiently narrow and specific that your supporting points are necessary and sufficient, not arbitrary; paper length and number of supporting points are good guides here.

More Attributes it argues one main point and doesn't squeeze three different theses for three different papers into one sentence; And most importantly, it passes The "So What?" Test.

An Equation thesis statements are basically made up of your topic and a specific assertion about that topic, therefore, THESIS = TOPIC + SPECIFIC ASSERTION

The four “shoulds” of a thesis statement: Summary The four “shoulds” of a thesis statement:

1. a good thesis statement should take a stand - don't be afraid to have an opinion; if after your research, your opinion changes, all the better - means you have been thinking; you can write a new thesis statement!

2. a good thesis statement should justify discussion - don't leave your readers saying to themselves "So what" or "duh?" or "like what's your point?"

3. a good thesis statement should express one main idea or a clear relationship between two specific ideas linked by words like "because," "since," "so," "although," "unless," or "however."

Example Poor: Stephen King writes readable books. Good: Stephen King’s books are so good because they are about normal people who get into supernatural situations.

4. A good thesis statement should be restricted to a specific and manageable topic - readers are more likely to reward a paper that does a small task well than a paper that takes on an unrealistic task and fails

Resources Thesis statement checklist Writing about Literature

Now you Check each paragraph. How does it tie back to your thesis? Do you summarize? OR (and better) do you show how a specific example is representative of the author’s technique and how it contributes to the theme?

Unit 1 project Lesson one component drafts are due Sept 25. The overall unit project due date will be set closer to the end of unit 1. We will be drafting the components as we finish each lesson.

Preview: Drafting part of the unit project You will have a total of 26 entries for this project by the end of the unit. The first section covers 7 of those entries. Lesson 1 - You must have: 1 - song analysis. Include a verse and the refrain (chorus) and analysis based on the lesson 1- original poem using the style elements from this lesson 1 - example of an entry using rhyme meaningfully 1 - example of an entry using personification 3 - entries of your choosing, but that reflect the components of lesson

Honors requirement Each section of your project must have one or two entries which reflect on either the Foster book or the Alexie book. These entries must show an meaningful interaction with the text. I will be googling your entries to see if you are showing independent thought or if you are just regurgitating somebody else.

Modelling the unit project A – (I’ll get to an “A” entry later) B – Being Bowe (my attempt at using meaningful rhyme in a poem – you don’t have to have an A B rhyme scheme – it just has to use rhyme meaningfully. My name wasn’t always Mrs. Bowe; I once had a different identity. The thought of changing it made me think “Oh no!” But then I had a piece of serenity. Changing my name didn’t change my face, my thoughts, my likes, my hates. Changing my name didn’t change my place my car, my clothes, my fate. I changed it to marry a man who has proven rock solid all along to marry this man, of whom I’m a fan who has made my heart chirp a song. So while my name wasn’t always Mrs. Bowe, I’m glad today that it is. It’s been 14 long years, as we both know, and I’m glad that I took his.  

C – Carrying on with the Dog (okay – this is supposed to be my original poem which uses elements from the lesson. I need to work on this draft a bit more to get in personification and some of the other elements.) He carries on with the dog, frolicking and dancing He carries on with the dog, jumping and barking He carries on with the dog, leaping and shouting They have so much fun that’s it difficult to tell Which one is the dog and which one is the boy.   D – Daring Book of Mine. (Use of personification in an entry – not all your entries need to be poetry, but most of them should for this first section of the project. If you write prose, try to be poetic in your prose) This daring book I am reading creeps into my mind when I’m least expecting it. The characters are so wrong! The plot seems so weird. The book leaps into my brain like a ballerina on the stage performing a grotesque move which seems impossible. It might be the author’s song this book is singing while it dances but the characters seems to lack both the wisdom and the love of the book it references. Song of Solomon – it should be a love poem. Song of Solomon – it should be wise. This book attacks my squeamishness, flaying open my sense of what people should do and shouldn’t. I recognize the honesty this book has as violence occurs and racism occurs and loving the wrong person occurs (all the time). Yet does such a lovely name belong on such a harsh book? It seems almost like a betrayal – at least, up through chapter 4 it does.

E – (I need to think about an E – maybe I’ll write an entry about this project and use more personification in it)   F – (I need to think about an F – maybe I’ll write an entry about how much fun it is to ride a motorcycle and use lots of imagery in it. Not drive a motorcycle, but ride one. No, I can’t drive a motorcycle yet.) G – Growing up (hey – notice how I worked in repetition? Specifically ANAPHORA? And I tried to work in a balance with coordinating conjunctions?) Even though I’ve finished my growing up a long, long time ago – well, maybe not that long ago – I feel like I’m still a kid. Just yesterday I was in 10th grade. Just yesterday I was in driver’s ed. Just yesterday I was graduating high school and college. Just yesterday I was standing in front of my first class ever, teaching something or other – it all kind of blends. So when do you master growing up? It’s more than just paying bills or shopping for food or cleaning the house. When do you feel like you’re the expert and that yes, you are the grown up. Perhaps it’s when you start having to be responsible for those who are younger or weaker than you. Perhaps it’s when you start seeing the patterns in life and recognize what is most likely going to happen next. Perhaps it’s when you realize that other people exist and have other perspectives and desires. Perhaps it’s when you recognize that the world does not revolve around you, no matter how much you wish it did.

Final Draft Final draft is due on Monday Sept 21. Unit 1 project drafts for lesson one are due Friday, Sept 25. (TENTATIVELY – I might have to push it back depending on next week)