Warm-up

What do these words mean? Explain Describe Analyze

Explain Explain: Provide reasons for what happened or for one’s actions in order to clarify, justify, or define those events, actions, causes or effects. For example, you are asked the question: “What was the most fascinating fact you came across in your civilization research? Explain your answer.” Non-answer: “Babylonian punishments were fascinating because they were harsh.” Answer: “Babylonian punishments were fascinating because they were harsh. For example, a person could be built into the walls of a house if they were caught trespassing there. Compare this to today where the max sentence for trespassing is 4 months jail time. Another example was how…”

Describe Report what one observes or does in order to capture and convey to others a process, impression, or a sequence of events.

Analyze Break something down methodically into its parts to understand how it is made, what it is, how it works; look at something critically in order to grasp its essence. Another example: “Analyze the factors responsible for the French 3rd Estate breaking away from the Estates General in 1789” Answer: “The French Revolution began due to the issues of exclusive privileges offered to the first two estates, a revolutionary attitude inspired by the Enlightenment, and the inequality of voting in the Estates general.

Thesis Writing

What is a thesis? In writing, a thesis is something that you are taking a stand on; stating your position on a debatable issue; arguable; a claim.

What is a thesis? A thesis is different from a statement of fact. Statement of fact: common knowledge; unarguable

What is a thesis? Statement of fact example: Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. Thesis statement example: The U.S. government should take greater steps to prevent heart disease across the nation

“Thesis Killers” NEVER USE THESE WORDS IN A THESIS: Very Many Things Lots Stuff

Claim, Reason, Evidence There is a specific process to writing a DBQ or research paper that looks like this: Claim  Reason  Evidence

Claims Claim: Statement of belief that can be argued against. An argument. *same as thesis

Claims Always ask these question about claims: Can I argue with this? Is it obvious? Is the claim too general or broad?

Reason: Statement of logic that supports your claim.

Reasons Always ask these questions about reasons: Is it logical? Is it connected/related to the claim? Is it fair or reasonable? Does it support the claim?

Evidence Evidence: Evidence comes from sources, research, fieldwork. It proves that your reasons are valid support for your claim.

Evidence Always ask these questions about evidence: Is it relevant? Is it convincing? Is it specific or too general? Is it connected to the reason(s)?

Thesis Writing Tips Thesis statement should be 1-2 sentences Should be in the first paragraph Read the prompt you’re answering carefully Be willing to fix and change your thesis over time. You will likely need to alter “Is my thesis…” Easy to understand? Specific? Explaining my position? Original? Interesting?