Writing Effective Thesis Statements

Find the Thesis Writing Prompt Choose an event in your American History textbook that you think may be misleading in some way or possibly part of the truth has been omitted. Research the same event through databases, books, and reliable internet sites. Compare the history book version to what you learned in your research. Write a paper explaining the differences and why you think the textbooks do not tell the event accurately. Be sure to cite all sources using parenthetical documentation.

Identify the Thesis Statement Joseph McCarthy was a man who ruined peoples’ lives with the consent of the U.S. Government. What was his agenda, what did he do, and what were his results? Are these questions true to what the history books say? These are the questions to be answered in this document.

Find the Thesis Statement The Bay of Pigs was a poorly planned incident that lead to nothing more than the loss of life and an embarrassed C.I.A. But most importantly it showed that even though America strongly stood for Democracy, she was unwilling to put forth any sort of effort on a large scale to help put it into effect. America did provide support for the Cuban exiles that invaded Cuba but didn’t give their full commitment to the situation. And because of this, it hurt both the Cubans who fought and Americans.

Find the Thesis Statement On the cold morning of December 29, 1890 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Southwestern South Dakota an event took place that all Native Americans find hard to forget. On that fateful morning, approximately 300 unarmed men, women, and children were massacred. The events that took place at the Battle of Wounded Knee are not recorded correctly in American History textbooks because the truth is an embarrassment to the white man (O’Neill 9).

Why would having a thesis statement help these two paragraphs? They lack focus! Focus is achieved by having an essential question.

What is an Essential Question? An open-ended question that does not have a right or wrong answer Causes one to develop alternatives, weigh evidence, and justify answers Provokes deep thought, lively discussion, and new understandings as well as possible new questions

Essential Questions Require one of the following thought processes: – Requires you to develop a plan or a course of action – Requires you to make a decision

Essential Questions Focus your research (you should be looking for the answer to this question) Cause you to inquire into your topic Ultimately, the answer will require that you craft a response to the question that involves construction of knowledge. The answer to your essential question becomes your thesis statement.

Writing Essential Questions about Cancer Avoid the simple question – What is cancer? Avoid questions that are answered with a yes or no. Essential Question (better but not great) – What plan could I develop that would reduce my likelihood of developing cancer? – At this point visualize your answer to make it more powerful.

Writing Essential Questions Stronger Essential Question (Great) – What plan could I develop that would reduce my chances of developing cancer? What two strategies would be most beneficial and why? – What do you notice about this question? This type of question causes you to defend your choices – Think of some of the cancer defense strategies you have heard about. – Now, jot down an answer to the question in the form of a statement.

Share your thesis statements with your elbow partner. Choose the best to share with the class.

Thesis Statements Substantial – Answer your readers’ question of “So What” Supportable – Must be a claim that you can support with evidence How could an essential question help with this? Precise – Be sure to narrow your focus Cancer is very broad

Thesis Statements Arguable – Don’t write something that everyone is going to agree with; you should HAVE to convince your reader that you have a valid point Relevant – If you are responding to a prompt, be sure to answer the prompt

Thesis statements not only keep the writer on task… they guide the reader through the paper and create a reason to keep reading ( to find the support behind the thesis).