= General category your essay is about = What do you have an opinion about? = Ex. Consumer privacy – too broad = Ex. The rampant violation of consumers’ privacy in the pursuit of corporate profits – more narrow TOPIC

= What is one thing about your topic that you believe to be true and that you wish to argue? = If you do not yet have a position, making a cluster or a map with your topic in the center is a good way to help yourself find a position. = Another good way is to begin a free write, brainstorm, list, or doing some preliminary research. THE POSITION OR CLAIM

= Is what you say always true always? = Are there exceptions? = Are there good reasons why your position may have a down side? THE QUALIFICATION

= Avoid absolute statements = Here’s a trick: begin your qualification with a word like “although,” “though” or “even though.” = Example Qualification: Although schools of over a thousand students have flourished in America... THE QUALIFICATION

= In general why do you believe your position to be correct in spite of your qualification? = What is the overall good to be gained by agreeing with your position? = This is a general statement; your specific reasons will follow in the body of your essay. THE REASON OR JUSTIFICATION

= In one or two sentences, present your thesis, including a qualification, a reason, and a position. = The classic, traditional way of combining is to first present your qualification and immediately demonstrates your interest in accuracy and fairness. PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER.

A strong thesis statement takes a position. Outsourcing has positive and negative effects. Is this a strong thesis statement? Among many other things, “Outsourcing has positive and negative effects” is a weak thesis because it takes both sides of a debate instead of asserting a position. STRONG THESIS STATEMENTS

Here is an example of a thesis that needs honing from the Purdue OWL website. “Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.” Is this a paper about marketing, web pages, or customer support? The thesis needs, therefore, to establish a relationship between important terms TAKING A POSITION

“Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.” This statement can be improved. One revision suggested is the following: “Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.”

= a good thesis statement should take a stand = a good thesis statement should justify discussion (SO WHAT?) = a good thesis statement should express one main idea or a clear relationship between specific ideas linked by words like "because," "since," "so," "although," "unless," or "however.” THE “SO WHAT?” FACTOR

= A good thesis statement should be restricted to a specific and manageable focus and specific purpose - 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 “SO WHAT” FACTOR

1 st draft The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same and some different. 2 nd draft While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions. 3 rd draft While both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their own right to self-government. WORKING THESIS IN ACTION

Increasingly, consumer tracking in the internet has led to the commoditization of individuals allowing people to be traded and sold; therefore, this can potentially create categories wherein some people are more valuable than others and lead to individual and societal harms. Though celebrities’ wealth allows them the capacity to enjoy more privacy in more ways than others, the public’s demand for news and information about their lives undermines their capacity to enjoy this privacy as much as the middle and lower class. DOCUMENTED ESSAY THESIS

Example of an argumentative thesis statement: High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness. The paper that follows should: Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college EXAMPLE THESES