An Essay  is a unified complex answer to a question or issue  Has a beginning (introduction and thesis), a middle (several supporting paragraphs) and an end (a concluding paragraph)  is NOT just a bunch of paragraphs about a topic

Your thesis links everything together Thesis Supporting idea and evidence Supporting idea And evidence Supporting idea and evidence Conclusion

Your Essay and Your Thesis  An essay has to have one main idea – it is not a collection of points, but is a single idea supported by many points of evidence and argument  Your thesis is the main idea of the essay  It unifies the essay, providing the single idea that each paragraph will support

Your Thesis Will  Answer the questions directly – state a clear answer, not claim that there is not enough information or that nobody can really know  Your thesis is interpretive – more than one answer is certainly possible and no answer will be a definitive “truth”.

Your Thesis Will  Provide direction – the main idea has to be the fundamental reason WHY you have answered the question as you have  The main idea should NOT be a LIST of reasons. A list does not provide unity – it’s a list.

It’s a beautiful day today Temp is zero degrees. I can stay outside as long as I like. It’s cloudy. The sun is annoyingly bright in the winter. It might rain. The road salt will rinse off of my car. Sometimes even dull weather is beautiful

Same Evidence – Different Thesis! It’s an awful day today The temp is zero. It’s too cold for shorts. It’s cloudy. I enjoy the sunshine It might rain. Then it will freeze. Dull weather makes for a dull day.

The Style!  Always use formal style  You shall not say, “I think,” “I believe,” or “In my opinion.”  I know your essay is your opinion – saying so is simply a way to distance yourself from a strong statement. Don’t do it.

What’s right or wrong about this theses?  By the early 1930s, Prohibition had ended in most Canadian provinces. They were “wet” once again. Prohibition was nonsense.  The new flag gave Canadians identity different from an association with Britain. Some people did not like that.

Example #1(thesis only – this would be given in the context of an introductory paragraph which establishes context.  Prohibition failed because Canadians made personal decisions to drink despite the law. Even though they may have agreed with its potential benefits, Canadians did not really want it.

Example #2: Again, this would be given in the context of an introductory paragraph  Canada in the 1960s was at a crossroads. The new flag proposed by Lester Pearson divided Canadians on the basis of age and ethnicity. Allegiances to generation and ethnic groupings was at the core of the disagreement.