Thesis Statements Creating an Argumentative Thesis

What is a thesis statement? ????

Thesis Statement Answers the question: “What am I trying to prove?” The claim (not fact) you will prove in your essay Usually part of the introduction The MOST IMPORTANT sentence in your essay

Thesis Statement Explains how the essay’s subject will be interpreted. For this class, you will be interpreting a subject for the purpose of making a series of arguments.

Thesis Statement Topic: Cell Phones Argumentative thesis: While driving a car, the use of cell phones and other mobile communication devices should be prohibited.

Thesis Statement The thesis statement also tells the reader what to expect as he or she reads your essay; it acts as a map. Thesis statements may require more than one sentence.

Thesis Statement Argumentative thesis: While driving a car, the use of cell phones and other mobile communication devices should be prohibited. Statistics demonstrate that this kind of activity is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. As has been done with alcohol, our government should pass legislation that limits cell phone usage while behind the wheel. Roads and highways are public properties; and, in such areas, safety should always be a priority.

Using your prewriting exercises, answer/complete the following: What puzzle or problem initiated your thinking about X? Many people think ___ about X, but I’m going to argue ___.

Using your prewriting exercises, answer/complete the following: The purpose of my essay is ________. My paper addresses the following question: One sentence summary of my answer to the question: My tentative title:

Argumentative Thesis Statements The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim/the thesis statement is true based on the evidence provided.

Argumentative Thesis Statements An argumentative thesis statement should be contestable. If all or most readers would agree with you, then you are not truly arguing.

Argumentative Thesis Statements An argumentative thesis statement should be contestable. If all or most readers would agree with you, then you are not truly arguing. Smoking is harmful to one’s health.

Argumentative Thesis Statements For this class, each argumentative thesis will need to be supported by a minimum of three subclaims.

Subclaim 1/ Subclaim 2/ Subclaim 3 While driving a car, the use of cell phones and other mobile communication devices should be prohibited. Statistics demonstrate that this kind of activity is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. As has been done with alcohol, our government should pass legislation that limits cell phone usage while behind the wheel. Roads and highways are public properties; and, in such areas, safety should always be a priority.

In-class Exercise Body modification: tattooing and piercing What arguments might evolve from this choice of topic? List all the argumentative thesis statements you can imagine.

In-class Exercise Now… Select 2-3 of your strongest statements and imagine 3 subclaims to support each.