1. WHAT IS A THESIS STATEMENT

2. URGH…A THESIS How many times have you been asked to write a thesis statement and have had no clue how to do so? A thesis statement is actually very simple, Yet extremely beneficial when writing an essay. A thesis statement - It is usually a sentence (maybe 2) located in the 1 st paragraph and it is a road map for the paper. In other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. Everything else in the paper should be able to relate to and support in detail the thesis statement.

3. A THESIS INCLUDES… -Attitude: how do you feel about your subject? Think of your issue/subject matter you are to write an essay on and determine your point of view - Positive (yes/I’m for it!) OR Negative (no/I’m against this!)

4. WRITING YOUR THESIS STATEMENT - After you’ve gathered your thoughts using prior knowledge, light research, and/or selected textual evidence, determine what you want to argue based on your attitude towards a topic. Topic- Write an argument for or against the use of cigarettes. - Let’s think in terms of 2-3 arguments you will write about -an example might be: Smoking is bad (your attitude) and can hurt your health by destroying your breathing capability (argument 1), causing illness such as cancer (argument 2) and hurting through second hand smoke (argument 3).

5. A thesis statement doesn’t seem so bad after all now does it? Be careful that your thesis statements are not too broad OR too narrow. broad- covering a large scope/number of subject matter narrow – limited in scope/number – very restricted subject matter If a thesis statement is too broad OR too narrow, you likely didn’t follow the model of including ATTITUDE (for or against) then 2-3 supporting points.

6. Topic- Write an argument for or against the use of cigarettes. EXAMPLES: (write them in your notebook- optional) Too broad – Cigarettes are extremely harmful to users and cause all types of problems. Too narrow – Cigarettes are bad and cause lung cancer; people should not use them. Too broad vs. Too Narrow thesis statements