1. Refining a Thesis Narrowing the Focus of Your Topic

2. Step 1 Start with your general topic and list some of the related issues. Example: Taxes: going for welfare, misappropriation of funds, tax system is too complicated, too many breaks for the rich Pick one.

3. Step 2 Pose your issues as an open-ended question. Example: Are there too many tax shelters?

4. Step 2 (cont.) Make Yes and No columns and list support under each. YES Rich people seem to get richer If you can hire a good accountant you can find ways to avoid paying 100 wealthy Americans paid no taxes in 1997 NO Tax shelters are an important way to protect some income IRS tries to audit suspicious files Some people deserve not to pay

5. Step 3 Decide which side you fall on. Add a qualifier if you don’t feel comfortable with a simple yes or no. Example: Certain tax shelters should be eliminated. In most cases, usually, when the situation is clearly… are sample qualifiers.

6. Step 4 Add a phrase or clause explaining or summarizing your reasons behind your statement. Example: Tax shelters should be eliminated because more than one hundred wealthy people paid no taxes last year while millions of low and middle income families paid exorbitant amounts.

7. Step 5 Ask, does it need tempered? Does it sound too dogmatic or inflexible? You don’t want the reader to automatically reject your statement. Watch out for words like “never” and “always.” Example: Certain tax shelters should be eliminated because more than 100 wealthy Americans paid no taxes last year while millions of low and middle income…

8. Step 6 Edit for wordiness. By this time the sentence may be so convoluted that it makes no sense, or is too dense to read well. Ask for someone else’s opinion!

9. YOU HAVE YOUR THESIS NOW STICK TO IT.