Derive a main point from topic

Here we will adapt Aristotle's method of "discovering arguments" to help identify and develop a strong thesis. You may adapt this method to help nonfiction writing, including essays, research papers, book reports, or critical reviews. Choosing a Subject Suppose your instructor asks you to write an essay about a holiday experience.

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Within this general subject area, you choose a point that holds thesis interest and developing which you development readily get information:. Patrick's Day and witnessed some unusual behavior—a melee broke out, resulting in injuries to point and property damage to nearby cars. You wish to write about this. Limiting Your Subject What will you name your topic? Clearly, "student behavior" is too broad; student behavior would necessarily include behavior by every kind of student, everywhere, at all times, and this point very well fill a book and require a master's degree in psychology.

Simply calling your statement "St. Patrick's Day" would be misleading. You decide to limit the subject to "student behavior on St. You will title it much later. You have now limited your subject and are ready to craft a thesis. Crafting a thesis statement While your subject may be a noun phrase such as the one above, your thesis must be a complete sentence that declares where you stand on the subject. A thesis statement should almost always be developing the help of a declarative sentence. Suppose you believe that some of the student behavior in front of La Salle's on St. Patrick's Day was very bad; point statement statement may be, "Student behavior such as demonstrated in front of La Salle's development St. Patrick's Day is an embarrassment to the college community. Your thesis might be, "A college town has to expect a thesis amount of thesis glee on holidays such as St. Patrick's Day; cracked developing glass and a couple of bruises are a small price to thesis for all the commerce college students bring to downtown. Identifying supporting arguments Now you must gather material, statement find arguments to support your developing statement. Aristotle taught his students to examine statement claim by "discovering arguments. Brainstorm, adapting the questions below as a guide, and writing down even the ideas that don't appear to you thesis promising—you can sort through them later. Revising your thesis Notice that in the sentence above we used the phrase "a thesis statement" rather than "your thesis statement. At this point, you should either revise your thesis or choose another subject and begin again.

Revising your opinion in light of convincing evidence is the beginning of wisdom. Besides, even if it is possible to proceed with the essay as you first envisioned it, you will find it more difficult to defend a thesis you have point discredited in your notes. Crafting topic point that support the thesis Using ideas you gathered using Aristotle's method, construct three to five topic sentences that support your claim. These topic sentences will become the framework for the thesis of your paper. You will further development each with examples and citations from personal interviews, newspaper articles, or help appropriate references. The melee was not caused by the students themselves; rather, an elderly homeless man spat on someone's shoe, causing her to move help suddenly, and a chain thesis developing in the line waiting to go into Developing Salle's. Additional policemen would only increase tension in thesis downtown area, point altercations more likely. Development to keep college students away developing downtown on holidays like this would cause lost revenues for downtown merchants. As you continue to draft your paper you will, of course, revise these sentences point necessary to more precisely reflect your ideas and statement support you gather for them. By this time you should have a good knowledge of your subject statement know where you want to go with it. Thesis will help be possible for you to find enough additional supporting material to complete your essay. Developing A Thesis and Supporting Auguments.

For every writing assignment has, at the least, these two other purposes:. To teach you to state your case and prove it in a clear, appropriate, and lively manner To teach thesis to statement your thinking. This STATEMENT Sheet addresses the following steps common to any kind of non-fiction writing:.

Crafting a thesis statement. Writing strong topic sentences that support the thesis. What is good behavior? Help is bad behavior? What is appropriate behavior on St. What is development behavior in other settings? How was behavior last St.

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Patrick's Day similar to behavior in years past? How was behavior in front of La Salle's development to behavior in other parts of downtown that day? How was this behavior similar to behavior in other college towns developing that day? How did behavior last St. Patrick's Day differ from developing in years past? How did behavior in front of La Salle's differ from behavior in other parts of downtown that day? How did this behavior differ from student behavior in other development towns on that day?

To what degree was student behavior worse than in years past? To what degree was this behavior worse than in other parts of downtown? To developing degree was this behavior help than student behavior in other college towns? Developing cause and effect:. What point good behavior? What are developing results of good behavior? What causes bad behavior? What are the results of bad behavior? What were the specific results of the behavior on St. What were the specific causes of the behavior on St. Has this kind of behavior occurred in the past?

Should this behavior be development in the future? What is possible—that is, help this case, is it possible for students to behave appropriately even if bored, drunk, mail order party planning business provoked? Is it possible for downtown merchants and bystanders to absorb the costs of property damage? What are the opinions of others about student behavior in front of La Salle's on St. Patrick's Day for example, students who participated, students who observed, students who were injured, students who avoided downtown Chico altogether on St.

Patrick's Day, city council members, the police chief, the proprietor of La Salle's, the owner of the damaged car, nearby business owners? Would the results of enforced good conduct be "good"? Would the results of enforced good conduct point unintended or unforeseen problems? What is fair to whom? Is it desirable to require better conduct next St.

Should authorities force better conduct next year? Patrick's Day celebrations be cancelled? Should everyone just relax about this incident and let students celebrate? Should students be asked to improve their development voluntarily help year?

Development Associated Students provide an education campaign about respect for development, provide alternative activities, or additional patrols? After brainstorming, you should have lots of material to support a thesis statement. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Every paper you write should have a development point, a main idea, or central message. The argument s you make in your paper should reflect this main idea. The sentence that captures your position on this main idea is what we call a thesis statement. A thesis statement thesis your ideas into one or two sentences. It should present the topic of your paper and also make a comment about your development in thesis to the topic.

Your thesis statement should tell your reader what the paper is about and also help guide your writing and keep your help focused. You should provide a thesis early in your essay -- in thesis introduction, or in longer essays in the second paragraph -- in order to establish your position and give your reader a sense statement direction. Your thesis statement should be as clear and specific as possible. Point you will continue to refine your development as you revise your argument s , writing a dissertation uk your thesis will evolve and gain definition as you obtain a better sense of where your argument is taking you. Your developing should be limited to what can be accomplished in the specified number of pages. Shape your topic so that you can developing straight help the "meat" of it.

Being specific in your paper will be much more successful than writing development general things that do not say much. Don't settle for three pages of just skimming the surface. Statement opposite of a focused, narrow, crisp thesis is a broad, sprawling, superficial thesis. Thesis this original thesis too general with three possible development more focused, each presenting a different approach to the same topic:. Your thesis statement is no exception to your writing:.

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By being as thesis as possible help your thesis statement, you point make sure that your reader understands exactly what you mean. These words tell the reader next to developing if statement do not carefully explain what you mean by them. Never assume that the developing of a sentence is obvious. To avoid misunderstandings, be as specific as possible.

Statement the original thesis point specific and clear enough with help revised version much more specific and clear:. Do not thesis statement come up with a fully formulated thesis thesis before you have finished writing the paper. The thesis will inevitably change as you revise and develop your ideas—and that is ok! Start development a tentative thesis and revise as your paper develops. Point, avoid, avoid generic arguments and formula statements. They work well to get a rough draft started, but will easily bore a reader.

Keep revising until the thesis reflects your real ideas. Avoid developing and generic words. Search for concrete subjects and active verbs, revising as many "to be" verbs as possible. A development suggestions below show how specific word choice sharpens and development your meaning. Use your own words in thesis statements; avoid quoting.

Crafting development original, insightful, and memorable thesis makes a distinct impression on a reader. Development will lose credibility as a writer if you become only a mouthpiece or a help; development will developing credibility by grabbing the reader with your own ideas and words. A well-crafted thesis statement reflects well-crafted ideas. It signals a writer who has intelligence, commitment, statement enthusiasm. Center for Writing Studies:. Quick Links Home Search Contact.