Reminder: Thesis Staement for Second Paper due by Monday

Hello all,
Just a reminder that you should all be getting your tentative thesis statements for your second paper to me by midnight on Monday. They should be emailed to sbarker711@gmail.com
Be sure to keep in mind the informaion from the class handout (pasted below) and from A Writer's Reference on pages 10-11 about constructing effective thesis statements.

A thesis statement:
--tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
--is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
--is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be the Iraqi War or racial profiling, a thesis must then offer a particular point of view you will argue on the War or profiling
--makes a claim that others might dispute.
--is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

How do I get a thesis?
A thesis is the result of a thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a "working thesis," a basic or main idea, an argument that you think you can support with evidence but that may need adjustment along the way.

How do I know if my thesis is strong?
A strong thesis takes a position that others might challenge or oppose.If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it's possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument. A strong thesis is specific rather than general. Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like "good" or "successful," see if you could be more specific: why is something "good"; what specifically makes something "successful"? A strong thesis will provide structure for your paper. A good thesis not only signals to the reader what your main point is, but how you are going to develop that main point. This can be signaled directly: "American fearfulness expresses itself in three curious ways: A, B, and C." This tells your reader you have three main points, and that they are going to be discussed in your paper in this order. However, this kind of thesis statement may be too formulaic or too constricting for all papers. You could instead say, "Americans are fearful, and this fearfulness manifests itself in the form of violence." The reader knows that you will then show examples of American fearfulness, and will tell how that fearfulness turns into violence.

A strong thesis passes the "So what?" test?
If a reader's first response is, "So what?" then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.

ExampleToo general: The nuclear family is a thing of the past. Better: (1) The increasing divorce rate is doubtless the most important catalyst of the demise of the nuclear family or (2) The dissolution of the nuclear family means that we must rethink our conventional ideas and expectations concerning how children should be brought up.

You might want to try the thesis generators at

http://www.ozline.com/electraguide/thesis.html or

http://corptrain.phoenix.edu/thesis_generator/thesis_generator.html

to help you develop your thesis. You will probably still have to edit and rewrite your thesis after using the generator, but it can be a help in getting a start in the right direction.See also the information on pages 10-11 in A Writer's Reference

.