專四寫作論點陳述thesisstatement省公開課金獎全國賽課一等獎微課獲獎課件

TheThesisStatement?byRuthLumanARoadMapforYourEssayReferencesESSAYIntroductionThesisStatementBodyParagraph#1BodyParagraph#2BodyParagraph#31/19IntroductionThesisStatements

Afteryouhavebrainstormedandyouhavesomemainideasofwhatyouwouldliketowriteinyouressay,youcanbeginthinkingaboutwritingathesisstatement.What’sathesisstatement????2/19DefinitionThesisStatement

Athesisstatementisacompletesentencethatcontainsonemainidea.Thisideacontrolsthecontentoftheentireessay.Athesisstatementthatcontainssubpointsalsohelpsareaderknowhowtheessaywillbeorganized.Lookattheintroductoryparagraphbelow.Seeifyoucanidentifythethesisstatementandsubpoints.3/19

WhenIwasyoung,IalwaysknewthatIwantedtobecomeateachersomeday.WhenIplayed,Iwouldoftengathermydollstogetherandpretendtoteachthemhowtodomathproblemsorhowtoreadabook.AsIgrewolder,mydesiretobecomeanESLteacherbecameclearerasIdidsomevolunteerteachingoverseasandintheUnitedStates.AsIlookbackonmyreasonsforbecomingateacher,therearethreereasonsthatstandout.Theyare:mylovefortheEnglishlanguage,myinnateinterestinhowpeoplelearn,andmydesiretohelpotherpeople.DefinitionThesisStatementThethesisstatementcontainsthemainideathatcontrolsthecontentoftheessay.Subpointsinthethesisornearbyhelpthereaderknowhowtheessaywillbeorganized4/19

Psychologistshavearguedfordecadesabouthowaperson’scharacterisformed.Numerouspsychologistsbelievethatone’sbirthorder(i.e.placeinthefamilyastheyoungest,oldest,ormiddlechild)hasthegreatestinfluence.Ibelievebirthordercanhaveasignificantimpactintheformationofachild’scharacterbasedonmyownexperiencegrowingupinafamilyoffourchildren.Birthordercanstronglyaffectone’srelationshipwithparents,relationshipswithothers,andhowoneviewsresponsibilityasanadult.ThesisStatementAnotherExampleThethesisstatementcontainsthemainideathatcontrolsthecontentoftheessay.Subpointsinthethesisornearbyhelpthereaderknowhowtheessaywillbeorganized5/19KeyFeaturesThesisStatementstatesthemainideaoftheessayinacompletesentence,notinaquestion.statesanopinionorattitudeonatopic.Itdoesn’tjuststatethetopic,itself.isusuallyattheendofanintroduction.oftenlistssubtopics.doesnotdirectlyannounceyourmaintopic.6/19KeyFeaturesMainIdeainaCompleteSentence

Sincethethesisstatementisthemainstatementfortheentireessay,itshouldexpressacompletethoughtandbeacompletesentence.Thethesisstatementisassertinganopinionoridea,soitshouldnotbeaquestion.Lookattheexamplesbelowtoseehowtheycanbemadeintothesisstatements.7/19KeyFeaturesMainIdeainaCompleteSentenceThesportofcross-countryrunning.WhydoIwanttobeateacher?Thisisnotacompletesentence.Thesportofcross-countryrunninghasallowedmetogetinbettershapeandmeetsomeinterestingpeople.Beingateacherisagreatprofession,becauseitallowsmetoworkwithstudentsandbecreative.Thisisaquestion,notastatement.ThesisStatementThesisStatement8/19ACompleteSentenceAnotherExampleTheproblemofpollutioninbigcities.Whyshouldmarijuanabelegalized?Thisisnotacompletesentence.

Theproblemofpollutioninmajorcitiescanbealleviatedbylimitingthenumberofcarsallowedtodriveoncitystreetsandcreatingmoreefficientpublictransportationsystems.Marijuanashouldbelegalizedbecauseitisnotanymoreaddictivethantobaccoanditcanprovidenumerousmedicinalbenefitsforthosesufferingfromterminalillnesses.Thisisaquestion,notastatement.ThesisStatementThesisStatement9/19KeyFeaturesLocation

Englishreadersliketoknowwhatanessaywillbeaboutnearthebeginningoftheessayratherthanattheend.Thisiswhythethesisstatementisoftenfoundattheendoftheintroductoryparagraph.10/19LocationAnotherExample

MayaAngelouisanaccomplishedAfrican-AmericanauthorintheUnitedStates.Whilegrowingup,shesufferedtremendoushardship.Someofhermostdifficultlifeeventsareportrayedinnovelsandpoemssuchas,IKnowWhytheCagedBirdSings,and,StillIRise.Herwrittenworksoftenincludestrongthemessuchasperseverancethroughtrials,loveforfamily,andpassionateoptimism.

Thethesisstatementcomesattheendoftheintroductoryparagraph.Thissentencetellsthereaderthathe/shecanexpecttoreadmoreabouthowMayaAngelouexpressesthesethemesinherwriting.11/19

Goodthesisstatementsoftenexpressawriter’sopinionorattitudeonaparticulartopic.Thismakesthethesisstatementmorespecificandrequiresthewritertoexplainorprovehis/heropinionintheessay.Lookattheexamplesbelow.KeyFeaturesStatesanOpinionorAttitude12/19KeyFeaturesStatesanOpinionorAttitudeIlearnedtoplaymanymusicalinstrumentswhenIwasyoung.

Thiswouldnotbeconsideredagoodthesisstatementbecauseitisonlyexpressingafact.Itdoesn’tgivethewriter’sopinionorattitudeonplayingmusicalinstruments.Thisthesisstatementdoesn’tgivethewriterverymuchtoexplainorproveinhis/heressay.

LearningtoplaymanymusicalinstrumentswhenIwasyounghelpedmetobecomeamoreintelligentandwell-roundedperson.

Thisthesisstatementismuchbetterbecauseitexpresseshowthewriterfeelsabouttheexperienceoflearningtoplaymusicalinstruments.Thisthesisstatementrequiresthewritertoexplainhowandwhyplayingamusicalinstrumentmadehim/herabetterperson.13/19

Youcanmakeyourthesisstatementmorespecificbyincludingsubtopicsorsupportingideas.Bydoingthis,yougiveyourreaderaclearideaofwhatwillfollowinthebodyparagraphsofyouressay.KeyFeaturesSubtopics14/19SubtopicsExampleInner-cityschoolsgrapplewithsomeseriousproblems.

Nosubtopicsarenamedinthisthesisstatement.

Someofthemostseriousproblemsintoday’sinner-cityschoolsaretheovercrowdedclassrooms,thelowpercentageoftrainedteachers,andthelackofresourcessuchastextbooksforstudents.

Thisstatementnamesthreesubtopics.Canyoufindallofthesubtopics?subtopic#1subtopic#2subtopic#315/19

Inthesisstatements,youshouldavoidusingstatementslike,“Thisessaywilldiscuss…”or“I’mgoingtowriteabout…”.Trytowriteathesisstatementthatcapturesyourreader’sattentionwithoutannouncingyourmaintopicandstatingtheobvious.Lookattheexamplesbelow.KeyFeaturesDon’tStatethe