How to write a thesis sentence that organizes the essay'

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Essay One

• Part 1 Writing the Thesis

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ObjectivesWhat You Should Know After Having
Written this Essay

• How to write a thesis sentence that organizes the
  essays main points
• How to write a title and introduction that will
  engage the readers interest
• How to construct body paragraphs that are focused
  and well developed
• How to write a conclusion that emphasizes the
  essays main point.

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Thesis Sentence

• Definition a single sentence that states the
  essays main point
• It tells the subject of the essay
• It expresses the writers opinion about the
  subject
• It previews the main points of the essay.

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Heres the Topic for Essay One

• No matter why youre in college, all of you have
  a similar goalto become more educated.
  Sometimes we think of education as a means
  towards wisdom, but its also true that education
  is no predictor of wisdom, that often the wisest
  people we know have no formal schooling.
• Therefore, thinking of the people you know who
  are wise, who exhibit wisdom, write an essay
  where you define wisdom by breaking it down into
  qualities that a wise person must possess.

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Writing the Thesis Sentence Do it first, before
you begin the essay

• Determine what the prompt is asking you to do
• Define wisdom
• To define something, you can
• List its characteristics
• Tell what its not

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List Characteristics
Joyful
Intellectuallycurious
humble
A wise person is. . .
Compassionate
Open-minded
honest
Empathetic
For more brainstorming techniques, see
http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/brainstorm
ing.html
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Tell what its not

• A wise person is not
• Necessarily book-smart
• One who knows everything
• Arrogant or condescending
• Someone who imposes his will on others
• Necessarily the smartest person in the room
• Necessarily the richest or most successful person
  in the room

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Once you have a reasonable number of
characteristics listed

• Choose three or four and write a sentence,
  listing them in order of importance

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Sample Theses

• A wise person isnt a know-it-all, but rather
  someone who is curious about and receptive to new
  ideas and experiences.
• Wisdom is the willingness to admit ignorance and
  the determination to acquire knowledge and use it
  well.
• A wise person is good humored, compassionate, and
  kind.

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Each of these thesis sentences previews the main
points of the essay (each main point is a
different color)

• A wise person isnt a know-it-all, but rather
  someone who is curious about and receptive to new
  ideas and experiences.
• Wisdom is the willingness to admit ignorance and
  the determination to acquire knowledge and use it
  well.
• A wise person is good humored, compassionate, and
  kind.

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Assignment 1.1

• Go to Blackboard and free write for ten minutes
  on the following question What is wisdom?
• How to free write set a kitchen timer for 10
  minutes and start it
• Keep writing until the timer goes offdont stop
  for anything
• If you run out of something to say, just repeat
  the last word you typed till you think of
  something new
• Dont worry about proofreading for spelling or
  grammar
• Dont THINK, just WRITE!
• After youve free-written, write your thesis and
  send it to me
• Take a look at what your classmates
  postsometimes it helps give you ideas for your
  own writing.

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The thesis should be

• A clear, simple sentence
• that clearly states the three (no more than four
  points) youre planning to develop in the
  paragraphs of your essay
• Once you have a working thesis, youre ready to
  begin composing the first essay.

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Essay One

• Part 2
• Title and Introductions

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Once you have a thesis, then

• You can draft the title and
• The introduction
• Please Note Titles and intros are the most
  rewritten parts of most essays. Dont be afraid
  to revise back as you write forward on the essay.

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The Title of the Essay

• All essays need a title
• The title should do three things
• It should indicate the essays subject
• It should reflect the essays thesis
• And it should attempt to capture the readers
  interest.

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Examples of Titles

• Our Walls, Ourselves
• National Geographic, article about the barriers
  between the U.S. and Mexico
• Bulldog Ants
• National Geographic, article about Australian
  ants
• Seekers, Finders,
• O, The Oprah Magazine Where does faith come
  from?
• The Meaning of Life
• The New Yorkerwhat a game taught us
• Writing the Climate
• The Austin Chroniclethe accelerating pace of
  global warming
• Boots and Suits, Scheming and Dreaming
• The Austin ChronicleThe Wilson brothers on The
  Wendell Baker Story

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Writing the Introduction

• An introduction should have three parts
• A lead-in, whose purpose is to capture the
  readers attention
• A transition section, which logically links the
  lead-in to the thesis
• And a thesis sentence that previews the main
  points of the essay.

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You dont have to write the introduction first.
You can start with the thesis sentence and then
come back to the introduction after youve
written some of the essay and actually know what
youre introducing
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Lets go through the parts of the intro

• The Lead-In
• Its purpose is to capture the attention of the
  reader
• It should be one of the strongest, most polished
  (most rewritten and tweaked) parts of your entire
  essay
• Remember. . .

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• You dont get a second chance to make a FIRST
  impression

You can use anything you want for a lead-in if
the technique youre using would genuinely
interest you, would genuinely make you want to
read your own essay, then it will probably do the
same for anybody else.
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Here are some lead-in techniques you can use

• Anecdote
• Tell a relevant story
• Quotation
• You can quote from someone famous or someone you
  know
• Description
• Describe a scene, event, person or thing
• Startling Statement
• Say something unexpected
• Contradiction
• Start off with some variation of the following
  sentence Most people believe A, but actually. .
  .

• Question
• Just make sure its a question your reader would
  really ask
• Analogy
• Compare the point youre going to make with
  something the reader can relate to
• Facts or Statistics
• Just make sure theyre interesting
• Allusion
• Make a reference to something in literature,
  history or popular culturesomething your reader
  will know about and relate to

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Transition

• If the purpose of the lead-in is primarily to
  gain the readers attention,
• The purpose of the transition is to prepare the
  reader for the point the writer makes in the
  thesis.
• The connection between the two must be logical
  and seamless

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Thesis

• The last sentence of the introduction is the
  thesis sentence
• The thesis should preview the main points of the
  essay
• It provides a logical roadmap to guide the reader
  through the essay.

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Think of the thesis as a road map and each point
of the thesis as means of getting to the
destination.
ConclusionDallas
Thesis To get from El Paso to Dallas, a
travelermust go throughOdessa, Midland And Fort
Worth.
Body Paragraph 3Fort Worth
Body Paragraph 2Midland
Body Paragraph 1Odessa
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Assignment 1.2

• Send me a draft of your title and your
  introductory paragraph
• The introduction should have a clear
• Lead-in
• Transition
• Thesis
• It should be between one-half and three-quarters
  of a page long.
• Proofread!!!
• Then post your intro on Blackboard and read your
  classmates.

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Essay One

• Part 3The Body Paragraph

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All body paragraphs have four parts

• Topic sentence
• Explanation of topic sentence
• Example
• Warrant

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Topic Sentence

• The topic sentence is usually the first sentence
  of the paragraph
• It tells the subject of that paragraph
• It expresses the writers opinion about the
  subject
• It echoes a point already made in the thesis
  sentence.

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For example,

• If we use the thesis sentence, Wise people are
  even-handed, open-minded and ultimately
  compassionate
• Then the topic sentence for the first body
  paragraph is Wise people are generally
  even-handed.
• The topic sentence for the second body paragraph
  would be In addition, they tend to be
  open-minded.
• The topic sentence for the third body paragraph
  might be These two qualities contribute to the
  third characteristica general compassion for
  other people.

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Topicsentence
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Explanation of Topic Sentence

• Since every topic sentence expresses an opinion,
• its up to you, the writer, to clarify what you
  mean by your opinion
• thus, following the topic sentence, you should
  use several sentences to explain what you mean.

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Explanationof topicsentence
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Example

• Up until now, youve only expressed opinionyou
  have to prove your point with an EXAMPLE
• An example is something from the real world (a
  story, a description, a fact) that illustrates
  the truth of your topic sentence
• A good example SHOWS rather than TELLS.

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Example
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Notes about examples

• Good examples are the longest part of the
  paragraph
• They are specificparticular people doing
  specific things at a specific time
• They make the reader SEE what you mean.
• Dont be afraid to stretch out in your examples
  with detail and dialogue.

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Warrant

• The warrant is the conclusion to the paragraph.
• It explains your point.
• To write the warrant, imagine that someone has
  asked you, So what? and then answer that
  question.

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warrant
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Youll repeat the same pattern with the next two
body paragraphs

• Topic sentence
• Explain the topic sentence
• Example
• Warrant

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Assignment 1.3

• In addition to sending me a draft of your title
  and introduction,
• Also send me a draft of your first body
  paragraph.
• I will send it back by the next day with comments
  and suggestions.
• Post the body paragraph on Blackboard and read
  your classmates.

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Essay One

• Part 4
• Writing the Conclusion

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A conclusion does three things

• It loops back to the lead-in
• It briefly summarizes your main points
• It warrants your thesis

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Loop back to your lead-in

• Whatever you did in the introduction to capture
  your readers attention,
• mention it at the beginning of the conclusion to
  signal that the paper is ending

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Briefly summarize your main points

• I havent had time to forget your main points
  because your paper isnt that long,
• So theres no reason to spend a full paragraph
  telling me again what you just told me in the
  body paragraphs.
• Give me just a brief summaryone sentence or less!

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Warrant your thesis

• The most important part of the conclusion is
  where you draw a conclusion
• Tell the reader what your main point is
• Imagine the reader has finished your essay and
  then asked you, So what?
• You need to have an answer ready.

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Loop backto lead-in
Brief summary
Warrant
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Final Assignment

• Your final essay is due by midnight, Sunday, June
  10th.
• It should contain
• A title
• A well-developed, 3-part intro
• At least three body paragraphs, with each body
  paragraph containing
• A topic sentence
• Sentences that explain the topic sentence
• Example
• Warrant
• A three-part conclusion

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• After you send me your essay as an email file
  attachment,
• Post it on Blackboard and read what your
  classmates have posted.
• Good luck and Ill be in touch this week with
  extra help.