Todays Standards

1
Todays Standards Writing Organization and
Focus 1.1 Create compositions that establish a
controlling impression, have a coherent thesis,
and end with a clear and well-supported
conclusion. 1.3 Support thesis or conclusions
with analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions
from authorities, comparisons and similar devices
2

• You should always begin a paper by formulating
  your thesis.
• What is a thesis?
• A thesis is an argument or a claim an author
  makes
• about how things are and/or ought to be.
• A thesis can also be called the main idea.
• In stories, the thesis is called the theme.

3
Your thesis should always be supported by
evidence.

• Evidence comes in various forms such as
• research ? opinions from experts
• statistics ? definitions
• examples ? analogies/ comparisons
• personal experiences
• stories
• quotes

4
Thesis Colon cancer is a serious disease
affecting many Americans and should continue to
be studied.
Examples of Evidence
Research A research study conducted in 2002 by
UCLA showed that the incidence of colon cancer
has increased significantly in the last decade.
Statistics About 7 in 10 colon cancer patients
have a family history of the disease.
Examples Norma Smith from Iowa, for example,
lost 3 members of her immediate family to colon
cancer. All of them were under the age of 50.
5
Personal Experiences My mother was diagnosed
with colon cancer at the age of 48. Because of
her young age, doctors did not correctly pinpoint
her condition until it spread through her
lymphatic system and became life-threatening.
Stories Alan Beauman never thought he would
spend his 50s shuffling between chemo and
radiation treatments. A successful stock broker
looking forward to early retirement, he expected
to be spending leisurely days fishing instead.
Unfortunately, he was never advised to get a
colonoscopy during his annual checkups. . .
Quotes It is essential that patients have a
colon screen once they reach fifty, even earlier
if there is a family history of colon cancer,
says Dr. Steven Atwood of UCLAs oncology
department.
6

• Your task
• Formulate a thesis sentence that either supports
  the idea of an intelligence-increasing operation
  in our modern society or argues against the use
  of such an operation.
• Give three general reasons why you feel the way
  you do.
• With your group
• Decide on a thesis
• Decide on 3-4 general reasons to support your
  thesis.
• Give 1 or 2 different types of evidence to
  support each reason.
• Put all of the above on your poster to share with
  the class.