Thesis Statements and Outlines

Freshmen Career Fair

Thesis Statements

Writing a Thesis Statement

» Consider the type of paper you’re writing:˃ An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its

component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.

˃ An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.

+ (This is the type of paper you’ll write for the career fair.)˃ A persuasive paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies

this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

Writing a Thesis Statement

» Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

» The thesis statement usually appears within the first paragraph of a paper.

» Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Writing a Thesis Statement

» Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:˃ In order to become a teacher, one must earn a bachelor’s degree, be

skilled in public speaking, be flexible in challenging circumstances, and work well with children and young adults.

» The paper that follows should:˃ Explain the courses a teacher must take to earn a bachelor’s degree˃ Justify the need for public speaking skills as a teacher˃ Explain why teachers must be flexible˃ Justify why teachers must be able to work well with children and

young adults

NEVER DO THIS!

» Never… I mean NEVER…» Start a paper with:

˃ In this paper, I am writing about…˃ I am going to write about…˃ I am going to explain…˃ My goal in this paper is to…˃ I think that…

» Basically, NEVER use first person in an expository, persuasive, or analytical essay.

» First person should ONLY be used in narratives.

NEVER DO THIS!

» Also, never… I mean NEVER…» Say any of the following in your paper:

˃ First, I will explain this…˃ Then, I will explain this…˃ The next topic I am going to talk about is…˃ In conclusion,…˃ So,…

» The purpose of essays is to show, not to tell.» Show me what your next topic is, don’t tell me

what it is! Show me that you’re concluding!

Outlining

Types of Outlines

» There are two primary types of outlines:» Sentence Outlines

˃ In sentence outlines, you will write a complete sentence for each point in the outline.

» Topic Outlines˃ You do not need to use complete sentences in topic outlines, just give

a general idea of what a given section of a paper will be about.

How to Outline

» When outlining an essay, you always use the following formatting:˃ Roman Numerals (I, II, III, IV, V) (these are capital letters, not numbers)

+ These typically represent the topics of paragraphs.˃ Capitalized Letters (A, B, C, etc.)

+ These represent specific topics within paragraphs (sub-topics) that you will discuss.

˃ Arabic Numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.)+ These represent specific details within the sub-topics.

˃ Lowercase Letters (a, b, c, etc.)+ These represent a breakdown of specific details mentioned

above.

Outline Format

I. IntroductionII. Body Paragraph 1

A. Supporting Detail1. Specific Detail

a. EvidenceB. Supporting Detail

III. Body Paragraph 2IV. Body Paragraph 3V. Conclusion

Outline Rules

» If you have a “I,” you have to have a “II”» If you have an “A,” you have to have a “B”» If you have a “1,” you have to have a “2”» If you have an “a,” you have to have a “b”

» Beyond that, you don’t need a “D” because you have a “C,” etc.

» Five-paragraph essays should have Roman numerals I-V.