THE ROAD TO WRITING WELL

• Choose a good thesis statement

• Make good arguments: the power of logic

• Language matters- choose well!!

How To Write a Thesis Statement

What is a Thesis Statement?

A one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis in a paper..

HOW TO GENERATE A THESIS STATEMENT

1. Figure out what question you’d like to write about.

2. Formulate a clear answer to the question in a statement

3. A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:

• Take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree

• Express one main idea • Assert your conclusions about a subject

THE POWER OF LOGIC:

• HOW TO WIN AN ARGUMENT

a)The power of statistics, data

b)The power of logic- reasoning

LANGUAGE MATTERS!!!

MEDICAL BLOOPERS

• By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling much better.

• Patient has chest pains if she lies on her left side for over a year.

• The baby was delivered, the cord clamped and cut, and handed to the pediatrician, who breathed and cried immediately.

• Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital.

• The patient has no past history of suicides.

MEDICAL BLOOPERS

• Discharge status: Alive but without permission. • Patient was released to outpatient department

without dressing.• The patient has been depressed ever since

she began seeing me in 1983. • Whilst in Casualty she was examined, X-rated

and sent home• She has no rigors or chills but her husband

says she was very hot in bed last night.

• TOO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS: DEAL WITH ONE ISSUE AT A TIME.

One would wonder how a religious organisation[1] would spend so much money in a nationwide campaign in order to influence a ballot proposal. When a religious institution engages itself in a political situation it’s a question of whether the group can continue to enjoy its status as a tax exempt non-profit organisation[2]. The measures affecting the right to life versus abortion should entirely be left for a woman to choose.[3]

• SAYS WHO?: IF ITS YOUR ARGUMENT MAKE IT CLEAR AND JUSTIFY IT.

After all is said and done, a happier, more satisfied and content man is a more successful man in any definition of the word.

Once married, a man is assumed to be more mature than their single counterparts, more[4] responsible, confident and productive towards their family which in turn reinforces their feeling of self-worth[5].

•  [1]Have you specified any before?•  [2]Are you making the argument?•  [3]Does this line really belong here?•  [4]Does the more modify all the adjectives that follow?•  [5]Is this a known fact or are you saying so?

• Communication has been made easier.[1]

• Most [2]NGOs in the third world are countries are associated[3] with economic empowerment of the poor in the countries they operate from. It is believed[4] they are set up to economically transform urban low-income settlement such as Nairobi’s Kibera slums.

• Clayton(1996) advocates for the location of NGO’s (sic) in the state[5] which he refers to as the third sector.

• To an un-born kid abortion is non-existent. [6]

•  [J.M.M1]Its been made easier that what and by who?•  [J.M.M2]What is your justification for saying “Most”?•  [J.M.M3]Who associates them?•  [J.M.M4]By who? Do you have evidence?•  [J.M.M5]Which state? What does location in the state mean?•  [J.M.M6]Would you consider this as ambiguous?

THANK YOU

THE END