UNIT THREE SEMINAR: Narrow Your Topic and Make Your Point! CM103: Effective Writing I for Criminal...
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Transcript of UNIT THREE SEMINAR: Narrow Your Topic and Make Your Point! CM103: Effective Writing I for Criminal...
UNIT THREE SEMINAR:
Narrow Your Topic and Make Your Point!
CM103: Effective Writing I for Criminal Justice Majors
Welcome to seminar!
We will begin at the top of the hour. Please feel free to chat with your
classmates in the interim.
Before we get into the content of the session….
OPE
NIN
G R
EMAR
KS
In this seminar, we will discuss …
Brainstorming and pre-writing
Crafting a thesis
Focusing a topic
UN
IT 2
SEM
INAR
AG
END
A
BRAI
NST
ORM
ING
How do you brainstorm?
Make lists?
Outline?
Use clustering, mapping, or webbing?
Use charts or graphs?
Free write?
Something else?
Brainstorming is one way to generate ideas.
CRAF
TIN
G A
TH
ESIS
Best Advice from Diana Hacker, author of Rules for Writers…
Tattoo on the inside of your eyelids the following definition"[A thesis] is a debatable point, one about which reasonable persons can disagree. It is not merely a fact [. . .]. Nor is it a statement of belief [or faith] [. . .]. Neither facts nor beliefs can be substantiated by reasons, so they cannot serve as a thesis for an argument" (Hacker, p. 574).
Know that your thesis statement serves as the crux of the argument that is your paper; it is your informed opinion about your paper's subject…
Hacker, D. (2008). Rules for writers (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press.
BRAI
NST
ORM
ING
(CO
NT.
)The best way to
learn about focusing a topic is to practice.
As a group, we will explore some
possible topics and talk about ways we
can narrow our topic and distill that into a
one sentence statement.
TH
ESIS
TO MAINTAIN FOCUS A THESIS WILL…
Be a complete sentence (or two)•Identify the topic•Make an assertion about the
topic
TH
ESIS
PERSUASIVE THESIS
The topic is a debatable issue• •The thesis articulates a stance
on the issue• •Words like should, must, or
needs are often used
TH
ESIS
THREE POINT THESIS
The issue or topic•The writer’s assertion, point, or
stance on the topic•Plan of development
LAW ENFORCEMENTPO
SSIB
LE T
OPI
CS •Less than lethal use of force
•Remote offender tracking and GPS
•Electronic surveillance and civilian privacy
•Reliability of Brain Fingerprinting
•Digitalization of police records
CORRECTIONSPO
SSIB
LE T
OPI
CS •Privatization as a cost effective means of managing prisons
•The SuperMax system as a response to violent offenders
•Rehabilitation in the prison system (Is it possible? Is it cost effective?)
•Cell phone bans in prisons
•Mixed gender issues in prisons (Should females guard males and vice versa?)
POSS
IBLE
TO
PICS
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
•Mass Casualty Incidents and crowd control (or Martial Law)
•Use of social networking for emergency and disaster responses
•Effectiveness of electronic models to predict natural disasters
•Civilian preparedness
•Hospital (or prison) evacuation planning, procedures, and responses
POSS
IBLE
TO
PICS
FIRE SCIENCE FIRE SCIENCE
•Emergency services in rural areas (Should rural residents pay city fire houses to respond to rural fires?)
•Technology and Fire Science (How has the evolution of technology changed the field of fire science?)
•Technology and forensics in arson investigation
•Risk assessment and fire prevention in urban and/or rural areas
•Controlled pyrotechnics in entertainment venues (theater productions, concerts, or public fireworks displays)
IN C
ON
CLU
SIO
N
THAN
K YO
U
QUESTIONS??
I want to remind you that I am here to assist you with any questions you have about the class. Feel free to contact me via email [email protected], or via aim nbains during office hours Mondays, 2-3, PM ET and 3-4 PM ET or by using my virtual office. If necessary, we can arrange for a phone conference.