Answering your research question and making a

smashing claim.

Thesis or Thesicle?

Don't laugh... it's a real word.

Source: the Oxford English Dictionary

Talk to a partner about the following:• What is a thesis? Why is it important for a paper?

• What should you consider when crafting a thesis for a 20 page paper versus a short paper or essay?

• What are the elements of a good thesis?

Thesis defined:

A statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved : his central thesis is that psychological life is not part of the material world.ORIGIN late Middle English (sense 3) : via late Latin from Greek, literally ‘placing, a proposition,’ from the root of tithenai ‘to place.’

Source: Oxford American Dictionary

What makes a strong thesis?

A strong thesis is...    ... debatable.    ... narrowed and specific.    ... answers your research question.    ... can be supported with evidence from multiple sources.    ... is significant and interesting.

What's wrong with this thesicle?

Thesicle: Pollution is bad for the environment.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

How would you revise this to be DEBATABLE?

Thesicle: Pollution is bad for the environment.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

Thesis:

How would you revise this to be DEBATABLE?

Thesicle: Pollution is bad for the environment.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

Thesis 1: At least twenty-five percent of the federal budget should be spent on limiting pollution.

How would you revise this to be DEBATABLE?

Thesicle: Pollution is bad for the environment.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

Thesis 2: America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars.

What's wrong with this thesicle?

Thesicle: Drug use is detrimental to society.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

What needs to be defined or specified?

Thesicle: Drug use is detrimental to society.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

• What is meant by drugs? (recreational, illegal, medical?)

• In what specific ways are drugs harmful?• Who is society? America or the global

population? Is there a distinction between children or adults?

How would you revise this to be FOCUSED?

Thesicle: Drug use is detrimental to society.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

Thesis:

How would you revise this to be FOCUSED?

Thesicle: Drug use is detrimental to society.

Source: the Purdue Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/

Thesis focus: illegal drugs and gang violence.Thesis: Illegal drug use is detrimental because it encourages gang violence.

You Get the Idea

Any Questions?

Articulating your thesis

Moving from your research question and notes to a working

thesis.

Creating a Working Thesis

For the next 10 minutes, you will begin to synthesize your evidence and begin to articulate a working thesis. You will have two options for how to do this work.

Option 1: Organize your Evidence

Option 1:Organize and categorize your evidence.• What is the evidence telling you? What is the story?• How can you use the evidence to answer your

research question?• Potential creations: mindmap, list of categories, etc.

Option 2: Freewrite

Option 2:Freewrite about your topic.• What are the trends in the research you have done

so far?• Based on your research, what do you think you

might argue about?• What will be the most important evidence to support

your claim?

Creating a Working Thesis

After 10 minutes of working independently, you will meet with your research group and report on the following:• State your research question• Talk about the reflective work you did today.• State your working thesis.

Each group will then give feedback to the presenter, ask questions, and make suggestions.

Get started!

Option 1:Begin by organizing and categorizing your evidence.• What is the evidence

telling you? What is the story?

• How can you use the evidence to answer your research question?

• Potential creations: mindmap, list of categories, etc.

Option 2:Begin by freewriting about your topic.• What are the trends in

the research you have done so far?

• Based on your research, what do you think you might argue about?

• What will be the most important evidence to support your claim?

Meet with your Research Team

After 10 minutes of working independently, you will meet with your research group and report on the following:• State your research question• Talk about the reflective work you did today.• State your working thesis.

Each group will then give feedback to the presenter, ask questions, and make suggestions.

Created by Sarah Clark for Windward School.Find out more about what is happening at Windward at

ctl.windwardschool.org