nerate a topic sentence for every paragraph I intend to write. One of the most dreaded parts of writing an essay is the thesis statement. While I still take an abnormal amount of time to decide on a thesis statement I like, I have gained quite a lot of knowledge in how to form one and where to place it. Writing Writing will become so much less dreadful once you understand the structure of a thesis statement. Though simple, the best way I came to understand a thesis is this: it should answer a question. Learning to develop an argument with a thesis is important; learning how to present that argument throughout a paper was so much more so. This writing class better helped me understand the intrinsic rules of structuring arguments, which went
College has always been a process that introduces students to academic challenges that are not present during high school. So when my professor assigned Gerald Graff's essay, "Hidden Intellectualism", I thought this was his thesis. “Missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts and channel them into good academic work." (Graff 142) I thought that this was his thesis because it explains the main idea of the essay but I assumed its purpose because of where it’s placed. I am so used to reading an essay in high school where the thesis is located right in the first paragraph. So naturally that is where I look for it. However, with more reading I knew that the following is the thesis, not only because it discusses the main topic, but because it clearly shows what the author was making his argument about. "But [students] would be more prone to take on intellectual identities if we encouraged them to do so at first on subjects that interest them rather than the ones that interest us". (Graff 199) Your thesis is one of the major aspects of a good college paper because it shows exactly what the main claim of the entire paper is going to be about. Three main points to take out of a thesis is, is it your main claim or big idea that directly answers a question about the assignment of the paper. Is it written with the reader in mind with a road map they could follow along easily and lastly when you do go back through revising and reflecting does it makes your thesis clearer.
Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
This course and writing these essays has drastically improved my writing capabilities. Before this course I could not write an enthymeme or effectively write an argumentative paper. Establishing a clear and strong enthymeme to a question at issues helps me organize my ideas within the body paragraphs and keeps me from becoming repetitive. I understand now that addressing a counter argument strengthens my paper and helps tell the reader that you know your topic and have strong reasons. I look forward to using the writing skills I learned in this class towards future writing opportunities either with my studies or outside of school. I will continue to use enthymemes to effectively state my claim and reason and to strengthen my argument.
On the “Benchmark - Rhetorical Analysis of a Public Document Final Draft” essay I got a valuable advice from the tutor. The introduction paragraph was weak and the lack of thesis statement was obvious to the reader. As far as I can see this is my weak point. Same advice I got from my classmates on the “The “Unsung Heroes” about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” and “Misdiagnose and Overuse of drugs for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD)” essays. The comments gave me an opportunity to fix my mistakes and use the formula for thesis statement from “Writing
Muller, G.H. and Wiener, H.S. (2009). To the point: Reading and writing short arguments. New York: Pearson Education, Inc
In this section of the outline, draft a possible introductory paragraph. Remember that the introduction should identify the subject of your analysis and provide the overall purpose for writing. Because the thesis statement normally serves as the transitional point between the introduction and body, draft your tentative thesis as the last sentence of the introduction.
I will always be aware of making an argument that best suits my knowledge and providing evidence to support my thesis statement. I now realize the importance of making an argument because you are stating your stance on the topic at hand. Also, I realize the importance of giving sufficient and appropriate evidence to show the agreeing and opposing views. Learning this at this point in the semester will further my understanding of writing in this course. On the final assignments in this course, I will be sure to state my argument and supply evidence. The experience of learning from this module will positively affect my performance in future writing courses majorly. Like I stated earlier, on further writing assignments I will apply what I have learned because it will stick with me forever. Whether I am writing a science paper, business report, or even creating a report at work in the future, I will be able to use the skills I have
The most troublesome part of witting an essay is to generate a thesis statement which is clear and specific to a certain
...ragraphs that support the argument. The easiest part of this component was actually inserting it in my essay after I understood the purpose for it, because at the beginning I was confused on the whole thesis concept. The thesis was the most challenging because I kept asking myself "Can I really argue this for five to six pages?" and also "Is this even considered a thesis statement?" I noticed that I can speak and write more effectively when I'm thinking critically and intellectually. My sentence structure has always been strong and I feel it has grown because of the practice we have had in class with finding thesis statements in our readings. My overall issue with this component of the writing process is using a justifiable argument and remembering to support my argument with claims and trying not to put unnecessary points in my paper while maintaining my ethos.
...which is why I put so much pressure on myself to get it right. My biggest downfall is I put my writing down and just feel it’s never good enough. I think since I am a math person, my writing can’t be as good as it would be, if I could just follow a formula, I think the solution to this would be an outline. I feel having these key features fixed, and not being so hard on my work can boost a “C” essay up to a “B” essay. In all my English classes, they’ve told me how influential your thesis and hook can be, to the reader and to your essay. I just feel mine needs a bunch of work, but I will need to take a different look at how my writing comes out to really get better. I think if I took steps like going to a tutor, asking questions to help fix up my paragraphs, consulting others, or putting extra time into my essays would help match my writing up with my high standards.
Being taught the importance of outlining ideas and getting all thoughts together first. This classes how shows the proper way to structure an essay by starting with the thesis statement. Next completing the 3 body paragraphs to correspond with the thesis statement, and how to use transition words to go from one paragraph to the next. Then completing the conclusion, and lastly writing the introduction paragraph. Before this class I dreaded writing essays, but knowing how to properly write them has made it so much easier. This class also has helpful tools, for example Connect to help with the proper use of punctuation like commas and semicolons. Using proper punctuation had been difficult for me in the past. Students are taught how to properly combine sentences, and how to determine if sentences are able to stand alone. Along with learning the importance of prewriting and editing. Since taking this class I am begun to enjoy
Organization – From there, outline each part of your essay into sections that go to build and support the argument. Ask yourself, “What does my reader need to know in order to understand the topic? What do I need to prove FIRST in order to get to what I want to discuss LATER?
Writing a strong thesis will set the tone for the overall of your paper and serves a guideline on how it will be written. Many writers have different styles that are used for research papers. Based on the direction that the writer is heading with the introduction of the paper, the main objective is to capture the audience interest.
subject) and gradually narrows to a specific thesis. The thesis, or thesis statement, tells the reader what you
3. Work on developing your introductory paragraph. A good introduction should be at least four sentences including the thesis statement. The thesis, itself, should be the last sentence in the introduction.