Thesis paragraph

It is not always easy to consolidate and narrow down the entire essence of your paper or your research into a single sentence. But don t worry. Just as you allowed yourself to brainstorm for your outline, take a blank sheet of paper and write down a full, flowing, practice paragraph that includes several sentences about why you are writing your paper and why you think the topic is important. This gives you plenty of material to draw from and sentences to edit that are already about your topic. For example, a preliminary thesis paragraph might look like this ... 

The thesis paragraph is often the most difficult part of the essay to write because it requires you to fit a considerable amount of information in a relatively small space. Although there is no shortcut to a good thesis paragraph, we believe that the following patterns make the writing process a little easier. 

A. THE BASIC THESIS PARAGRAPH INCLUDES AN INTRODUCTION, A THESIS STATEMENT, AND A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE POINTS THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED. 

Paragraph I Introduction and thesis paragraph Sentence 1 Introduction (one to two sentences)... 

B. A MORE DETAILED THESIS PARAGRAPH MAY ALSO INCLUDE A DISCUSSION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR TOPIC. 

In a short essay (one to six pages), acknowledge the opposing points of view in the thesis paragraph. 

Introduction/thesis paragraph One-half page (125 words) Discussion Three pages (750 words)... 

The planning steps in Section 1 have led you to the next stage in the process, writing a rough draft. You broke down the assignment, brainstormed ideas, focused your topic, developed a tentative thesis, and sketched an outline. All of that work has provided a framework that you can now flesh out with sentences and paragraphs that bring your ideas to your audience. 

While there is no rule that states exactly where you should place your thesis statement, because it helps your reader by identifying your purpose, it should appear within the first or second paragraph of your essay. You want your reader to know before they read too much what idea you will develop. Think of it this way Imagine someone you don t know calls you on the phone. After she introduces herself, you expect that she ll tell you why she s calling. What does she want If she doesn t tell you, you could become annoyed, suspicious, and even angry. You deserve the courtesy of an explanation, and so does your reader. That explanation is your thesis statement. 

Paragraphs are the essay in microcosm. Just as an essay is driven by one main idea (its thesis), a good paragraph is also held together by one controlling idea. This idea is usually stated in a topic sentence. 

Topic sentences are like mini thesis statements. Just as your thesis statement expressed the main idea of your essay, topic sentences express the main idea of each paragraph. Like a thesis, the main idea must ... 

You are writing an essay on the subject of censorship on the Internet. Take a stance on this issue and write a brief thesis statement on a separate sheet of paper or on your computer. Then, come up with three supporting points. Next, play devil s advocate and list three points the opposition might make. Finally, write a brief paragraph in which you acknowledge one of those points. 

As important as the amount of support is its relevance to the thesis. What good are ten supporting paragraphs if they re not supporting the right idea Read the following essay carefully, paying particular attention to the support provided for the thesis. 

If you ve identified more than one idea in a paragraph, you should probably break it into two paragraphs. But before you move text, make sure each idea is clearly related to the thesis. If it s not, it needs to be reworked or deleted. (If you didn t catch it when you were revising the big picture, here s another chance.) Remember the importance of maintaining focus in your essay—unrelated paragraphs not only get you off track, but also often confuse readers as well. 

Once you ve identified the controlling idea of each paragraph, check to see that each idea is sufficiently developed. Topic sentences, like thesis statements, make assertions about your subject. And those assertions need support. Look carefully at any paragraph that consists of only one or two sentences. Chances are, they re seriously underdeveloped. The only time you should have a one-sentence paragraph is when you intentionally decide to emphasize the idea in that sentence. 

Sit down, resist the temptation to open a book or browse the Internet, and ask yourself these 5 W s. All good thesis statements contain these 5 W s, and good pieces of writing usually answer the 5 W s within the first paragraph, sometimes within the very first sentence. 

Again, you can change the wording of your thesis statement later, but for now try to express your idea so that you can write it at the top of your outline. In this way, you can always make sure that all your evidence, all your paragraphs in the body of your paper and in the... 

Remember your outline Each paragraph of your paper in the body was carefully outlined and supported in Point 1, Point 2, and Point 3. As you write your paper and fill in your outline with aU the facts and statistics that support your thesis, you still have to write in such a way that your evidence continues to convince your reader. Again, let s imagine the courtroom. Suppose you have been hired as an attorney to defend a client in a hit and run car accident and your client has told you that... 

In other words. Exhibit A is crucial to your case because it provides clear evidence that your client is innocent. If Exhibit A were a photograph of the neighborhood supermarket that was several miles away from the reported accident or a picture of the neighborhood park on a sunny day, your evidence would be irrelevant and not useful to your client or the case you were trying to prove. Similarly, every section, paragraph, point, quotation, and statistic must be relevant to your thesis. Not only should your evidence be relevant but it must support your thesis beyond a shadow of a doubt and be worded in such a way that the reader will have no second thoughts as to what you are proving. 

Choose one of the thesis statements from Lesson 3, and write two or three topic sentences that you could use for paragraphs in a rough draft. 

Does each paragraph relate to the thesis statement ... 

Do the paragraphs support the thesis statement Is the support specific Is it convincing ... 

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