Perlis matriculation college

WB013

Tutorial : a3t8B
Group members : 1) Yeoh han
2) nurul aina binti ismail
3) nur zawani husna binti azhar
Lecturers name : madam ZuHaIda BT ABDULLAH
What is thesis statement???
tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under
discussion

tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper

makes a claim that others might dispute

usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper(most often, at the end
of the first paragraph)
How to create a thesis?
Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organise

evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising

contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once

you do this thinking, you will probably have a working thesis that presents a basic or

main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the

argument and your these are likely to need adjustment along the way.
What makes a good thesis statement?
Substantial - Your thesis should be a claim for which it is easy to answer every
reader's question: "So what?"

Supportable - A thesis must be a claim that you can prove with the evidence at
hand (e.g., evidence from your texts or from your research).
 Accurate - An effective thesis statement has been narrowed down from a very
broad subject. Your claim should not be something on which whole books could be
written.

Arguable - A thesis statement should not be a statement of fact or an statement with

which every reader is likely to immediately agree. (Otherwise, try to convince your
readers with an argument.)

Relevant - If you are responding to an assignment, the thesis should answer the
question your teacher has posed. In order to stay focused, pay attention to the task
words in the assignment: summarise, argue, compare/contrast, etc.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY THESIS IS STRONG?
Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a
working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question.

Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose?If your thesis
simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, its possible that
you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.

Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too blur often
do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like good or
successful, see if you could be more specific: why is something good; what
specifically makes something successful?
 Does my thesis pass the So what? test? If a readers first response is likely
to be So what? then you need to explain, to form a relationship, or to connect to
a larger issue.

Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your

thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to
change. Its okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured
out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your
writing as necessary.

Does my thesis pass the how and why? test? If a readers first response is
how? or why? your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the
reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position
right from the beginning.
Examples of good thesis statement
At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on limiting pollution.

This is an example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree

with it. Some people might think that this is how we should spend the nation's money.

Others might feel that we should be spending more money on education. Still others

could argue that corporations, not the government, should be paying to limit pollution.
Narrowed debatable thesis 1:

At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on helping

upgrade business to clean technologies, researching renewable energy
sources, and planting more trees in order to control or eliminate pollution.

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount

of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution.
 America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars.

In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals. Some

citizens might think focusing on recycling programs rather than private automobiles is

the most effective strategy.

Narrowed debatable thesis 2:

America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars because it

would allow most citizens to contribute to national efforts and care about the
outcome.

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus of

a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate

focus.
Example of a narrow or focused thesis:

Illegal drug use is detrimental because it encourages gang violence.

In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the

detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This is a much more manageable

topic.
An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim.

While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the
disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline.

This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played

a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe.

The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is

true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this

claim." So that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and

another about the disintegration of economies.

A strong thesis statement is specific.

Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the
infertile soil is rarely profitable.

This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and

manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.
Q:What should be done to reduce sugar consumption by children, and who should do
it?

Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times
the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to
replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

Notice how the thesis answers the question, What should be done to reduce sugar

consumption by children, and who should do it? When you started thinking about the

paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you became more

involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect

your new insights.

Thank you!!!