1. Thesis Statements
The Quick and Easy Way

2. A Thesis Statement Should:
argue a position, or outline information.
• When composing your thesis sentence:
– make sure your thesis reflects the full scope of your argument.
– avoid using a thesis that is too broad or too narrow
– argue as conceptually rich a position as you can support. Ask
yourself How? and Why? questions to deepen your thesis and
make sure you’re on the right track.
– make sure your reader can easily identify your thesis sentence.
– do not just reword the professor's question; claim your own
position.
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3. Two Types
Let’s focus on two simple types of thesis
statements – the outline and the position
Outline
This type of thesis statement should give a
list of what topics will show up in your
paper.
For example….
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4. OUTLINE
“The Ransom of Red Chief,” a short story by
O. Henry, is about two bumbling criminals who
decide to kidnap a young boy in order to collect
a ransom. What they don’t know is that this
might be the biggest mistake they’ve ever made.
There are two versions of this story, though: the
text by O. Henry, and a short film, by Tony Bill.
Though they cover the same basic story about
the ironic outcome of ‘the perfect crime,’ both
versions have large differences. We don’t notice
these differences until we look at the characters,
the plot, and the conflict.
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5. The Other Type
POSITION
The thesis statement that takes a position
is the one that tells your opinion about a
topic. This one doesn’t list anything – it
tells me what you think.
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6. POSITION
•
“The Ransom of Red Chief,” a short story by O.
Henry, is about two bumbling criminals who decide to
kidnap a young boy in order to collect a ransom. What
they don’t know is that this might be the biggest mistake
they’ve ever made. There are two versions of this story,
though: the text by O. Henry, and a short film, by Tony
Bill. Though they cover the same basic story about the
ironic outcome of ‘the perfect crime,’ both versions have
large differences. People often say the book is better
than the movie, and in this case they’re right – the short
story is far better than the movie.
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7. OR…you could do both
The Ransom of Red Chief,” a short story by O.
Henry, is about two bumbling criminals who decide to
kidnap a young boy in order to collect a ransom. What
they don’t know is that this might be the biggest mistake
they’ve ever made. There are two versions of this story,
though: the text by O. Henry, and a short film, by Tony
Bill. Though they cover the same basic story about the
ironic outcome of ‘the perfect crime,’ both versions have
large differences. People often say the book is better
than the movie, and in this case they’re right – the short
story is far better than the movie, because of the
differences between the way the characters, the plot,
and the conflict are portrayed.
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8. So…what type is this one?
• The life of the typical college student is
characterized by time spent studying,
attending class, and socializing with peers.
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9. And this one?
High school graduates should be required to
take a year off to pursue community
service projects before entering college in
order to increase their maturity and global
awareness.
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10. How will you present your Caste?
In your Caste system papers, will your
thesis statement be a list of the topics in
your paper, or will you take a stance about
the entire paper?
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