Thesis Statements

Introductions & Conclusions

Focus on one central point or issue

Tailor the scope of the issue to the length of
the paper

accurately forecast of whats to come

Preview the organization of the paper

Be too vague or general

Include more than you can reasonably
manage in a paper
Suggest a different focus or organization
than followed in the paper
Use clichd and excess wording like In this
paper I will discuss...

with a partner, use the topic sentences to

write a thesis statement
Write sentence on board

In groups, prepare to share the following with the

class about your assigned section:
Describe the method
What is this methods advantage?
What is this methods drawback?

1. Definition

1. personal challenge
2. Quotation
2. quotation

3. Anecdote
3. ironic twist/surprise obs
4. Arresting statement
4. arresting statement
5. Interesting details question
5. question

Introduction
Body paragraphs
Conclusion

Opener
Background information or other technique
continuation
Thesis statement

Topic sentence
Supporting detail
Quote from text
Explanation of how quote shows topic
Supporting detail
Quote from text
Explanation of how quote shows topic
Concluding sentence

Closure technique
Summarize points of thesis
Closing statement

What is a pronoun?
Substitutes a noun

He, she, it, her, him, they, we, us, them

What is an antecedent?
Noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers to

Isabela gave her dog its bath.

Zack gave his sister her doll.

Do not use plural pronouns to refer to singular

antecedents

Runners must train rigorously if he or she

wants to excel.
A medical student must study hard if they
want to succeed.
The recruiter may tell the truth, but there is
much that they choose not to tell.

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun

closest to it.

It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors.

I grabbed my flashlight to begin the search
and listened for its purr.
What is purring?
The flashlight
It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors.
I grabbed my flashlight to begin the search
and listened for Magics purr.

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun

closest to it.

While driving it at 200 mph around the North

Pole, Santa swerved to avoid hitting an elf
and landed his sleigh in a snowdrift.

What is it?
We dont know until the end of the sentence.
While Santa was driving his sleigh at 200 mph
around the North Pole, Santa swerved to
avoid hitting an elf and landed in a snowdrift.

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun

closest to it.

Ive been to Canada, and I like them because

they are very kind to Americans.
Who are they?

Ive been to Canada, and I like the Canadians

because they are very kind to Americans.

Compound subjects joined by and always take

a plural referent.

Jones and Smith made their presentation.

With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the
referent pronoun agrees with the antecedent
closer to the pronoun.
Neither the director nor the actors did their

jobs.
Neither the actors nor the director did his or
her job.

Collective nouns (group, jury, crowd, team,

etc.) may be singular or plural, depending on
meaning

The jury read its verdict.

The jury is acting as one unit.

The jury members gave their opinions.

The jury members are acting as twelve
individuals.

Indefinite pronouns are singular (anybody,

anyone, anything, each, either, everybody,
everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no
one, nothing, somebody, someone,
something)

When someone has been drinking, they are

likely to speed.

When someone has been drinking, he or she is

likely to speed.

When drivers have been drinking, they are

likely to speed.
A driver who has been drinking is likely to
speed.

People are who/whose

Things are which/that

She is a person that likes pie.

She is a person who likes pie.
There is the dog who ate my pie.
There is the dog that ate my pie.

Highlight all pronouns. Circle each pronouns

antecedent. Check to ensure that they align in
singularity and plurality. If an antecedent can
not be found, create one.

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the

destiny of suffering and cancer. This approach to
health takes on a defensive rather than an offensive
stance. If you believe that more pink solves our
countries cancer epidemic you choose to participate
in this flawed thinking. Here lies the problem with
pink it represents all things incorrect with allopathic
western medicine and the theory that you will get
cancer, no action can change it so find it early keep
your fingers crossed and hope for the best. The
majority of money outside of marketing and huge
salaries for their top personnel (I bet their checks are
even pink) goes to early detection of cancer with
mammograms and treatment with drugs and surgery.

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the

destiny of suffering and cancer. This approach to
health takes on a defensive rather than an offensive
stance. If you believe that more pink solves our
countries cancer epidemic you choose to participate
in this flawed thinking. Here lies the problem with
pink it represents all things incorrect with allopathic
western medicine and the theory that you will get
cancer, no action can change it so find it early keep
your fingers crossed and hope for the best. The
majority of money outside of marketing and huge
salaries for their top personnel (I bet their checks are
even pink) goes to early detection of cancer with
mammograms and treatment with drugs and surgery.

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the

destiny of suffering and cancer. This approach to
health takes on a defensive rather than an offensive
stance. If people believe that more pink solves the
countrys cancer epidemic they choose to participate
in this flawed thinking. Here lies the problem with
pink it represents all things incorrect with allopathic
western medicine and the theory that people will get
cancer, no action can change the contraction of
disease so find it early. People should keep their
fingers crossed and hope for the best. The majority
of money outside of marketing and huge salaries for
the companys top personnel goes to early detection
of cancer with mammograms and treatment with
drugs and surgery.

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the

destiny of suffering and cancer. This approach to
health takes on a defensive rather than an offensive
stance. If one believes that more pink solves this
countries cancer epidemic one chooses to participate
in this flawed thinking. Here lies the problem with
pink it represents all things incorrect with allopathic
western medicine and the theory that everyone will
get cancer, no action can change it so find it early
keep his or her fingers crossed and hope for the best.
The majority of money outside of marketing and
huge salaries for the companys top personnel (Dr.
Alex bets the top personels checks are even pink)
goes to early detection of cancer with mammograms
and treatment with drugs and surgery.

Conferences M 10/3
Conferences are optional. However, if you choose
not to conference, to receive attendance credit for
Monday you MUST come to class Wednesday with a
fully completed rough draft.

Narrative Analysis rough drafts W 10/5

Narrative Analysis final copies M 10/10
Annotated Bibliography mulligans M 10/10
Midterm W 10/12