Lesson 2: Writing

Thesis
Statements
“If you have a goal,
write it down. If you
do not write it down,
you do not have a
goal- you have a
wish.”
-Steve Maraboli
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS:
 A thesis statement is the
controlling idea of our essay.
 An effective thesis statement
includes a specific subject
and our opinion on that
subject.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
 How does the thesis
statement shape my writing?
 Why is a thesis statement
integral to my writing?
 What strategies can I use to
improve my thesis statements?
OBJECTIVES:
 Evaluate a thesis
statement by knowing the
characteristics of an
effective one.
 Write an effective thesis
statement.
WARM-UP
Describe the time when you
had to travel to an unknown
place without any guide or
instructions. Use the following
questions to guide your
insights:
 How did you feel?
 How did you figure out
where to go?
 How is travelling
related to writing an
essay?
 Step 1
Pre- Writing

THE
WRITING Step 2
Writing

PROCESS
Step 3
Post - Writing
PRE - WRITING
Pre- Writing Strategies
•Brainstorming
•Clustering
• Freewriting

Writing Thesis Statements

Creating Reading and

Writing Outlines
 DEFINING THE THESIS
STATEMENT
 A thesis statement is the
central idea of an essay.
 It is not just the most important
idea, it also controls the essay by
determining what you should or
should not include in your work.
FORMULATING A THESIS
STATEMENT
 The thesis statement comes as
a result of pre-writing.
 It is the product of thinking
about your ideas, seeking
evidence and looking for
relationships between these.
 Central
NOT the idea of an
subject / topic essay
but an Most
interpretation
of the topic important
idea
Thesis
Statement

Constant Controls
reminder of the essay
your main
point Reveals and
Summarizes
the argument
EXAMPLE:

General How can we

Topic: Specific construct a
Topic: thesis
Music Original Pilipino statement for
Music
(OPM) this topic?
 Think Seek
about your Look for
evidences relationships
ideas about the
about the between
topic. your ideas.
topic.
 Working Thesis
General Statement
Specific
Topic: Topic: Rey Valera is
one of the best
Music Original
Pilipino OPM singers in
Music the Philippines.
(OPM)
 Working Thesis Statement
Thesis
General Statement The
Topic: Specific compositions
Rey Valera is
Topic: one of the
of Rey Valera
made him one
Music Original best OPM of the best
Pilipino Music singers in the OPM singers in
(OPM) Philippines. the Philippines.
 HOW TO CREATE A THESIS
STATEMENT?

Look at
your Narrow it Thesis
paper’s down to Statement
general something
subject specific
THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WILL
HELP YOU FIND OUT A THESIS
STATEMENT:
 What main idea dos most of my
pre-writing support?
 What are the relationships that
exist among my ideas?
 Which aspect of the topic seems
to be given the most detail?
 Where dos my stand seem be he
most consistent?
 What is the focus of most
interesting and significant points
of my pre-writing?
What ideas should I do more
research on?
 Whatever thesis
statement you come
up initially is called
working thesis
statement.
WORKING THESIS STATEMENT
 It is an argument containing your
stand and that you intend to prove
with evidence in the essay.
 It is called such because you may
have to adjust your thesis
statement depending on your
research and writing.
EXAMPLE WORKING THESIS
STATEMENT:
“High school seniors
become more
responsible because of
joining the ROTC
program.”
REVISED WORKING THESIS
STATEMENT:

“High school seniors who join

the ROTC program develop
better leadership skills because
of the discipline instilled in
them by the program.”
As you can see, creating a
thesis statement results
from looking at your
paper’s general subject
and narrowing it down to
something specific.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN
EFFECTIVE THESIS STATEMENT
1. Responds to the assignment
by following instructions
2. Expresses the main idea in
one to two sentences
3. Focuses on a certain issue
4. States a stand on the topic
5. Says something meaningful by
answering the questions: “So
what?”, “How?”, “Why?”
6. Previews the rest of the essay by
being placed in the introduction
7. Reflects a tone and point-of-view
appropriate to the identified
purpose and audience
MORE GUIDELINES ON WRITING
THESIS STATEMENTS
1. Avoid making overly-
opinionated stands.
2. Avoid making
announcements.
3. Avoid stating only facts.
OVERLY – OPINIONATED

Childhood vaccination against

deadly infectious diseases is the
only one and most effective way to
prevent the resurgence of these
diseases in the U.S.
ANNOUNCEMENT

In this paper, I will show why

vaccinations against deadly
infectious diseases should be
mandatory for all children in the U.S.
FACTS

Vaccinations against deadly

infectious diseases should be
mandatory for all children in the U.S.
GOOD THESIS STATEMENT

Mandatory childhood vaccination

against deadly infectious diseases is
the most effective way to prevent
the resurgence of these diseases in
the U.S.
EXERCISES