Thesis Statement and Claims

• THESIS STATEMENT

  > a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay

  > briefly states the purpose of your paper and why it is important

  > found usually at the end of an introduction and acts as a roadmap for the rest of your paper

  > a single sentence at the end of your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader.
• How to Formulate a Thesis Statement?

  1. Determine what kind of Paper you are writing
  2. Your thesis statement should be specific
  3. The Thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper
  4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper
• DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF PAPER YOU ARE WRITING:

  1. An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
  2. An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
  3. An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence.
• YOUR THESIS STATEMENT SHOULD BE SPECIFIC

  ➢ it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

  ➢ The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same and some different.

  ➢ BAD

  ➢ While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions.

  ➢ GOOD
• Thesis Statement Examples

  1. Analytical Paper
  2. Argumentative Paper
  3. Expository Paper
• • Analytical Paper

  In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes the character of Atticus Finch to explore the complexities of moral integrity in the face of societal prejudice, demonstrating how individual acts of courage can challenge ingrained societal norms and promote change.
• • ARGUMENTATIVE PAPER

  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.
• Parts of Thesis Statement

  1. Topic - subject of the text (ex. Regulating Children's Mobile Gaming)
  2. Position - the writer's stand on the topic (ex. Parents should regulate the amount of time their children spend on mobile gaming
• 3. Reason/s - explanation and justification of your position (ex. 1. It inhibits social interaction; 2. It shortens children's attention span; 3. It is not always intellectually stimulating)

  4. Concession - an opposing viewpoint on the topic (ex. Mobile gaming can be educational)
• Basic Thesis Statement


  Topic + Position
• Thesis Statement with Concession

  Basic Thesis Statement + Concession
• Thesis Statement with Concession and Reason

  Basic Thesis Statement + Concession + Reason/s
• Thesis Statement with Reason

  Basic Thesis Statement + Reason/s
• Claim


  Writer's point or position regarding the chosen topic
• Claims are also known as the central argument or thesis statement of the text
• The writer tries to prove the claim in the text by providing details, explanations, and other types of evidence
• Claims are usually found in the introduction or in the first few paragraphs of the text
• Claims define the paper's direction and scope
• Characteristics of a good claim

  • Argumentative and debatable
  • Specific and focused
  • Interesting and engaging
  • Logical
• Claim of Fact


  Makes an assertion about something that can be proved or disproved with factual evidence
• Claim of Fact cannot simply consist of a statistic or proven fact
• Claim of Fact focuses on an assertion which uses facts to back it up, but for which the evidence might still be debatable
• Claim of Fact


  • The water boils at 100 degrees Celsius
  • Seoul is the capital city of South Korea
  • As of 2021, around 60% of the global population has internet access, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union
• Claim of Fact usually answers a "what" question
• Claim of Value


  Argues that something is good or bad, or right or wrong or that one thing is better than another thing
• Claim of Value attempts to explain how problems, situations, or issues ought to be valued
• Claim of Policy


  Argues that certain conditions should exist, or that something should or should not be done, in order to solve a problem
• Claim of Policy defends actionable plans, usually answer "how" questions