Evidence & Thesis Practice

Instructions: Choose one prompt from your completed “Prompt Break Down Practice” assignment. For that
single prompt, select evidence and generate a thesis. Insert text anywhere it says “type here.”

Which prompt are you using? Prompt !: 2015 (Polite Speech)- An anthropologist studying first-year students at a
university in the United States writes that friendly phrases like “How are you?,””Nice to meet you,” and “Let’s get in
touch” communicate politeness rather than literal intent. What, if anything, is the value or function of such polite
speech?

Question Evidence
What evidence do I know of that Polite phrases can communicate politeness and literal intent.
relates to the idea(s) found in this
prompt?

Who is my audience? What are The audience is anyone who is friendly, and uses these phrases when greeting and
their backgrounds, values, beliefs, talking to someone or even just walking past someone.
and needs?

Will my evidence be acceptable I think that it will be acceptable because friendly phrases apply to many people, they
based on the backgrounds, values, use them frequently.
beliefs, and needs of my audience?

Selecting Evidence
S³ (General) Somewhat Specific Specific
(Topic Sentence) (Textual Evidence)

Type of Evidence: In this column, you Friendly phrases communicate Friendly phrases are a habit for most
will classify your evidence. Make sure to politeness when talking to someone people, and the function of most
consider how your audience will respond and having a run-in, or a nice polite phrases is to start a
to the type of evidence you provide. conversation. conversation, and they keep it going.
Subject(s)
● English
● History
● Math
● Science and Technology

Society
● Mass Media
● Sports
● Literature
● Art
● Religious

Self
● Personal Experience Audience Acceptable?
● Secondary Anecdote ● Yes
● Hypothetical Example ● No

Why?
 This applies to thte audience since
most people use friendly phrases.

What do I want my audience to I want my audience to understand the purpose and the efficacy of using polite
understand? (Will my evidence direct my phrases.
audience toward this understanding?)

What do I want my audience to do? I want my audience to try and use polite phrases to make someone’s day better
or start a conversation.

Generate a Thesis
Generating a complex thesis Your thesis that responds to the prompt and will guide
the essay (complex & nuanced!)

It’s now time to generate a thesis that will guide your essay. Polite phrases communicate politeness to other people
Because your essay is meant to be sophisticated, it must present rather than intent because friendly phrases communicate
compound and/or complex thoughts about the issue(s) you are that you want to start a conversation, they are a habit for
discussing; consequently, your thesis should be a compound, most people, and when you say a friendly phrase you are
complex, or compound-complex sentence. Feel free to use any
trying to show that you want to start a conversation and
of the general templates below (as long as they fit the prompt),
or you can make sure that you include at least one of the words
that you are friendly.
in italics at the bottom of this box when you construct your own
thesis.

Template 1 (Claim about topic) because (list reason(s)).

Template 2 (Claim(s) about topic) because (list unifying

idea/reason).

Template 3 (Concession/counterargument language)

(concession/counter claim), (claim about topic you will prove).

Template 4 (Concession/counterargument language)

(concession/counter claim); however, (claim about topic you
will prove) because (unifying idea/reason).

Increase complexity without using a template:

Although ←Implies Concession or Counterargument

Because
; however,* ←Implies Concession or Counterargument
While ←Implies Concession or Counterargument
; consequently,*
Though ←Implies Concession or Counterargument
Even though ←Implies Concession or Counterargument
In order to
Until
Provided that
Since ←Implies Concession or Counterargument
; thus,*

*Use Mid-sentence, not at the beginning