Unit 2: Thesis Statements and Outlining

Lesson 1
What Is a Thesis Statement?

English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Senior High School Applied - Academic
For our papers
to be
convincing, we
must first
define our
stand
concretely.
How do we
write a strong
thesis
statement?
ENGAG EXPLOR EVALUAT
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PRE-TEST
Thesis statement is the central idea of an
essay, around which all
other ideas revolve.

FACT BLUFF
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Senior High School Applied - Academic
PRE-TEST
A thesis statement is usually placed in
the introduction so that the
reader knows what to expect in
reading your essay.

FACT BLUFF
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Senior High School Applied - Academic
PRE-TEST

A thesis statement is the subject or topic itself and

an interpretation of the topic.

FACT BLUFF
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
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PRE-TEST

It is the thesis statement that always needs to be

identified before the outline itself.

FACT BLUFF
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PRE-TEST

State only facts when writing a thesis statement.

FACT BLUFF
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 PICTURE ANALYSIS

What is a thesis statement?

English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Senior High School Applied - Academic
THESIS STATEMENT
..is the central idea of an essay, around
which all other ideas revolve. It is not just the
most important idea; it also controls the
essay by determining what you should
include in your work.

PURPOSE OF WRITING
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Senior High School Applied - Academic
 SAMPLE ANALYSIS
THESIS STATEMENT TOPIC SENTENCE

Human activities are the primary
drivers of climate change, and
urgent global action is required to
mitigate its severe consequences
One of the key aspects of climate
change is the rise in global
temperatures, which is primarily
caused by the emission of
greenhouse gases

What is the difference?

English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Senior High School Applied - Academic
ELEMENTS OF A THESIS STATEMENT
 Topic
 Argument/Claim
 Evidence
Research has shown that cheese has healthy
tendencies because its calcium provides necessary
nutrients for the growth of bone and teeth, it boosts
the growthEnglish
of forfood bacteria in the gut, and it has
Academic and Professional Purposes
protein thatSenior
helps cells repair themselves.
High School Applied - Academic
CHARACTERISTICS OF A THESIS STATEMENT

● It shows your stand on an issue.

● It answers a question.
● It makes a claim that can be disputed.
● It is a single sentence at the start of your
paper that presents your argument to the
readers.

ENGAG EXPLOR EVALUAT

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A THESIS STATEMENT

● It NOT a fact.
● It is NOT a question.
● It is NOT an announcement.

ENGAG EXPLOR EVALUAT

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 How to Write a Thesis Statement
● Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you
do upon receiving an assignment or task.
● A thesis must be the result of a long process
of thinking and planning.
● Before you can develop any kind of thesis,
you must first do your research on the topic.

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How to Write a Thesis Statement

● Look for information and evidence, then

organize them based on the points they
make.
● Look for possible relationships between
pieces of information.
● Analyze and find the significance of these
relationships.
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How to Write a Thesis Statement

● Afterward, you will most likely be able to

come up with a “working thesis” that has a
basic main idea.
● It’s okay if your thesis and your arguments
might need adjustments along the way.

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How to Write a Thesis Statement

● What matters is that you can find substantial

evidence to support a more concrete thesis,
even if you had to adjust from time to time.

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What to Avoid in Writing Thesis Statements
The officers of the The officers of the Reserve
Reserve Officers Officers Training Corps
should exercise more
Training Corps are
responsibility toward their
merciless slave authority by being sensitive
drivers who abuse to how they lead their fellow
their fellow students. students.

Avoid an overly-opinionated stand.

English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Senior High School Applied - Academic
What to Avoid in Writing Thesis Statements
SOGIE Bill should be
passed because it
SOGIE Bill
ensures that all basic should be
human rights are
available to all people, passed.
regardless of sexual
orientation or gender
expression.”

Avoid generalizing stand or claim.

English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Senior High School Applied - Academic
What to Avoid in Writing Thesis Statements
Using metal straws Metal straws are a band-aid
instead of plastic solution to the problem of
global warming because in
straws is an effective
mass-producing metal
way to reduce the straws for people to use,
amount of waste in large companies continue to
the country. emit dangerous amounts of
CO2 into the environment.

Avoid making claims

English for without
Academic and Professional
Senior High School Applied - Academic
evidence or proofs.
Purposes
What to Avoid in Writing Thesis Statements
Quarantine and social Quarantine and
distancing are effective
in fighting COVID-19 social distancing are
because they slow down effective in fighting
the rate at which people COVID-19 because
get infected with the
virus. they flatten the curve.

English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Avoid language or jargons that are not familiar among the readers.
Senior High School Applied - Academic
In summary….

What are your “AHA”

moments after our session
today?

ENGAG EXPLOR EVALUAT

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“Creating a Thesis Statement, Thesis Statement Tips.” Purdue Writing Lab.
Bibliography
Accessed February 21, 2020.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/thesis_stat
ement_tips.html
.

Thesis Statements. The Writing Center. Accessed February 21, 2020.

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/.

Vos, Lesley. “How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement for Your Essay.”
Bid4papers, October 31, 2019.
https://bid4papers.com/blog/thesis-statement/.

“Writing a Thesis Statement.” Ashford Writing Center. Accessed February 21,

2020. https://writingcenter.ashford.edu/writing-a-thesis.

“Writing Tips: Thesis Statements.” Center for Writing Studies. Accessed

February 21, 2020.
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/thesis/.

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