ENC 1102 Hybrid Day 5 – Thesis statements [W 1-25]
Goals:
-Gain a better understanding of what a thesis is and the role it plays in closed form
writing
-discuss unity and coherence in relation to thesis statements
-brainstorm and develop thesis statements with peer feedback
Journal:
1.
What is the function of the thesis in a closed-form piece?
2.
Why and how do you make the thesis arguable and interesting to your readers?
Debrief, Discuss Unity and Coherence
What does the thesis do? Says the main point, tells the reader why they should be
interested in your piece, forecasts what is to come, “closes” the closed form piece by
determining what you include or “let in” and what you exclude or “keep out”: include
what has to do with the thesis, keep out what doesn’t.
Why make the thesis arguable or surprising? Readers are bored if the thesis only tells
them what they already know, or what is obvious. It’s really as simple as that. It can seem
like there’s no point to your piece if the thesis is totally unsurprising.
Unity and Coherence
A thesis is the main idea that unifies a text. Everything should connect back to this
central idea. Coherence-all of the related ideas proceed logically from beginning to end.
Have them read paragraphs A and B on pp 578-579. A is neither about one thing
(unified) nor do the sentences lead from one to the other (coherent). B leads from one
thing to the other (coherent), but is not about one thing (unified).
Finally have them read C, as an example of unity and coherence.
They don’t include a “unified but incoherent” example. Those typically aren’t as
senseless as otherwise.
All-about, And-then, Engfish
Tell them what we’re going to do now: “I want to look at three bad structures. Then later
in the class we’re going to look at how a tense, surprising thesis can be used to fix/ avoid
those structures.”
Refer them to 582-585. Get this on the board by asking questions:
All-about structure: piles up heaps of data, organizes into categories; says everything
without worrying about what should be left out (no clear angle of vision) Ex: “The author
of this text uses ethos, pathos, logos, word choice, and structure to make her point.” PICK
A SPECIFIC POINT/RHETORICAL STRATEGY AND ANALYZE IT.
And-then structure: tells a story; coherent without making a point Ex: “First, the author
presents his first reason of support, then he gives an example. Next, he addresses a
counterargument, and then provides more research to support his point. Finally…”
Engfish: has a thesis, points support the thesis, but the thesis is trivial and boring, can’t
possibly be false, doesn’t need to be argued for; a “mailed in” paper. Ex: “The author
uses diction to prove his point.” Everyone uses word choice.
So what can we do to avoid these boring theses/structures? What can we do to make a
thesis arguable, interesting, or even surprising?
How can you make it surprising?
1.
Change a reader’s view. If you know what your reader thinks already, you can
typically surprise them by putting forward a novel argument about why they should
change their minds. You might argue about that a certain course of action was wrong
when they thought it was right (“Although support for Obama’s stimulus bill is
widespread, actually the bill is a bad idea.”) or that a common way of reading an essay
isn’t the best way (“Most people would look at Thomas Friedman’s ’30 Little Turtles’ as
an anecdote and a reflection, but I think Friedman is actually making a sneaky
argument.”) or you might make a new scientific point (“My research shows that alligators
are much more important to the ecology of the Everglades than previously thought.”)
2.
Tension. The problem is that you don’t always know what your reader’s previous
view is – your reader may not even have a view on your subject beforehand, depending
on the audience. Sometimes you have to create tension for your self, by proposing two
new views and deciding between them. You can also create tension between two aspects
of a subject. Examples from book on p.44 The reader’s curiosity about how the tension
between the two views plays out – about how you support your view in spite of the other
– is what gets your reader to keep reading.
Review thesis brainstorming homework
Take a look at the ideas you came up with for homework. Which of these ideas seems
most arguable or interesting? Do you see any that might be more like the bad structures
above? Take a few minutes and try to decide on or revise a thesis (or two or three) to use
for your analysis.
If time:
In groups, present thesis ideas and offer suggestions to your classmates.
How could the thesis be more specific or arguable?
REVIEW HW:
-thesis feedback on forums
-outline for Monday
CONFERENCE SIGN UP