What’s all this
“Thesis” stuff?
it is the key, everything from writing
an interesting essay to getting a
good score flows from the thesis
statement
What is a thesis?
• First, last and forever,
• … a thesis answers the question! It
responds to the prompt.
 Again, it must answer the question
(prompt), all parts of the question. If
there are three parts to the prompt,
there must be three corresponding
parts to the thesis.
What is a thesis?
Is an argument, a position that you are
taking.
It must be explicit, obvious and in your
reader’s face.
This is no place for subtlety!
What is a thesis?
It must be focused on the evidence,
either the prior knowledge you are
bringing to the essay
or the documents offered, if any
or both.
What is a thesis?
Must be persuasive and positive.
Be able to stand alone without the
reader having seen the prompt
What is a thesis?
 Is a statement with which your
reader might disagree or agree.
What is a thesis?
• If…
• Your thesis statement does no more
than restate the prompt, then…
• It is NOT a thesis .
Rampolla, Mary Lynn
• Prompt: How were the lives of the Plains
Indians in the second half of the
nineteenth century affected by
technological developments and
government actions
• Sucky Thesis:
– The lives of the Plains Indians in the second
half of the nineteenth century were affected
by the technological developments and
government actions.
Duh!!
What is a thesis?
• If…
• Your thesis statement poses a
question without proposing an
answer, then…
• It is NOT a thesis .
Rampolla, Mary Lynn
• Prompt: How were the lives of the Plains
Indians in the second half of the
nineteenth century affected by
technological developments and
government actions
• Sucky Thesis:
– If it weren’t for technological developments
and government actions in the late nineteenth
century, the results would have been
completely different.
So what?!?
What is a thesis?
• If…
• Your thesis statement merely
articulates a fact or a series of facts,
then…
• It is NOT a thesis .
Rampolla, Mary Lynn
• Prompt: How were the lives of the Plains
Indians in the second half of the
nineteenth century affected by
technological developments and
government actions
• Sucky Thesis:
– Plains Indians had a rough time after the
1875 Battle of Little Big Horn when they lost
to General Custer, who was also a general in
the Civil War.
Sucks!
What is a thesis?
• If…
• Your thesis statement simply reflects
a personal belief or preference,
then…
• It is NOT a thesis .
Rampolla, Mary Lynn
• Prompt: How were the lives of the Plains
Indians in the second half of the
nineteenth century affected by
technological developments and
government actions
• Sucky Thesis:
– Plains Indians got screwed by a racist,
American government that still implements
policies that hurt people like my family.
TMI!
What is a thesis?
• If…
• Your thesis statement proposes an
answer to a question you have
posed as a result of your reading AND
asserts a conclusion with which a
reader might disagree, and which can
be supported by evidence, then…
• It is a effective thesis. YAY!
Rompolla, Mary Lynn
• Prompt: How were the lives of the Plains
Indians in the second half of the nineteenth
century affected by technological developments
and government actions
• Amazing Thesis:
– Although their demise may have been
inevitable, the Plains Indians, from the Civil
War forward, suffered a significant decline in
population because of technology, such as
the Gatling Gun, and governmental actions,
such as the Reservation System.
Bravo!
–Although their demise may have
been inevitable, the Plains Indians,
from the Civil War forward, suffered
a significant decline in population
because of technology, such as the
Gatling Gun, and governmental
actions, such as the Reservation
System.
• Prompt: How were the lives of
the Plains Indians in the
second half of the nineteenth
century affected by
technological developments
and government actions
• More general attack…
–Although their demise may have
been inevitable, the Plains Indians,
from the Civil War forward, suffered
a significant decline in population
because of technology, such as the
improvement of firearms, and the
governmental actions of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs.
So now you have a prompt…
• What’s first?
–Read the Question
• What’s second?
–Read the Question
• So what comes after that?
–Read the Question
Now, what next?
• Ask, do I understand the prompt?
–If I do…I write it down!! And go to the
next step.
–If I don’t, what parts of the question do I
understand.
And then…
• CIRCLE/ HIGHLIGHT THE VERB!!!
–Decode that verb
–What is it asking me to do?
–What should my essay look like?
Uhu…and now?
• Find the important key words and
terms
–For example:
• What strategy would you use to track the
consequences of certain historical events?
• What is the key words???
–CONSEQUENCES!!!
• What is the right answer?
–Cause and Effect
OK, so lets do a quick thesis…
• Get out a blank sheet of paper and write your
name at the top…
• Don’t talk or moan when you read the prompt…
• HSPVA utilizes a “happening”
program for its students. Discuss this
program and its impact on PVA
students.
• Use the Brainstorming/ Word Vomit
technique to prewrite for five minutes. Go!
OK, let’s do another thesis…
• Currently, Texas residents must be 16
years of age to drive legally. Analyze
this policy.
• Use the Looping technique to prewrite for five
minutes. Go!
Alright….ONE more…
• The Houston ISD School Board has
established that male students are not
allowed to wear earrings during the
school day. Argue a position
regarding this policy.
• Use the Webbing technique to prewrite for five
minutes. Go!
• The Houston Independent School
District has a policy against electronic
devices, including MP3 players and
iPods on school property. Evaluate
this policy from the perspective of
students, parents, teachers, and
administrators.
• The banning of electronic devices is a ludicrous
idea which should be changed because it
aggravates students and parents and wastes
the time of teachers and administrators who
should be focused on children’s learning not the
enforcement of irrelevant policies.
• The Houiston ISD policy prohibiting electronic
devices on campus is an educated and
necessary decision on behalf of the parents,
teachers, and administrators because it keeps
the students from being distracted.
• The use of electronic devices can be helpful in
a student’s education in that listening to music
can help some students focus, despite the
somewhat biased opinions of parents, teachers,
and administrators.
• Houston ISD’s policy states that no electronic devices
should be brought on campus because parents,
teachers, and administrators believe these cause
distractions.
• From a student’s stand point, these items allow
students to concentrate in classes and this policy
takes away from their learning.
• While parents, teachers, and administrators
believe electronic devices cause distractions, from
a student’s stand point, these items allow
students to concentrate in classes and this policy
takes away from their learning.
• Houston ISD’s policy on electronic devices
is good (effective, appropriate, beneficial,
understandable) because it keeps students
from being distracted, and it relieves
parents, teachers, and administrators from
unrelated school problems.