Tuesday, May 12
The current economic recession has increased the number of homeless.
What do you have to prove, to prove this claim?
These are the results of our initial brainstorm (points in no special order; main,
secondary and third-level points all mixed together; etc.)
 There is an economic recession
 There are homeless people
 The recession puts pressure on the housing market
 There is a correlation between foreclosures and homelessness
 Homelessness goes beyond simply living on the street to include living in cars
and other forms of improvised shelter.
 Other causes are not adequate to explain the rise in homelessness.
 There are other possible causes of the rise in homelessness.
 There is a rise in homelessness.
 No significant numbers associated with the other causes.
 Homelessness is greater since the start of the recession than it was before the
recession.
These are different suggested ways of organizing the points:
I.
Recession
II.
Homelessness greater because of the recession
III.
There is a rise in homelessness
IV.
Correlation between homelessness and the recession
I.
II.
III.
IV.
I.
II.
Recession
a. Puts pressure on housing market
b.
Homelessness
a. There is homelessness
b. [homelessness defined]
There is a rise in homelessness
a. Greater since the start of the recession
Connection
Correlation between recession and homelessness
a. Recession
b. Rise in homelessness
Other factors cannot account for the rise in homelessness
Notes on the “what do you have to prove…” question:
This is a recursive process: the process can be repeated indefinitely by applying it to the
results of that process.
Start by asking, what do you have to prove, to prove the thesis? This generates a list of
provable claims. (These are your main points.)
Then, ask the same question about these new claims (i.e. apply the process to the results
or output of the process): What do you have to prove, to prove these claims?
This will generate a new list of provable claims. (These are your secondary points.)
Repeat: apply the question again to this new list of claims. This will generate a third list
of provable claims. These are your third-level points.
Wednesday, May 13
Practicing with another thesis
What do you have to prove, to prove this thesis?
Profanity can be used as an effective communication tool.
I.
II.
III.
Effective communication is communication that invokes emotion, inspires action,
changes opinion, grabs attention, conveys an idea.
A. Communication is…
B.
Invokes emotion
C.
Inspires action
Profanity can invoke emotion, inspire action, changes opinion, etc.
A. Profanity is…
B.
Invokes emotion
C.
Inspires action
D. Etc.
There are ineffective ways of communicating with profanity, but these are not the
only ways of using it. Stronger version: These are less significant than the
effective ways of using it.
A. Why are people uncomfortable with it?
B.
Effectiveness depends on context
1.
Setting
2.
Other speech factors (tone, volume, etc.)
3.
Amount of use
Comments on qualifiers and weak vs. strong claims
Qualifier: “Can” in the thesis weakens claim
Sometimes the “weaker” claim is the stronger claim.
A “weak” claim in this sense is not a bad claim but a claim that makes a less universal or
absolute statement. People often speak of the “weak version” of an argument and the
“strong version” of an argument. The “weak version” is the one that is not as absolute but
may be easier to defend. The “strong version” is the one that is more absolute but may be
harder to defend.
Comments on defining your terms (see “Argumentation” in the Research Paper
instructions)
“Define” does not mean quote the dictionary. It means, explain what the term means to
you, in this paper—in other words, how you are using it.
For example: what does “homeless” mean? Does it include people living in their cars?
People sleeping on someone’s couch? Camping in the state parks because they have no
place to live?
You can define the term in ways that suit your needs for your research, as long as your
definition does not contradict the generally accepted definitions (the dictionary
definitions) and as long as you are not twisting the definition just to make your thesis
easier to support.