Thesis, Outline and Annotative
Bibliography
Rules for Writing a Thesis Statement
1. It must be a complete sentence.
2. It can NOT be a questions
3. It should be provable with facts, anecdotes, stories,
etc.
4. It needs to present you and your ideas.
5. Do NOT generalize.
6. Do NOT use first or second person pronouns.
7. Do NOT use clichés.
ex: The best things since sliced bread.
Step 1- Formulate your thesis.
Your thesis is a formal, exact statement of what
your paper will be about. It will most likely
evolve as you consider the information you
have. Think about what you are trying to
present and emphasize in your paper.
Examples of Thesis Statements
TOPIC: The Battle of Gettysburg
THESIS: The Battle of Gettysburg changed the
momentum of the Civil War.
TOPIC: Mike Piazza
THESIS: With his leadership skills, offensive
output, and work ethic, Mike Piazza excels as
the best Major League catcher in the history of
baseball.
Step 2- Develop your outline.
An outline is important because you will
organize the notes from your sources based on
the ideas in the working outline. The outline
will map the body paragraphs of your paper.
The introduction and conclusion will NOT be
part of the outline.
Model Outline (Double space all)
Thesis: [last sentence of introduction]
I. First point
A. Supporting information to develop or expand
on the point
1. Fact to develop A
2. Fact to develop B
B. Supporting Information
1. Fact to develop A
2. Fact to develop B
II. Second Point
Sample Process
TOPIC: Hershey Park
Working (Preliminary) Outline
I. Milton Hershey
A. Childhood
B. Chocolate Factory
II. Hershey Park
A. When did it open?
B. How has it changed?
C. What’s it currently like?
PRELIMINARY OR
WORKING THESIS: Hershey
Park dominates the
Amusement Park world.
III. Other parks
A. Disney World
1. Size
2. Cost
3. Number of visitors
B. Dorney Park
1. Size
2. Cost
3. Number of visitors
IV. Why is Hershey Park better?
Final Outline
Purpose: Serves as a
table of contents for your
paper. Use it to organize
your note cards as your
write the rough draft.
Notice that the final outline
is still a topic outline, even
though there is more
detail. Your final outline
should follow this exact
format, with Roman
numerals, capital letters,
etc. If there is no B, then
there should not be an A.
Thesis: With its fascinating history, impact on the local
community, and charitable activities, Hershey Park
dominates the Amusement Park world.
I. Milton Hershey
A. Childhood
B. Chocolate Factory
1. Its origins
2. Its success through the Depression
3. Its current success
C. Boys’ Home for orphans
1. Why he built it
2. When it became The Milton Hershey School
II. The Park
A. Opening
B. Changes since opening
1. Most expensive
2. Most publicized
3. Costs
a. public admission
b. cost of operation
4. Safety requirements
C. Impact on the local community
*PLEASE NOTE: THIS SAMPLE OUTLINE IS NOT COMPLETE! YOURS SHOULD HAVE 3-5 MAJOR HEADINGS.
Annotative Bibliography
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations
to books, articles, and documents. Each citation
is followed by a brief descriptive and evaluative
paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the
annotation is to inform the reader of the
relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources
cited.
Annotation Answers
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the main subject of the source?
Who is the main audience for the source?
Give a brief summary of the information.
What special features can you point out about
this source? Examples would be photographs,
charts/tables of data, link to relate source, etc.
Annotative Bibliography Example
Waite, Linda J., Frances Kobrin Goldscheider, and Christina
Witsberger. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of
Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults."
American Sociological Review 51.4 (1986): 541-554. Print.
The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown
University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of
Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that
nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values,
plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in
traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly
supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in
studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents
before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and
changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study
by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences
in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.
Another Example
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on
Writing and Life. New York: Anchor Books, 1995.
Print.
Lamott's book offers honest advice on the nature of a
writing life, complete with its insecurities and
failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities
of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott's book are
wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from
plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to
struggling with one's own internal critic. In the
process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to
be both productive and fun.