Thesis & Topic
When you write a paper, after determining your position and angle, you must DETERMINE YOUR THESIS, which is the main idea or controlling idea of your paper. A thesis statement is your judgment or opinion about a subject – an opinion you will illustrate, prove, and support in the essay. Your thesis should be narrow and to the point; it should assert an opinion or judgment about the subject; and it should be a complete statement, generally one sentence, not a question, and not a fragment.
Themes are general ideas that a story (including a life's story) encompasses: fate vs. free will, man vs. man, man vs. self all would work. Other ideas of themes are the impact of grief, the cost of revenge, the intensity of human bonds, the brutality of war, the driving force of passion, the costs of fame, the lure of addiction, the art of rebellion, life on the edge... or Barq's Root Beer!, etc.). Remember, a theme is a phrase or idea more often than it is a single word.
In an essay that is not about a piece of art (film, book, song, etc.), you must develop a theme in order to unify your writing. This is true for ANY topic you write about. For example, it isn't good enough to write a paper "about drugs". What ABOUT drugs do you wish to say? Love? What ABOUT love do you wish to say? Essays need to narrowly focus in on one idea. That idea must be a statement (not just a word) and it must be debatable. If it meets those two criteria, then it may work as the THESIS of your essay.
Topic Statements: What is a topic sentence?Each paragraph in your paper should have a topic sentence. The purpose of a topic sentence is to tell your readers what your paragraph will discuss. In other words, a topic sentence does for a paragraph what a thesis statement does for a whole paper.
http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/partopic.html
Themes are general ideas that a story (including a life's story) encompasses: fate vs. free will, man vs. man, man vs. self all would work. Other ideas of themes are the impact of grief, the cost of revenge, the intensity of human bonds, the brutality of war, the driving force of passion, the costs of fame, the lure of addiction, the art of rebellion, life on the edge... or Barq's Root Beer!, etc.). Remember, a theme is a phrase or idea more often than it is a single word.
In an essay that is not about a piece of art (film, book, song, etc.), you must develop a theme in order to unify your writing. This is true for ANY topic you write about. For example, it isn't good enough to write a paper "about drugs". What ABOUT drugs do you wish to say? Love? What ABOUT love do you wish to say? Essays need to narrowly focus in on one idea. That idea must be a statement (not just a word) and it must be debatable. If it meets those two criteria, then it may work as the THESIS of your essay.
Topic Statements: What is a topic sentence?Each paragraph in your paper should have a topic sentence. The purpose of a topic sentence is to tell your readers what your paragraph will discuss. In other words, a topic sentence does for a paragraph what a thesis statement does for a whole paper.
http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/partopic.html
The Lead-In
Sometimes it is best just to refer back to 7th grade English... Here are some examples.
Sample Leads
Prompt: Use the picture to write a letter to your teacher describing the teenager’s messy room. Be sure to write in a logical order and to include transitions. In addition, use complete elaboration.
Descriptive- Describe the topic you are writing about
I opened the door and turned on the lights. The smell of sweaty gym clothes from last year and two-week-old pepperoni pizza overwhelmed me as I walked in the door. It had not occurred to me that I couldn’t even see out of the window for the tower of old clothes blocking out all light. I had been too busy the last couple of weeks practicing for the soccer tournament to notice the green fungus that I just stepped in, growing on the floor. I can’t believe my mother thinks this room is messy. It is pure heaven to me.
Action- Illustrate the action of the topic
Squish. Squash. Bubbles of oozing, greenish brown liquid were seeping from beneath my bedroom door. A horrible stench assaulted me as I turned the door handle and carefully stepped into the room. Kaboom!
Dialogue- Conversation between two people about the topic
“Go clean your room, now!” My angry mother yelled at the top of her lungs.
“I don’t have time. I’ve got soccer practice,” I screamed as I walked to my room.
She came down the hall after me. “You either clean this room or the only soccer you will be playing is in your dreams.”
“But Mom,” I pleaded, “it’ll take too long and I am already late.”
“You clean this room or you’re grounded from the soccer tournament and the trip to Six Flags. And don’t come out until it’s done!” She slammed the door and was gone, leaving me there to examine my room.
I stepped over a pile of soccer equipment and felt a squish. My feet recoiled from the feel of slimy green fungus between my toes. Maybe Mom was right, and I needed to clean my room.
Quote- Using a quote about the topic
The nuns at school say, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Well, I’m afraid God is very far away from my room. It would take a King Kong size dump truck to get through this mess.
Leads continued
Question- Asking the reader questions about the topic -- LEAST FAVORITE
Do you have a messy room? Does your mom always bug you to clean it up? Is the Federal Government threatening to condemn your room? If so, then join the club; the messy room club that is.
Flashback- Going back in time referring to the topic
I wish my room were as clean as it was a week ago. It was immaculate. I even vacuumed. As I sit here and look at this mess around me, I long for the good old days.
Reaction- Describing how other people feel about the topic My mom thinks that I have a messy room, as messy as a pigsty. I like it just the way it is, with that lived in look. I think that if I had a choice whether to clean it or not, I would leave it the way it is because I feel more comfortable in a messy place than in a tidy place.
Odd Fact- Stating a fact about the topic In 2009, a Dallas teenager had a foot amputated after stepping on green fungus in his room. I really hadn’t thought my room was that dirty or that dangerous until I read the newspaper article. Going to my room to compare the fungus growing on my floor, I hoped that it could not be described any worse.
(No, this is not a true fact. You can make up odd facts for a lead to catch your reader’s attention.)
Sample Leads
Prompt: Use the picture to write a letter to your teacher describing the teenager’s messy room. Be sure to write in a logical order and to include transitions. In addition, use complete elaboration.
Descriptive- Describe the topic you are writing about
I opened the door and turned on the lights. The smell of sweaty gym clothes from last year and two-week-old pepperoni pizza overwhelmed me as I walked in the door. It had not occurred to me that I couldn’t even see out of the window for the tower of old clothes blocking out all light. I had been too busy the last couple of weeks practicing for the soccer tournament to notice the green fungus that I just stepped in, growing on the floor. I can’t believe my mother thinks this room is messy. It is pure heaven to me.
Action- Illustrate the action of the topic
Squish. Squash. Bubbles of oozing, greenish brown liquid were seeping from beneath my bedroom door. A horrible stench assaulted me as I turned the door handle and carefully stepped into the room. Kaboom!
Dialogue- Conversation between two people about the topic
“Go clean your room, now!” My angry mother yelled at the top of her lungs.
“I don’t have time. I’ve got soccer practice,” I screamed as I walked to my room.
She came down the hall after me. “You either clean this room or the only soccer you will be playing is in your dreams.”
“But Mom,” I pleaded, “it’ll take too long and I am already late.”
“You clean this room or you’re grounded from the soccer tournament and the trip to Six Flags. And don’t come out until it’s done!” She slammed the door and was gone, leaving me there to examine my room.
I stepped over a pile of soccer equipment and felt a squish. My feet recoiled from the feel of slimy green fungus between my toes. Maybe Mom was right, and I needed to clean my room.
Quote- Using a quote about the topic
The nuns at school say, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Well, I’m afraid God is very far away from my room. It would take a King Kong size dump truck to get through this mess.
Leads continued
Question- Asking the reader questions about the topic -- LEAST FAVORITE
Do you have a messy room? Does your mom always bug you to clean it up? Is the Federal Government threatening to condemn your room? If so, then join the club; the messy room club that is.
Flashback- Going back in time referring to the topic
I wish my room were as clean as it was a week ago. It was immaculate. I even vacuumed. As I sit here and look at this mess around me, I long for the good old days.
Reaction- Describing how other people feel about the topic My mom thinks that I have a messy room, as messy as a pigsty. I like it just the way it is, with that lived in look. I think that if I had a choice whether to clean it or not, I would leave it the way it is because I feel more comfortable in a messy place than in a tidy place.
Odd Fact- Stating a fact about the topic In 2009, a Dallas teenager had a foot amputated after stepping on green fungus in his room. I really hadn’t thought my room was that dirty or that dangerous until I read the newspaper article. Going to my room to compare the fungus growing on my floor, I hoped that it could not be described any worse.
(No, this is not a true fact. You can make up odd facts for a lead to catch your reader’s attention.)