BOO! Happy Halloween!!

More thesis practice.. 
Don't worry!! We will SO get this! It just takes practice! I won't give up.. you better not!! 

Here are examples of weak and strong thesis statements.

• Unspecific thesis: "Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong leader as First Lady."  This thesis lacks an argument. Why was Eleanor Roosevelt a strong leader?
• Specific thesis: "Eleanor Roosevelt recreated the role of the First Lady by her active political leadership in the Democratic Party, by lobbying for national legislation, and by fostering women’s leadership in the Democratic Party."  The second thesis has an argument: Eleanor Roosevelt "recreated" the position of First Lady, and a three-part structure with which to demonstrate just how she remade the job.
• Unspecific thesis: "At the end of the nineteenth century French women lawyers experienced difficulty when they attempted to enter the legal profession."  No historian could argue with this general statement and uninteresting thesis.
• Specific thesis: "At the end of the nineteenth century French women lawyers experienced misogynist attacks from male lawyers when they attempted to enter the legal profession because male lawyers wanted to keep women out of judgeships."  This thesis statement asserts that French male lawyers attacked French women lawyers because they feared women as judges, an intriguing and controversial point.

Write a thesis for the following topics: 

1. Voting age 

2. Beauty pageants

3. Torture 

4. Taxes

5. Credit cards

6. Mean girls 

7. Video games

8. Academic honesty

9. Global climate

10. Standardized testing

Things you MUST consider... 

1. Topic size.. do not just drop the topic into your thesis as the subject. What approach are you taking towards the subject? 

2. Are you showing assessment or analysis of the issue? What do you think about the issue? What can be done about the issue? What changes should be made? What is more important or not? 

3. Are you answering how and/or why? Think about us having a discussion about this issue. You state your solution to a problem and then I ask you "how?" or "why?" . This is where your voice gets to be heard. 

4. Make sure that you are not describing or summarizing the topic or issue. 

5. Look at your VERB usage.. Try to keep with an ACTIVE verb! 

6. ASK YOURSELF A QUESTION BEFORE YOU WRITE... Think of a higher level Bloom's question.. remember an answer to a question is...   such as... Compare the roles students have currently in making decisions at LSN to the role you think they should have in making decisions..