How Do I Know If My Thesis Is Arguable Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

Like a lawyer in a jury trial, a writer must convince her audience of the validity of her argument by using evidence effectively. As a writer, you must also use evidence to persuade your readers to accept your claims. But how do you use evidence to your advantage? by leading your reader through your reasoning. The types of evidence you use change from discipline to discipline you might use quotations from a poem or a literary critic, for example, in a literature paper you might use data from an experiment in a lab report. The process of putting together your argument is called analysis it interprets evidence in order to support, test, and/or refine a claim. A thesis provides the controlling idea for a paper and should be original that is, not completely obvious , assertive, and arguable. A strong thesis also requires solid evidence to support and develop it because without evidence, a claim is merely an unsubstantiated idea or opinion.

This web page will cover these basic issues you can click or scroll down to a particular topic: once you have formulated your claim, your thesis see the wts pamphlet, how to write a thesis statement , for ideas and tips , you should use evidence to help strengthen your thesis and any assertion you make that relates to your thesis. Here are some ways to work evidence into your writing: offer evidence that agrees with your stance up to a point, then add to it with ideas of your own. Present evidence that contradicts your stance, and then argue against refute that evidence and therefore strengthen your position.

Use sources against each other, as if they were experts on a panel discussing your proposition. Use quotations to support your assertion, not merely to state or restate your claim. In order to use evidence effectively, you need to integrate it smoothly into your essay by following this pattern: state your claim.

To see the differences between strong and weak uses of evidence, here are two paragraphs. Most families no longer sit down to eat together, preferring instead to eat on the go while rushing to the next appointment gleick 148. This is a weak example of evidence because the evidence is not related to the claim. What does the claim about self centeredness have to do with families eating together? the writer doesn't explain the connection.

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The same evidence can be used to support the same claim, but only with the addition of a clear connection between claim and evidence, and some analysis of the evidence cited. stronger use of evidence today, americans are too self centered. In fact, the evidence shows that most american families no longer eat together, preferring instead to eat on the go while rushing to the next appointment gleick 148. Sit down meals are a time to share and connect with others however, that connection has become less valued, as families begin to prize individual activities over shared time, promoting self centeredness over group identity. This is a far better example, as the evidence is more smoothly integrated into the text, the link between the claim and the evidence is strengthened, and the evidence itself is analyzed to provide support for the claim.

However, because quotations involve someone else's words, you need to take special care to integrate this kind of evidence into your essay. This example is ineffective because the quotation is not integrated with the writer's ideas. Notice how the writer has dropped the quotation into the paragraph without making any connection between it and the claim. Furthermore, she has not discussed the quotation's significance, which makes it difficult for the reader to see the relationship between the evidence and the writer's point. a more effective use of quotation today, americans are too self centered. Other people and activities take precedence, as james gleick says in his book, faster.

The second example is more effective because it follows the guidelines for incorporating evidence into an essay. As james gleick says in his book, faster to introduce the direct quotation. Also notice that the writer discusses and comments upon the quotation immediately afterwards, which allows the reader to see the quotation's connection to the writer's point. remember: discussing the significance of your evidence develops and expands your paper! evidence appears in essays in the form of quotations and paraphrasing. Citing evidence means distinguishing other writers' information from your own ideas and giving credit to your sources. Note both the lead in phrases and the punctuation except the brackets in the following examples: quoting: according to source x, direct quotation date or page . paraphrasing: although source z argues that his/her point in your own words , a better way to view the issue is your own point citation .

summarizing: in her book, source p's main points are q, r, and s citation. Your job during the course of your essay is to persuade your readers that your claims are feasible and are the most effective way of interpreting the evidence. To test whether i've narrowed my focus to just one point health hazards instead of the six. Much of the writing that students do in college and some business writing as well is thesisdriven: that is, papers eng 102.

An arguable thesis is one you have to give reasons for, that is worth proving i.e. So my example above is not a valid thesis, because everybody formulating a thesis. You may have heard that your thesis needs to be specific and arguable, but still. Is my thesis arguable can it be supported by evidence in my source, and is it crafting an arguable thesis statement. For most ncu writing assignments, writers are asked to take a position on a topic and argue for bad better thesis statements.

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