Essay workshop exercises

Exercise Four: Creating Your Thesis Statement

Once you have chosen a topic and generated a list of ideas to discuss in an essay, you have to create your thesis statement.

What is a Thesis Statement? 
A thesis statement expresses your opinion about a topic.  It is the basis of the introductory paragraph of your essay. 
· It should be a single complete sentence. 
· You must be sure you can support the opinion in your thesis.

Thesis Rules 
A thesis statement should: 
· Never be an open-ended question 
· Be limited to mentioning only those points you plan to discuss in your essay 
· Never be so broad that it’s difficult to discuss all relevant information 
· Only present one specific idea; not multiple ideas 
· Not contain two conflicting ideas

ACTIVITY 4A 
Identify the problems in the following thesis statements using these categories: 
(a) conflicting ideas   (b) open-ended question  (c) too broad   (d) not limited

1.  The World’s Fair in New Orleans was a disaster because of the way the press criticized the way it was run, but it was exciting for little children and had many good food booths.

2.  TV commercials are obnoxious to the person who is intent on watching a good show; on the other hand, they provide entertainment in the antics of the performers and they provide a good opportunity to take a snack break.

3.  Since politicians are constantly bombarding each other, how do they expect anyone to know who is right and who is wrong?

4.  Rap music is a popular form of art because it is creative and original and because it follows the traditions of other spontaneously developed music like jazz.

5.  Unless people are conscious of pollution, the world will be destroyed by the year 2050 
 

How to write a thesis statement 
To create a thesis statement simply follow this formula:

TOPIC  +  OPINION  =  THESIS STATEMENT

Examples: 
 

ACTIVITY 4B 
Write thesis statements for the topics you chose in Activity 1.  Make sure your statements meet the Thesis Rules. 
 

Exercise Five: The Parts of an Essay (writing the body)

An essay is composed of three parts: 
1. The opening paragraph or introduction 
2. The body 
3. The conclusion

Developing your topic and beginning your essay 
Since the body of the essay is the biggest part it is often the best place to start.  That way, the bulk of your essay is completed first.

In order to begin writing the body of your essay, you need to develop your topic.  This involves closely examining your thesis statement.  The first question you need to ask yourself is: how do I plan to support the opinion in my thesis?

Well, you begin by making a list of reasons or examples that support your opinion.  You need a list of, at least, three strong reasons.  For example, if we look back at the thesis statement in Exercise four, we can easily create a list to support the opinion stated in the thesis:

Thesis – When it comes to animals, dogs make better pets than cats.

Reasons/Examples to support opinion –   1) Dogs are fun 
                                                               2) Dogs help you exercise 
                                                               3) Dogs are loyal 
                                                               4) Can you add any other reasons?

Once you have your reasons/examples, putting the body of the essay together becomes very simple by following these steps:

Step 1 – Examine your first reason/example.  I.e.  “dogs are fun” 
Step 2 – Explain what you mean (why are dogs fun?) and use examples to back up your ideas.  In this instance you might 
              explain that it’s fun to teach dogs games and tricks, or that dogs like to play. 
Step 3 – Put your ideas together in step two to create a paragraph.  Keep in mind that there should be only one main topic in a 
              paragraph.  If you find yourself wanting to branch off of a topic onto another related one, begin a new paragraph to 
              discuss that idea. 
Step 4 – Repeat steps 1 – 3 for the second and third reasons/examples.  Once you have the minimum three paragraphs written 
              to support your thesis, the body of your essay is complete.

Remember, the body of your essay must have at least three paragraphs.  Additional paragraphs, however, can help strengthen your essay if they help reinforce your ideas.

ACTIVITY 5A 
Look back at the four thesis statements you created in Activity 4B and fine tuned in activity 4C.  Make a list, for each of those statements, of at least three reasons/examples that support your opinion in each thesis.

ACTIVITY 5B 
Choose one of the thesis statements and lists of reasons/examples you worked on in the previous activity.  Following steps 1 – 4 of exercise five, use your list of reasons to write the paragraphs to make up the rough copy of the body of an essay. 
 

Exercise Six: Writing the Introduction and Conclusion of an Essay

So you know how to write the body of your essay, but do you know how to begin your essay? As explained in exercise five, there are three parts of an essay: the introduction, body, and conclusion.  You CANNOT begin an essay by simply stating the thesis of your essay.  You must begin an essay with an introductory paragraph, or introduction.  This introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of your essay.  It should announce your topic to the reader, include the thesis statement, and, hopefully, get your reader’s attention.

Writing the introductory paragraph of an essay is quite easy.  There are a variety of ways to write an introductory paragraph, but, for the purpose of simplicity, we are going to look at the thesis-statement-last introduction.

Writing your introduction 
1.  Write the thesis of your essay ¼ of the way down your page (leaving 
several empty lines above it). 
2.  Using the empty lines before your thesis lead your readers to your thesis. 
This means you need to discuss things related to the topic in your thesis.

How do I lead my reader to the Thesis statement? 
There are several ways to begin your essay, and more specifically, your 
introductory paragraph.  The following are some options: 
- Begin your essay by asking a question 
- Begin your essay by telling a very brief story 
- Begin your essay by using a quote 
- Begin your essay by stating an interesting fact 
- Begin your essay by telling a joke 
- Begin your essay by offering a description

Examples: 
(Using a question) 
Have you ever wondered why we have a legal drinking age?  Many underage teens will argue that having a legal drinking age is useless.  Teens will drink when and if they feel like it.  Alcohol is easily accessible, so why bother with an age restriction?  Perhaps it is because underage drinking may create such serious problems.  There are many serious issues associated with underage drinking.

(Using a description) 
Krista and I have been best friends for a long time.  We have been through thick and thin.  Good times and bad times, and our friendship has experienced many changes in between.  “Best friendship” is a very special relationship that requires many different characteristics to be successful.

ACTIVITY 6A 
Write a rough copy of the introduction for the essay body you completed in Activity 5B.

Writing the Conclusion

OK, two out of three parts completed!  Now for the last part – writing the conclusion.

The concluding paragraph of an essay, or conclusion, is your last say on your essay topic.  This is where you wrap your ideas up and close the essay.  Essentially, the conclusion of your essay need only be one paragraph; it is not limited to that, however.   In your conclusion you may 
- Restate your thesis 
- Summarize the main points of your essay 
- Draw a final conclusion about your topic 
- Leave your reader with a memorable statement or quote

Most importantly you want to leave your reader feeling something and offer them closure.

ACTIVITY 6B 
Write a rough copy of the conclusion for the essay body you completed in Activity 5B.

ACTIVITY 6C 
Connect your introduction, body and conclusion together to form your completed (rough) essay. 
 

Exercise Seven:  Connecting the Ideas Within Your Essay

One of the biggest problems seen in essays is the lack of flow between ideas.  That is, the writing seems choppy.  Because, essentially, each paragraph in an essay deals with its own topic, the paragraphs don’t connect easily and ideas may be difficult to follow.  A writer needs to help the reader follow along by using signal words, or transitions.

Transitions are words or phrases that link one idea to the next; they are signals which help the reader follow your thoughts.  Transitions are used to connect ideas within paragraphs and when leading from one paragraph to the next.

Transitions fall into several categories.  The following seven categories list transitions for some of the most common situations in writing:

 1.  To show a time relationship:  first, second, third, next, before, during, after, now, then, finally, last. 
 2.  To add an idea or example:  in addition, also, another, furthermore, similarly, for example, for instance. 
 3.  To show contrast:  although, but, however, instead, nevertheless, on the other hand, in contrast, on the contrary. 
 4.  To show comparison:  in the same way, similarly, likewise, as, also. 
 5.  To show cause-effect:  as a result, consequently, because, since, therefore, thus. 
 6.  To show conclusion:  as a result, therefore, finally, last, in conclusion, in summary, to sum up, all in all. 
 7.  To clarify:  in other words, for instance, that is, put another way.

ACTIVITY 7B 
Review your essay completed in activity 6C and add transitions where necessary.