College students often experience anxiety and frustration, especially when given a writing assignment they do not understand.
For example, students may wonder where to begin when asked to write a three to five page essay about an epic written almost three thousand years ago. If these students want a passing grade, they must write well enough to convince instructors they can discuss the topic intelligently and support their observations.
Tutors in the WSSU Writing Center, located in Room 206 in Hall Patterson, work with students to help revise and develop writing skills. Many writers do not realize the thesis is the most important part of an essay. Developing a clear thesis statement and writing concise topic sentences is half the work that goes into writing a strong paper. Butówhat is a thesis statement?
The thesis statement is a sentence that focuses the paper. It serves as the blueprint for the paper. The thesis statement allows writers to narrow a broad topic into a precise statement. An example of a broad topic might be “Music and Culture.” The working thesis must narrow this broad topic down to one aspect of music, such as “the secular elements in reggae music.” Narrowing this topic even further, one possible thesis might be that “the secular elements in reggae music are a result of socio and economic oppression.”
After deciding on a thesis, each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that is related to the thesis. The topic sentence is to the paragraph what the thesis is to the paper: the topic sentence serves as a blueprint that focuses the paragraph. In the example above, one topic sentence might be: “Themes of economic oppression in many Jamaican songs were common during the early 20th Century.” This topic sentence allows the writer to expand on the topic in very particular ways.
The Cambridge Language Consultants web site, found at http://www.camlang.com/sp004.htm, offers helpful formulas for developing a thesis statement. Asking the following questions and filling in the blanks may help writers find a focus and support for a topic:
A. Although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
B. _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
C. Phenomenon X is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.
Come to the WSSU Writing Center where Peer Tutors help students develop a focus for their papers and write a clear thesis statement and topic sentences.