Saturday, 17 August 2013

11. Developing Thesis Statement and Outlines

Objectives

When you have finished this section, you will be able to

§  develop/revise skills for crafting a thesis statement and creating an outline;
§  prepare a thesis statement and an outline for writing a reader response.

Resource List

1)      How To Write a Thesis Statement:

2)      Thesis Statements:

3)      Developing a Thesis:

4)   Creating an Outline:           

5)   Outlining a Paper:

6)   How to Structure an Outline for a College Paper:

Key Concepts

§  Thesis statements
§  Theses – strong versus weak theses
§  Outlines – major points/main ideas,
§  Minor points/supporting ideas,
§  Introduction
§  Body paragraphs
§  Conclusion

Procedure

As this section comes in the E-learning Week, you may carry out the procedure any time during the week. However, if you would like online help from your tutor, you are advised to keep to your scheduled class time for Week 5, Tutorial 2.

1.    Survey the websites provided in the Resource List above.

2.    From websites 1 to 3, note the reasons and steps for developing thesis
        statements and the characteristics of strong thesis statements.

3.    From websites 4 & 5, note the reasons and steps for creating outlines.

4.    Do Task A (30 minutes).

5.    Complete Task B (60 minutes).

6.    Edit your thesis and outline for the reader response to your chosen article

7.    Prepare yourself to write the reader response in the next tutorial by looking at
        these websites:


§  A very brief explanation of the reader response:
http://virginialynne.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Write-a-Reading-Response-Essay

§  In detail, the nuances of reader response: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310link/readerresponse.htm

 Tasks

A.    Reflection and recording (30 minutes)

1.    How familiar are you with the key concepts of thesis statements/theses, strong
        versus weak theses; outlines, major points/main ideas, minor points/supporting
        ideas, introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion? Can you define or explain each of
        them in one or two sentences?

2.    Using information from websites 1 to 3 in the Resource List, compile a list of the
        reasons and steps for developing thesis statements. What are the characteristics of
        strong thesis statements?

3.    Using information from websites 4 to 6 in the Resource List, compile a list of
        the reasons and steps for creating outlines. 

4.    Keep a record of key information from “Reflection and recording” 1 & 2 for future
        reference.

B.    Preparation for writing a reader response (60 minutes)

1.      Choose an article from Reading Articles Set 1. It may be advantageous to focus on
        the one that you worked on during Task  C, “Reading and application”, in the
        section Getting the Most Out Of Academic Texts.

2.      Read the article; vary your speed according to your familiarity with the contents.
        You may refer to the notes you made during the Getting The Most Out Of Academic
        Texts class.

3.     Decide on ONE main idea that you would evaluate and respond to as a reader.

4.       Develop a strong thesis statement and an outline based on what you have learnt in
         Task A.

5.      Look for information from the article to support your thesis and “flesh out” the body
        paragraphs indicated in your outline; you may also use other information from your
        reading and experience.

6.    Plan how you will introduce and conclude your reader response.

7.      Edit your thesis and outline for the reader response to your chosen article. Then
 share your thesis statement and outline with a partner on any E-platform and invite
 his/her comments for refining your thesis and outline.




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