Module 5: Identifying Your Thesis and Drafting Your Persuasive Essay
Module 5: Identifying Your Thesis and Drafting Your Persuasive Essay
In this module, you will learn about what goes into a strong thesis statement, and identify your own thesis in the context of you
Persuasive Essay.
5-1 Reading: Incorporating Feedback
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5-2 Reading: Thesis Identification
Reading: Thesis Identification
When writing an essay, many sources will suggest you begin
y writing a thesis statement—a statement that makes a
claim and provides the main reasons for which you came to
the conclusion you did. However, starting with a well-defined
thesis statement can be problematic when writing a
persuasive essay. Persuasive essays require that you begin
with a question and a tentative position that you are willing to
change while doing research. Thesis statements can cause
persuasive essay writers to develop tunnel vision—focusing
solely on sources that support the claims made in the
statement and ignoring opposing viewpoints.
To avoid these pitfalls, you began by first identifying a topic,
formulating a tentative argument, and then researching
material to support it. Once you have determined what you
will argue, conducted research to support that argument and
to learn about opposing positions, and responded to
feedback from your peers, you will create a working thesis
statement. Your thesis statement will represent the essence of your research paper, and it will be the roadmap for you
subsequent research and writing.
Thesis statements are made up of a claim and a series of points or reasons that you will elaborate on to support that claim. In
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the thesis statements below, the claim is highlighted in yellow, and each point or reason is highlighted in a different color:
Your research question, of course, asks that you identify a problem in your degree-specific program or career. Your task is to
form an argument for a solution to that problem, which is what you should state at the beginning of your thesis statement, and to
identify reasons to persuade your audience to accept that solution, which is what you should outline in the latter half of the thesis
statement.
5-3 Activity: Thesis Identification (GRADED)
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5-4 Reading: Drafting Process
Research question: Should city-dwellers be allowed to keep bees?
Potential thesis statement: U
an beekeeping is good for people and for the environment because bees are
elatively harmless, they produce honey with high nutritional value, and they help pollinate u
an gardens.
Major point 1: Bees are relatively harmless.
Major point 2: Bees produce honey of high nutritional value.
Major point 3: Bees pollinate u
an gardens.
Your thesis statement should be made up of two parts: 1) your na
owed topic stated as an argumentative claim and 2)
the reasons or major points you found to support your claim. Sometimes, the claim and reasons will be linked by the
word "because." Eventually, you will need to find research to support each of these points.
Research question: What are the most important reasons for vaccinating children?
Potential thesis statement: Research suggests that the most compelling justifications for childhood vaccinations are
safety-based because there are many positive effects for the vaccinated child, there are few risks, and there's a
possibility other children could become sick after coming into contact with an unvaccinated child.
Major point 1: Vaccinations prevent illness in the vaccinated child.
Major point 2: Vaccination has few risks or side effects.
Major point 3: Babies and other people who cannot get the vaccine may become sick after contact with an
unvaccinated child.
For most topics, you'll need to be able to answer your research question in three different ways.
Research question: What is the best way to encourage people to be more cautious about their disposal of household
materials that are hazardous?
Potential thesis statement: The government can encourage people to be more cautious about their disposal of
hazardous household materials by clearly labeling materials that are hazardous, by running a public service
announcement campaign, and by providing easy access to proper waste disposal processes because these methods
are most effective.
Major point 1: Labeling materials that are hazardous are effective at helping people to understand when they
should be cautious about throwing those materials away.
Major point 2: Public service announcement campaigns are effective.
Major point 3: People will be more likely to dispose of items co
ectly if easy access to proper disposal
processes are available.
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Reading: Drafting Process
Now that you've identified your argument, researched supporting
evidence, received peer feedback on your writing plan, and constructed
your thesis statement, it's time to begin writing the first full draft of you
paper. All of the work you've done so far will make constructing the first
draft much easier. It can be overwhelming to think about where to start
your draft, so it's important to take the drafting process one step at a time
and to allow yourself the space to make e
ors. The point of drafting is to
see what works and doesn't work—to see what is working well and what
needs to be fixed. Although the draft should demonstrate the direction
your final paper will go, and it should contain the components required of
the assignment, it's important to remember that it's a first step, a work in
progress.
Paragraph Purposes
Before you begin drafting, let's review the different components of an essay. Essays are made up of paragraphs. Each
paragraph in an essay serves a purpose in moving the paper forward. Let's discuss the different types of paragraphs you will
use when writing an essay.
Introduction Paragraphs
An essay should begin with an introduction paragraph. The introduction presents the audience with the topic of the essay, the
thesis statement, and a general overview of the topic, which previews the information that will be covered throughout the essay.
Click on the highlighted sections of the sample introductory paragraph below to read more about how each section functions.
Recycling programs are vital to our planet's wellness. This introduction paragraph lets the reade
know right away the topic of the essay, recycling programs, and a preview of the main point the essay will
make—that recycling programs are valuable. Landfills are overflowing across the U.S., packed full of
ga
age that could easily be recycled into re-usable materials. This is extremely wasteful, and it taxes the
natural environment and its resources. Recycling programs offset the damage caused by our production
of excessive and unnecessary ga
age. Including these programs in schools, specifically, offers not only
the opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of this waste but also offers the opportunity to teach
future generations how to value and protect the environment. The bulk of the introduction paragraph
gives some information on the topic, just so the reader understands what the topic means and what kinds
of supporting ideas the essay will explore. Implementing recycling programs in schools will not only
increase environmental awareness, it will also help keep school grounds clean and help the school save
money by cutting down on waste removal. The introduction paragraph ends with a thesis
statement.
One important function of an introduction paragraph is to engage the audience and draw the reader in. So, you should introduce
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the topic you will be writing on in the most interesting and appealing way possible.
After introducing the general topic of your essay, you should go on to provide an overview of how the rest of the paper will
proceed. This
ief overview of the structure of the essay should show the audience how the subsequent sections of the essay
are supposed to relate to one another.
It is important that introduction paragraphs be as clear as possible, so it is usually a good idea to reread and revise an
introduction paragraph once the rest of a paper has been written. Sometimes during the writing of a paper, an author might
change how he or she chooses to present or defend his or her position. When this happens, the introduction paragraph must be
evised to reflect those changes.
Supporting Paragraphs
The thesis statement presented in the introduction paragraph is the main idea of the entire paper, and each subsequent
paragraph should work towards supporting that thesis statement. The majority of an essay is made up of supporting paragraphs
that serve this purpose.
Each supporting paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, contain supporting sentences that back up the main idea
presented in the topic sentence, and end with a summary sentence that reiterates that main idea. Click on the highlighted
sections of the sample supporting paragraph below to read more about how each section functions.
Schools that em
ace recycling send a powerful message to students that environmental stewardship
matters. Supporting paragraph 1. Supporting paragraphs begin after the introductory paragraph and
start with a topic sentence. The thesis for this essay is "Implementing recycling programs in schools will
not only increase environmental awareness, it will also help keep school grounds clean and help the
school save money by cutting down on waste removal." Therefore, this topic sentence co
elates to the
part of the thesis statement that states, "increase environmental awareness." This co
elation is incredibly
important to an essay's development. Students learn about the consequences of their own behavio
and how their actions impact the
oader environment. Students are exposed to the concept of "thinking
globally and acting locally" (Standards for Environmental Education in the Cu
iculum). Some research
suggests that school children involved in these programs are better informed on major environmental
issues than their parents. Focusing on recycling initiatives in the schools can have a wider, societal
impact, too since children learn from their parents how to be socially and environmentally aware.
Recycling programs, therefore, positively impact our world, both immediately and in the
future. Supporting paragraphs move from topic sentence to supporting sentences to summary
sentence. You will be integrating your sources into the supporting paragraphs of your essay, so you
should include citations to keep track of which sources you are using to support each point. You'll learn to
properly format those sources in Module 6. For now, include informal citations to keep track of sources
you will need to formally cite later on.
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Each of the topic sentences in your supporting paragraphs should co
espond to one of the reasons listed in the thesis
statement. You should also dedicate at least one supporting paragraph to addressing counterarguments. Identify reasons
someone might object to your argument, and respond to that objection using evidence you gathered during your research.
When constructing your supporting paragraphs, keep in mind the PIE method introduced in 4-2. The following graphic reviews
the PIE method.
Conclusion Paragraphs
The last paragraph in an