what is a tentative thesis
In the example about European travel above, readers might be interested in travel around Europe but will they be interested in solo travel, and greater independence and confidence? Hopefully, the answer is yes. Just make sure you examine all viewpoints before investing your valuable time in a well-written piece.
Bad: Reading can develop a child’s analytical mind.
– Words like “can,” aren’t strong enough. This thesis statement begs the question of how? If you’re about to write several paragraphs (or pages) about a topic make sure you can confidently defend every point you make.
Good: Reading develops a child’s mind by fostering comprehension skills, increasing vocabulary, and exposing them to new worlds they might not otherwise encounter.
– Now, we’ve not just stated that reading is good, we’ve provided a sampling of all the benefits we’re about to bring to light in our paper.
Pick a topic. Choose a person, place or time on which to focus. Or choose a side of an argument or stand on which to focus.
State three focused keywords or phrases that help describe the topic or reasons to support the topic. Make sure these words or phrases are relevant to the focus of the subject.
- State your topic as a question. You may have a topic, such as “gasoline prices.” But that doesn’t make a statement. To move from a topic to a thesis statement, start by turning your topic into a question: What causes fluctuations in gasoline prices?
- Then turn your question into a position. A thesis statement is an assertion—it takes a stand or makes a claim. One way to establish a thesis is to answer your own question: Gasoline prices fluctuate for several reasons.
- Narrow your thesis. A good thesis is specific, telling your audience exactly what your essay will cover: Gasoline prices fluctuate because of production procedures, consumer demand, international politics, and oil companies’ policies. A good way to narrow a thesis is to ask and answer questions about it: Why do gasoline prices fluctuate? The answer will help you craft a narrow, focused thesis.
- Qualify your thesis. Though you may sometimes want to state your thesis strongly and bluntly, often you need to acknowledge that your assertion may not be unconditionally true. In such cases, consider adding such terms as may, very likely, and often to qualify your statement: Gasoline prices verylikely fluctuate because of production procedures, consumer demand, international politics, and oil companies’ policies.
A THESIS is a statement that indicates your main point, identifying your topic and the CLAIM you are making about it. Here are some steps for developing a tentative thesis statement:
After you create a question, you can formulate your tentative thesis. Include all the crucial elements you want to use in your work and show how actually you are going to use them. Your tentative thesis should represent a clear, well-thought-out answer to the set question.
Although a tentative thesis can be refined, changed, or revised during the writing process, you still need it to be well-constructed. After all, it serves as a guiding idea and the main point of your work. So what should it look like?
Never forget that the essence of brainstorming is for the writer to identify a gap in their knowledge on the topic they have selected. Identification of the gap guides one to carry out research to obtain more information or knowledge. Sources of information are varied; they include books, brochures, flyers, journals, reports, conference papers, internet searches. The writer ought to evaluate the credibility of his or her sources. After obtaining the relevant information needed through the research, the writer then re-organizes his or her thoughts to evaluate whether they are clear on the topic.
Example 1: America and China trade wars
References:
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