Thesis Generator

Ideas for helping students develop better thesis statements

1. Equations: Think about the thesis equations as you ask questions and move toward a tentative thesis.

A tentative thesis should look something like this:

Specific topic + Attitude/Angle/Argument = Thesis

What you plan to argue + How you plan to argue it = Thesis

2. Thesis Stems: Consider using these stems to help students move from proficient to advanced thesis statements. 

• Most important to least important
• Least important to most important

 Contrasts (of perspectives of sources) 

• Although newspapers at the time claimed X, the most significant cause/explanation/reason, etc. is
• While So and So maintains that  ................, more accurately/importantly, etc, # 2's position is the stronger one. (Substitute "most historians" for  So and So and the appropriate person or view or source for #2.)

Perception versus reality:

Although Turner himself may have believed X, the real causes were Y and Z.

 

Good versus bad reasons:

 

Historians generally list six reasons as the cause for X, but among these are four that are valid and two that are not.

Cause and Effect:

• Certainly, X was the cause and Y was its effect, but between the two are two other factors of equal importance.Separately the causes would have not necessarily led to a rampage; however, together their effect was inevitably murderous. Although the effects of the rampage were . . ., the causes were understandable/justifiable/inevitable.
• The more important effects of Nat Turner's rebellion went beyond those of  the local rampage.

Challenge:

 

Nat Turner's rebellion not a righteous response to the injustice of slavery; it was motivated purely by disturbing psychological issues.   

3.   Question Stems: Good questions help students brainstorm their possibilities and focus a thesis. These question stems should lead students toward developing thesis statements that would generate a variety of different structures for essays, papers, presentations.

·        What should the audience/reader do/feel/believe? 

·        Who are the major players on both/each side and how did they contribute to? 

·        Which are the most important?

·        What was the impact of? 

·        Can I compare? How is X like or unlike Y? 

·        What if?  Can I predict? 

·        How could we solve/improve/design/deal with?

·        Is there a better solution to?

·        How can you defend?

·        What changes would you recommend to? 

·        Was it effective, justified, defensible, warranted?

·        Why did this happen?   Why did it succeed?  Why did it fail?

·        What should be? What are/would be the possible outcomes of? 

·        What are the problems related to?

·        What were the motives behind? 

·        Why are the opponents protesting? 

·        What is my personal response to?

·        What case can I make for? 

·        What is the significance of?

·        Where will the next move(s) occur? 

·        How is this debate likely to affect?

·        What is the value or, what is/are the potential benefit(s) of?

·        What are three/four/five reasons for us to believe?

Developed by Carol Rohrbach and Joyce Valenza, Springfield Township School District