West Los Angeles College Arguable Thesis Statements Paper

The Essay and its Parts…read the following PowerPoint link thoroughly found on our class website: http://cordovla.weebly.com/uploads/2/8/6/9/2869785… OR the attachment

AND

Read all four sections of the link below (Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper)

and answer these four questions in your own words in a paragraph per section.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/724/01/ (cut and paste if necessary)

https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/strategies-essay-writing (Links to an external site.) (cut and paste in necessary)

Part 2

Task #1:

Create (1) thesis statement for each of the following five topics. Make sure that the thesis statements are not statements of facts, more than one idea, too broad or too narrow. Scroll down for one sample thesis sentence.*

You may change the wording of the topics below to arrive at your thesis statement.

1. Energy conservation
2. Obesity
3. Increase minimum wage to $15
4. Free college (yes/no)
5. Nationalized Healthcare for U.S. A. (yes/no)

You do not have to write an essay on any of these topics.

*Example

Topic: Education

Thesis: College is no longer affordable for working-class Americans because of the rising costs of tuition, the economic impact on state universities, and the rising costs of books and other expenses.

Task #2

Consider:

Statement of fact: Smoking can cause health problems.

Arguable thesis statement: The government should ban smoking altogether.

Statement of fact: Small cars get better fuel mileage than 4×4 pickup trucks.

Arguable thesis statement: The government should ban 4×4 pickup trucks except for work-related use.

Statement of fact: On average, people with college degrees earn more money in the workplace.

Arguable thesis statement: A college degree should not be required for the _____ profession.

Statement of fact: Foul language is common in movies.

Arguable thesis statement: The amount of foul language in movies is disproportionate to the amount of foul language in real life.

Any given individual might agree or disagree with some or all of the revised statements above, and the evidence used to support or challenge the statements would be different from writer to writer. The point is that a writer who supported or challenged one of these theses would have to think in order to make his or her case. With a statement of fact, a writer simply puts on paper what has already been established by other people. An arguable thesis, on the other hand, requires a writer to think about which supporting arguments best challenge the other side of the issue. It is this type of thinking that resonates with your professors.

EXERCISE

Write two arguable thesis statements, each with at least three supporting arguments. They do not need to be complicated. The important thing is that your thesis and supporting arguments logically align.

Example:

Thesis: Random drug testing should not be allowed in high schools.

Supporting Arguments:

1. It is a violation of privacy.

2. It wastes taxpayer money because most students know how to “cheat” on the tests.

3. It instills unnecessary fear in students and consequently affects their academic performance in a negative way.