Techniques for College Writing: The Thesis Statement and Beyond

✍ Scribed by Kathleen Muller Moore, Susie Lan Cassel

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 341
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

TECHNIQUES FOR COLLEGE WRITING: THE THESIS STATEMENT AND BEYOND is a brief rhetoric that empowers students as writers by giving them the tools they need to create a precise and well-focused thesis. Using the thesis statement as the lens through which students can approach the entire thinking and writing process, TECHNIQUES is divided into three parts that build upon one another: Part I--Thinking Through the Thesis Statement, Part II--Thinking Through Your Writing Assignment, and Part III--Writing Beyond the Composition Classroom. A wide range of journal articles, book excerpts, student essays, paintings, magazine ads, poetry, and short stories make the text accessible to students, and "Thinking Through a Reading" questions promote active reading and in-class discussion. In-chapter practice exercises, writing applications, revision tools, and writing assignments help students gain confidence so that they can begin to incorporate the techniques they've learned in the book into their own personal writing styles.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Table of Contents......Page 6
ABOUT THIS BOOK......Page 14
PREFACE......Page 15
ABOUT THE AUTHORS......Page 18
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 19
PART I: Thinking Through the Thesis Statement......Page 22
CHAPTER 1: DEFINING THE THESIS STATEMENT AND THE ACADEMIC ESSAY......Page 24
Origins of the Academic Essay......Page 25
Overview of the Academic Essay......Page 27
The Importance of the Thesis Statement......Page 29
The Academic Essay Format......Page 30
Organization and the Essay's Format......Page 33
The Audience and Effective Persuasion......Page 35
An Overview of the Writing Process......Page 37
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 39
CHAPTER 2: UNDERSTANDING THE THESIS STATEMENT THROUGH ITS THREE PARTS......Page 46
Three Ways to Visualize Your Thesis Statement......Page 47
The Context......Page 49
The Subject......Page 50
The Claim......Page 55
Three Essentials for Effective Claims......Page 56
Four Potential Problems and How to Fix Them......Page 60
Applications and Writing Exercises......Page 67
CHAPTER 3: USING CRITICAL THINKING TO DEVELOP A THESIS STATEMENT......Page 72
A Closer Look at Observation......Page 73
A Closer Look at Abstraction......Page 76
Considering All the Evidence......Page 79
Putting It All Together: Using Observation and Abstraction to Draft a Thesis Statement......Page 81
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 87
CHAPTER 4: SUPPORTING THE THESIS STATEMENT: THE BURDENS OF PROOF......Page 97
The Burdens of Proof: What to Write About......Page 98
Four Tasks to Manage Your Burdens of Proof......Page 100
The Burden of Background Information......Page 104
Burdens of Proof and Logical Fallacies......Page 105
Burdens of Proof and the Scope of Your Thesis Statement......Page 108
Using the Burdens of Proof to Create an Outline......Page 109
Application 4.1 Using the Four Tasks to Unpack the Burdens of Proof......Page 112
Application 4.2 Recognizing When Background Information Is Required......Page 114
Revisiting the Academic Essay Format......Page 119
A Closer Look at Paragraphs: Introduction, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusion......Page 121
Putting It All Together......Page 131
Revising an Essay: The Basics......Page 134
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 137
Part 1 Writing Assignments......Page 144
The Burdens of Proof Revision Checklist......Page 146
Post-Draft Outline Worksheet......Page 147
Peer Review Workshop Worksheet......Page 148
PART ll: Thinking Through Your Writing Assignment......Page 150
CHAPTER 6: DEVELOPING A THESIS STATEMENT FROM A WRITING ASSIGNMENT BY USING SEVEN STEPS......Page 152
Seven Steps to Develop a Thesis Statement from a Writing Assignment......Page 153
The Assignment That Asks You to Respond to Another Writer's Ideas......Page 157
The Assignment That Includes a Quotation......Page 158
The Assignment That Includes an Essay......Page 160
The Assignment That Includes an Ongoing Debate......Page 164
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 167
CHAPTER 7: USING THE SEVEN STEPS TO DEVELOP A THESIS STATEMENT FROM AN ADVANCED WRITING ASSIGNMENT......Page 173
The Comparison and Contrast Writing Assignment......Page 174
The Open-Ended Writing Assignment......Page 176
The Writing Assignment with Multiple Questions or Multiple Parts......Page 179
The Timed Essay......Page 184
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 186
Part 2 Writing Assignments......Page 190
Peer Review Workshop Worksheet II......Page 191
PART III: Writing Beyond the Composition Classroom......Page 194
CHAPTER 8: WRITING ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES BEYOND YOUR COMPOSITION CLASS......Page 196
The Informative Essay......Page 197
Using the Controlling Idea Statement in Place of the Thesis Statement......Page 200
Distinguishing Between Writing Assignments That Require an Informative Essay and Those That Require an Academic Essay......Page 206
The Scientific Paper......Page 208
The Scientific Paper and Writing Assignments Across the Curriculum......Page 211
Writing Formats for Building the Scientific Paper......Page 216
The Laboratory Report......Page 217
The Field Notebook......Page 221
Summary......Page 223
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 224
CHAPTER 9: WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE......Page 226
Developing a Thesis Statement about Plot......Page 227
Developing a Thesis Statement about a Character......Page 229
Developing a Thesis Statement about a Theme......Page 234
Developing a Thesis Statement from a Personal Opinion......Page 237
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 239
CHAPTER 10: WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER......Page 252
Including Research in the Three Essay Formats......Page 253
The Informative Essay That Includes Research......Page 258
The Scientific Paper That Includes Research......Page 260
Methods for Doing and Using Research......Page 261
How to Include Research in Your Paper: Quoting......Page 269
Application and Writing Exercises......Page 272
Part 3 Writing Assignments......Page 277
Reserch Paper Checklist......Page 279
Peer Review Worksheet......Page 280
APPENDIX A: TROBLESHOOTING THE THESIS STATEMENT: COMMON PITFALLS......Page 282
The Problem of "Because"......Page 283
The Problem of "No Need to Read"......Page 284
The Problem of "I Will . . . " (Analyze, Discuss, Explain, Examine...)......Page 285
The Problem of Relative or Abstract Terms......Page 286
The Problem of "to Be" Verbs......Page 287
The Problem of "Did You Know..."
......Page 288
The Problem of the Soft Thesis......Page 289
Establishing a Cause-and-Effect Relationship......Page 291
Applying the Four Tasks......Page 293
Taking a Position or Proposing a Solution......Page 295
Applying the Four Tasks......Page 296
Applying the Four Tasks......Page 297
Giving an Interpretation......Page 299
Applying the Four Tasks......Page 300
Qualifying a Commonly Held Belief (The Contrarian's Argument)......Page 301
Applying the Four Tasks - Example 1......Page 304
Applying the Four Tasks - Example 2......Page 306
Applying the Four Tasks......Page 307
Ten Grammar Points......Page 310
Basic Guidelines for Formatting a Paper......Page 321
Plagiarism and How to Avoid It......Page 322
How to Include Others' Ideas in Your Paper......Page 325
Formatting the Works Cited Page(s) of Your Paper Using MLA......Page 330
Formatting the References Page(s) of Your Paper Using APA......Page 333
Index......Page 334