Transcript PowerPoint. - John

PAPER 1, INTRODUCTIONS,
& THESIS STATEMENTS
7.24.12
Paper 1

Everyone will get grades by Wednesday morning
 Have

Papers are good for the most part
 78%

about 6-7 more to go
average (this is normal)
ELI reviews were good, but can be improved.
Lessons Learned From Paper 1
•
People need to follow the requirements
•
•
•
Examples!
•
•
•
1” margins & Times New Roman Font
Page requirement
People tended to tell rather than show
More ELI comments
Fluff/BS
How to revise paper 1

If you want to revise paper 1or 2 you must do the
following:
 Make
an appointment at the Writing Center
(writing.msu.edu)
 Revise your paper based on WC feedback and mine
 Write a memo (1-2 pages)
 what
you changed
 how you improved your paper
 what you learned

You have 1 week after you get your grade
Paper 2


For this paper MLA is important, look back to last
weeks PowerPoint
What questions do you have about MLA or Paper
2?
Introductions



One of things that is important for this paper is a
good introduction
A reader often stops reading if they don’t like an
introduction (you have to sell your paper)
A good introduction will
identity your object
 make your audience clear
 Outline your argument (thesis statement)

Tips for writing an introduction

Try and gain the audiences’ attention
 Don’t
start with general (Since the beginning of time…)
 Don’t start with a definition (use your own words, tell
why the topic is important)

Give necessary background
 If
the audience is unclear about your topic this is the
place to tell them


Tell the main idea of your essay
What can the reader expect to read
 Outline
the essay, use a thesis
Introduction Example

What is the most vital tool to college students? You
might say a laptop, backpack or textbooks, but
none of these things can be as useful for college
students as a smartphone. It seems like there is a
new smartphone released every day in the
technologic era we live in, but having the latest and
greatest technology really can benefit college
students immensely. For Michigan State University
students especially; the Motorola Droid Bionic is the
best smartphone for college students.
Thesis Statement

One of the most important sentence(s) in your
introduction is the thesis statement
 It
gives the reader your paper in a condensed form
 It highlights the argument in the paper
 What
 It
guides the reader through the rest of the paper
 What
A
is the main idea?
are some of your talking points?
thesis doesn’t have to be at the end of a paragraph
or 1 sentence, though this is usually the case
Example Thesis Statement

It is necessary for teenagers to have a car of their
own so that they can be more involved in school, be
more helpful to their families, and learn what its like
to enter adulthood.
Activity

I want you to spend 15-20 minutes revising your
introductions and thesis statements for paper 2.
Focus on trying to engage the reader, giving
background info, and then writing a good thesis
statement. After I want you to break up into groups
and share your introductions. Give some feedback.
After take a few minutes and revise what you have.
Finally go to blog and talk about how you changed
your introductions and thesis statements. In the blog
talk about how you engaged your audience and
why your intro is more successful now.