Davies0002

4.    What have I łearned in recent conversations with friends, parents, relatives, teachers, and associates that will help me support my topie?

5.    What do people in my audience know about my topie? What will interest them? What will borę th£m? What may even surprise them?

The answers you give to these ąuestions will help you pin point sources of supporting details.

Exercise 1.3 Return to the topics you limited in Exercise 1.2 (or limit some new topics of your own choosing). For each, State your reason for writing about it, describe an intended audience, and suggest some probable sources of the kinds of details that you could use to devełop the topie.

1F Think through the main idea of your cemposkion, and formulate a thesis statement.

It is vitał to define your main idea—the essential thing you want to say about your subject—before you plan and write your paper. This main idea serves to guide and control your presentation of the sentences and paragraphs that make up your finished composition. It is usually helpfUl to formulate your thesis as an argument: What is the most important thing l want my readers to believe about my subject? Do I want them to do something? If so, what do l want them to do?

Once you have narrowed the focus of your topie, construct a thesis statement. A thesis statement (or thesis) tells readers why they should read what you have written. It lets them know what to expect and lets them decide whether they want to go on with your work. It usually describes your position on the subject as well. How do you feel about the subject? If your subject is organie gardening, for exampłe, your readers should know right away whether you believe in organie gardening or whether you are going to argue that it is a waste of time and money. Your thesis statement may also include the two or three major arguments you intend to use to support your proposi-tion. The following limited topics at the left led writers to produce the thesis statements at the right.

Limited topie

experiments with sol ar energy in major cities today *

causes for the poisoning of the Green River

Possibie thesis statement

Three urbai

experiments with soiar energy show mixedjresults and raise doubts about the sun as a soi rce of energy for the futurę.

industria! gr of people tributed to tl River

ged, strip mining, and the movement he land and into the cities all eon*. e poisoning of the beautifu! Green |

of t

16 The Writing Process

j    22> f02/a

In the first example, the thesis States the topie—experiments with solar energy in cities—and also makes the claim that those experiments suggest doubts about the practicality of harnessingthe sun’s energy. An essay built on such a thesis would have to win readers to that point of view. In the second CKumple, too, the thesis States the topie and asserts something about it. Here, the daim is that the poisoning ofthe Green River occurred for three distinct reasons, Notice how this thesis statement previews the three explanations for the poisoning: ihdustrial greed, strip mining, and the movement of people off the land and into the cities. In an essay on this topie, the writer would offer details and commentary to support these explanations.

Here are some morę thesis statements that were produced for limited topics:

Limited topie

the affects of jogging on the body

dangers people face when they learn to ski

television commercials aimed at children

soap operas

sound images in Shakespeare’s The Tempest

playing Bottom in a summer camp production of A Mićsum-mer Night's Dream

how group action led to a reduction in our use of energy in Allendaie

Possibie thesis statement

Despite its many advantages, jogging can cause serious physical problems.

On a frozen hiilside near Sun Valley, Idaho, one February morning i leamed that not all. grizzly bears hibemate in winter.

Television commercials aimed at children suggest that the advertised Products bring pleasure, popularity, and famiiy unity.

Dayś of Our Lives and Another World present the theme of marriage and infi-delity in absorbing and unrealistic ways.

Sound images in The Tempest fali into patterns that reflect typical themes in Shakespeare’s plays.

A senes of stage accidents, trousers that split in the third act, and a whole scene of garbled lines madę my por-trayai of Bottom last summer funnier than Shakespeare ever intended.

With carefully scheduied car pools, curtailed shopping hours at Allendaie Mail, and a successful campaign to in-stall home insuiation, group action led to a significant out in energy consump-tion in Allendaie.

Coritinóed . . .

Planning, Developing, and Revising Papers 17