Coach Ivey 2001

The following information will help guide you in your writing of a thesis statement. DO NOT throw this paper away because it will be beneficial through out your high school career.

Techniques to Developing a Thesis

"When you write a composition, you have something specific to say about your topic. This is your thesis, and the sentence that you write to express this main idea is the thesis statement. The thesis statement of a composition is like the topic sentence of a paragraph; it helps you control the direction of your writing. The entire composition will support the ideas in the statement. Your thesis is not your topic (youth football) but what you want to say about it (youth football causes serious, unnecessary injuries)" (Warriner 506).

"The thesis statement often appears in the introduction, where it introduces or summarizes the composition's main idea or ideas. Depending on your topic, purpose, and writing approach or style, the statement can be long or short, one sentence or more" (Warriner 506).

"While planning your composition, you will develop a preliminary thesis statement to guide your first draft. Later, during revision, you can revise that statement" (Warriner 506).

Hints for writing and using a thesis statement

1. Use your prewriting notes. Before you begin to write, you'll gather a great deal of information about your topic. Look over this information carefully. What one idea unifies the facts and details you have?

2. State both your topic and your main idea. Your thesis statement needs to make clear two things: your topic and your main idea. For example, think about this thesis statement: If you want to be among the nearly eight million teens who are employed part time, the following tips on landing a job may boost your chances of success. The topic is the teen part-time job market. The main idea is how to improve your chances of finding a part-time job.

3. Change your thesis statement if you need to. To begin with, reword your thesis statement until it says clearly what you want it to say. Remember that if you get a different idea or decide to change the focus of your composition, you can always write a new thesis statement.

4. Use your thesis statement to guide your writing. Keep your thesis statement in front of you as you write, and be sure that all your ideas and details support it.

(Warriner 507)

Parenthetical Documentation

A parenthetical citation gives source information in parentheses in the body of a research paper. There are two main issues concerning the handling of these citations: (1) What are the content and correct form of the citation? (2) Exactly where does the citation go?

The content and form of parenthetical citations are fairly easy once you understand one basic principle: The citation should provide just enough information to lead the reader to the full source listing on the Works Cited page.
Since the Works Cited list is alphabetized by authors' last name, an author's last name and the page numbers are usually enough for a parenthetical citation. There are some exceptions of course; information about some of them is given below.

§ A nonprint source such as an interview or audiotape will not have a page number.

§ A print source of fewer than two pages (such as a one-page letter or article) will not require a page number.

§ If you name the author in your sentence, you need give only the page number (for print sources of more than one page) in parentheses:

According to her biographer, Robert Hemenway, the long sermon that is the climax of Jonah's Gourd Vine "was taken almost verbatim from Hurston's field notes" (197).

§ If the author has more than one work in the Works Cited list, you will also have to give a short form of the title so readers will know which work you are citing:

(Hurston, Dust Tracks 171).

BASIC CONTENT AND FORM FOR PARANTHETICAL CITATION

These examples assume that the author or work has not already been named in a sentence introducing the source's information.

§ Works by one author

Author's last name and a page reference (Hemenway 197).

§ Separate passages in a single work

Author's last name and multiple page references (Hemenway 41, 77-78).

§ More than one work by the same author

Author's last name and the full or shortened title (Hurston, Dust Tracks 197).

§ Works by more than one author

All authors' last names or first author's last name and et al. ("and others") if over three

(Brooks and Warren 24).or (Bell, Parker, and Guy-Sheftall 51).or (Anderson et al. 313).

§ Multivolume Works

Author's last name plus volume and page (Cattell 2: 214-15).

§ Works with a title only

Full title (if short) or a shortened version ("Old Eatonville" 2). (World Almanac 809).

§ Indirect sources

Abbreviation qtd. in [quoted in] before the source (qtd. in Howard 161).

§ More than one work in the same citation

Citations separated with semicolons (Bone 127; Pinckney 56).

§ Biblical references

Name of book (abbreviated), chapter, and verse. (Gen. 1.2). [Note that the names of books of the Bible are neither underlined nor enclosed in quotation marks.]

Summaries and Paraphrases

In most of your notes, you will record the author's ideas and facts in your own words. A summary is highly condensed - typically one fourth to one third the length of the original. A paraphrase is a restatement in your own words that is more detailed.

Whether you summarize or paraphrase, you must use your own words and sentence structure. Try setting the passage aside and writing ideas from memory. Also, use lists and phrases - not complete sentences (Warriner 531).

Note Cards

Guidelines for Note Cards

1. Use a separate card for each source and item of information. Organizing note cards in difficult if they combine different sources or information.

2. Record the source number in the upper right corner. Write the number you have previously assigned each source. This step is important; it's a shorthand system to show exactly where you got the information.

3. Write a label, or heading, in the upper left corner. By identifying the main idea of your note, you will not later have to reread each card to discover its basic content.

4. Write the page number(s) at the end of your note. Record the page numbers from which each piece of information comes. In your paper, page references will be required for documentation.

Sample Note Card

Material gathered from Holt High School Handbook

Author John E. Warriner