Week 2: Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences

-Can be supported with evidence from the text under consideration. -Makes an arguable claim about the text's meaning or purpose.

A good thesis statement for a evaluative or literary analysis...

True

A thesis statement is sometimes also called a central idea, a controlling idea, or a main claim.

-certain -may not

Identify the words or phrases in the passage below that help qualify the writer's thesis. Select all that apply. For certain careers and individual interests, a college degree may not be a smart investment.

Outside of school curricula, high school students can learn about financial literacy through free tutorials available on private banking web sites.

Imagine that you are composing a body paragraph for a report about financial literacy for high school students. The focus of the paragraph will be about financial literacy course offerings in high school curricula. Which sentence would not be an effective topic sentence for your paragraph?

True

Paragraphs are considered coherent when readers are able to follow your train of thought.

College basketball should adopt the "Elam Ending" in order to make the game more exciting for both players and fans.

A student has been researching an alternative scoring system called the "Elam Ending" for basketball games. Which thesis statement would be most appropriate for an argument on the topic?

-Your overall position is clear, but "beneficial for students" seems vague. Could you be more specific about why financial literacy classes are beneficial? -It might be helpful for readers to know what kinds of schools you're referring to. High schools? Middle schools? Colleges? -I'm wondering if financial literacy classes are always beneficial for all students? Maybe you could qualify your statement?

A student is writing an argument about financial literacy classes. After turning his topic into a question, he came up with the following tentative thesis statement: Schools should offer financial literacy classes because they're beneficial for students. The writer asks you for suggestions for improving his thesis. Which suggestion(s) would be helpful? Select all that apply.

I would expect the rest of the paragraph to explain the process of what causes the popcorn kernel to jump in the air as it pops.

Below is the first sentence of a paragraph excerpted from a report about the science behind how popcorn pops. As a reader, how do you expect the rest of this paragraph, to continue? But what propels the kernel, with what Virot and Ponomarenko (2015) called "all the grace of a seasoned gymnast," into the air as it pops?

Declarative sentence

Fill in the blank to complete the following statement. In academic contexts, a thesis is typically expressed in the form of a _________

Nevertheless, Polyvore has a couple shortcomings.

Identify the place where the paragraph below, excerpted from an evaluation, should be broken up. Which should be the first sentence in the new paragraph? An example of another online style database with a similar design is Pinterest, which does a great job of collecting data but does not allow space for users to create original sets. Instead of just having users save items to a board that they may never look at again, Polyvore's website design allows users to look back on their sets and use their imagination or personal preferences to create an online personality. This online personality not only reflects the style of a Polyvore user, but also allows this same user to document their capabilities as a contributor to social fashion. Nevertheless, Polyvore has a couple shortcomings. Because the website's content is provided by business and non-business users, not all products are available for purchase, which means that some only serve the purpose of being an artistic presence in a set. I have often hovered over an interactive set to check the price on a sweater or shirt only to find that it was pulled straight from a blog page with no link to a store website.

Employees who cyberloaf on these websites could be less productive at work as well.

Identify the sentence in the paragraph below that strays from the topic sentence. One of the most pressing reasons for organizations to pay attention to cyberloafing behavior is that it can make sensitive, secure information vulnerable. Indeed, organizations should be aware that sensitive information that is stored in their computers may be compromised by malware that gets into the system throughout employees' internet browsing, especially on entertainment websites. Employees who cyberloaf on these websites could be less productive at work as well. Findings suggest that up to 60% of entertainment website traffic comes from people at the workplace (Wagner et al., 2012, p. 1071). So certain cyberloafing activities, such as visiting online gambling and adult websites, could expose an organization to a security breach (Hadlington & Parsons, 2017, pp. 570-71).

verifiable statements of fact

In argumentative writing, a good thesis is based on an arguable claim—a statement that reasonable people may disagree about. In most academic contexts, certain kinds of statements are not arguable, including _____________, which cannot be opposed.

No

Is the structure for this opening sentence for a paragraph adapted from a report parallel? Popcorn kernels are unique in that they are relatively small, they have endosperms containing a large number of hard starch granules, and pericarps make the popcorn kernels' outer shell hard and impermeable, essentially sealing off the contents of the kernel from the outside environment.

True

Thesis statements are helpful tools for both readers and writers.

-to give readers a needed pause -to introduce a new subject or idea -to emphasize an idea

Which of the following are good reasons to begin a new paragraph?

-Thinking about what your audience would find most interesting or would most want to know about your topic. -Freewriting about what interests you most about your topic. -Looking for patterns in the research or reading you've done on your topic. -Reviewing your notes, freewrites, and other material for key concepts, ideas, or arguments.

Which of the following strategies can be useful in developing a thesis statement? Select all that apply.