Comp 1 Thesis Review Discussion ARGUABLE THESES VERSUS STATEMENTS OF FACT Statements of fact are statements of common knowledge; therefore, writing essays about them prevents students from demonstrating important academic abilities. Consider the statements below: Smoking can cause health problems. Small cars get better fuel mileage than 4x4 pickup trucks. On average, people with college degrees earn more money in the workplace. Foul language is common in movies. If you were to write an essay based on any of the above statements, your writing would be quite dull because you would be restating facts that the general public already knows. In order to make your writing interesting and engaging, you should develop thesis statements that are arguable. You may be making an argument of definition, evaluation, proposal, or analysis, but no matter the type of argument, thesis statement should state your position on a debatable issue. In other words, when you write a thesis statement, you take a stand about something. Suppose one of the general topics listed above interests you. You could still write about it—you might just have to change your approach so that your thesis statement is arguable. Consider: Statement of fact: Smoking can cause health problems. Arguable thesis statement: The government should ban smoking altogether. Statement of fact: Small cars get better fuel mileage than 4x4 pickup trucks. Arguable thesis statement: The government should regulate the use of 4x4 pickup trucks except for work-related use. Statement of fact: On average, people with college degrees earn more money in the workplace. Arguable thesis statement: A college degree should not be required for the _____ profession. Statement of fact: Foul language is common in movies. Arguable thesis statement: The current rating system needs to be revised to a more specific, less subjective system that can give audiences reliable information about film content. Any given individual might agree or disagree with some or all of the revised statements above, and the evidence used to support or challenge the statements would be different from writer to writer. The point is that a writer who supported or challenged one of these would have to construct an argument in order to make his or her case. With a statement of fact, a writer simply puts on paper what has already been established by other people. An arguable thesis, on the other hand, requires a writer to think about which supporting arguments best challenge the other side of the issue.

Exercise 1 The following exercise contains hypothetical thesis statements. On the blank line beside each statement, write “A” if the statement is arguable or “F” if it is a statement of fact. Be prepared to discuss why. _______1. The amount of financial aid available to students should be proportionate to the earning potential of the

career fields for which their majors prepare them.

_______2. Ronald Reagan was loved and admired by many people.

_______3. The United States contains citizens of many different ethnicities.

_______4. Northeast Community College should make free coffee available to students in every building.

_______5. Driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous.

_______6. Penalties for drinking and driving should be more severe.

_______7. Television networks air a lot of reality shows.

_______8. An effective career-advancement policy for any institution must be based on placing employees where they

best serve the company, not awarding advancement as a prize for a job well-done.

_______9. Most cheese is created as a result of a biological process involving carefully selected microorganisms.

_______10. In the last 20 years, the cost of higher education has risen at a much greater rate than the average

household income and cost of living despite the fact that more adults are finding at least some college education

necessary in the current job market.

Exercise 2 As a team, rewrite each of the thesis statements below, turning each into an effective thesis statement for a 2-3 page research essay. You must think carefully about what would be an appropriate topic for an essay of this length - be careful not to choose a topic that is too broad.

1. Choosing a career is very difficult.

2. It is important to visit foreign countries.

3. In this essay I am going to talk about social problems in American schools.

4. Humans are inflicting more and more damage on the environment.

5. The nuclear family is a thing of the past.