Thesis and Topic Sentences

for The Wave

What is a thesis? Why do teachers always say it’s so important?A thesis is your ONE-SENTENCE answer to

the prompt.

It is the MOST IMPORTANT sentence in your paper because without it, NO ONE knows what you will be PROVING.

If you don’t have a thesis in your paper, I WILL NOT READ PAST THE FIRST PARAGRAPH AND YOU WILL HAVE TO RE-WRITE YOUR ESSAY.

How to write a thesisA thesis has three parts:

Subject (in this case, your subject will be one of the themes)

Your opinion of the subject as it related to the prompt

The blueprint: the THREE ways you plan on proving your opinion on the subject

Sample thesisSample Prompt: In the Disney movie,

Pocahontas, Pocahontas is treated unfairly because of her race, her beliefs, the way she looks, and simply because she is "different“. Discuss how Pocahontas reacts to the white man’s view of her heritage. How does it make her feel?

So, what should I do first here? What’s the FIRST thing I need in my thesis?

Right! I need the SUBJECT.So, what IS the subject here?__________________________________

Brainstorm…

Sample Prompt: In the Disney movie, Pocahontas, Pocahontas is treated unfairly because of her race, her beliefs, the way she looks, and simply because she is "different“. Discuss how Pocahontas reacts to the white man’s view of her heritage. How does it make her feel?

Yes, narrow-mindedness, racism, bigotry…all of these will work as a subject here.

Okay, now you have your subject. What is your OPINION about this subject as it relates to the prompt?

________________________________________________

Brainstorm

Sample Prompt: In the Disney movie, Pocahontas, Pocahontas is treated unfairly because of her race, her beliefs, the way she looks, and simply because she is "different“. Discuss how Pocahontas reacts to the white man’s view of her heritage. How does it make her feel?

Okay, so maybe you said something like: “I think it’s wrong”, or “It’s a hurtful way to treat someone”, or “people who are racist are narrow-minded are not nice” or…?

That is fine for now. Now you have to think of and write down three ways that you’re going to PROVE your opinion on the subject.

Sample Prompt: In the Disney movie, Pocahontas, she is treated unfairly because of her race, her beliefs, the way she looks, and simply because she is "different“. Discuss how Pocahontas reacts to the white man’s view of her heritage. How does it make her feel?

1) Pocahontas is shocked and hurt by the prejudice she experiences because they are so peaceful

2) She then gets angry that the white men are so narrow-minded and this puts her in danger

3) Then, she tries to teach them her beliefs to show them that they’re all very similar.

Now you have to put ALL of that information into ONE sentence.

Sample Prompt: In the Disney movie, Pocahontas, Pocahontas is treated unfairly because of her race, her beliefs, the way she looks, and simply because she is "different“. Discuss how Pocahontas reacts to the white man’s view of her heritage. How does it make her feel?

Give it a try…SUBJECT: narrow-mindednessOPINION: It’s a hurtful way to treat someoneBLUEPRINT:

1) Pocahontas tribe is peaceful and deserves respect

2) Their narrow-mindedness puts her in danger3) She is defenseless because she is peaceful,

so the only thing she can do is show them that they are just different, not ignorant

WRITE A THESIS USING THE INFORMATION ABOVE

Sample ThesisNarrow-mindedness is hurtful to Pocahontas

because her tribe has always been peaceful and respectful, and she is now faced with having to put herself in danger in order to fight for her people’s ways, and the only weapon she really has is to try to teach her tribe’s peaceful way of life to the narrow-minded enemy.

Topic SentencesNarrow-mindedness is hurtful to Pocahontas

because her tribe has always been peaceful and respectful, and she is now faced with having to put herself in danger in order to fight for her people’s ways, and the only weapon she really has is to try to teach her tribe’s peaceful way of life to the narrow-minded enemy.

NOW, I GET MY TOPICS FROM MY THESIS FOR EACH BODY PARAGRAPH.

Topic Sentence #1her tribe has always been peaceful and

respectful

Wait, what was the prompt again? In the Disney movie, Pocahontas, Pocahontas is treated unfairly because of her race, her beliefs, the way she looks, and simply because she is "different“. Discuss how Pocahontas reacts to the white man’s view of her heritage. How does it make her feel?

TS #1: Because Pocahontas comes from a community of people who have always live respectfully with one another, she is shocked and hurt at how the white men are treating her.

Topic Sentences #2 and #3now faced with having to put herself in danger in

order to fight for her people’s waysTS #2: Unfairly, Pocahontas finds herself in

danger because of the narrow-mindedness of the white men who believe that she is ignorant.

the only weapon she really has is to try to teach her tribe’s peaceful way of life to the narrow-minded enemy

TS #3: Since Pocahontas only knows how to be peaceful, teaching her values to the white men is her only weapon.