Summary Writing 实用写作教学文稿.ppt

Summary Writing Solo performance Thesis topic sentence In-class practice Summary writing Thesis [’θi:sis] 论点 As the controlling idea, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. It directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel. It makes a claim that others might dispute. It is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, or the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will convince the reader of your interpretation. Make a judgment: a good thesis? High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness. School uniforms should not be mandatory (compulsory) in public schools because it would stifle (choke) students’ creativity, take away students’ rights, and cause students to lose interest in school.  Suppose you are taking a course on 19th-century America, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: Compare and contrast the reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War. 1st thesis: The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which are the same and some different. A weak thesis! But why? The reader might think, What reasons? How are they the same? How are they different? It is important that the reader knows where you are heading. 2nd thesis: While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions. A working thesis! But it can still be improved. You end up revising the working thesis into a final thesis that really captures the argument in your paper. Final thesis: Wh