Evaluating Thesis Statements

The controlling or main idea of an argument is also known as...

• Claim/Thesis

• Reason

• Evidence

Which of the following statements is an example of a Claim/Thesis?

• Sports teach students how to work as a team and trust others to be supportive.

• The National Alliance for Youth Sports states, “Working as a team to reach a common goal helps children develop communication and problem solving skills that will benefit them on the field and off.”

• Every middle school student should be required to participate in a sport.

A thesis statement should...

• be a statement is a claim that could be argued

• be in the first person

• use unclear language

• state a fact

Choose the BEST example of a thesis statement

• Abe Lincoln was an excellent speaker, the 16th President of the United States, a person who got things done, and united the North and South at the end of the American Civil War.

• Abe Lincoln was one of the best presidents the United States has ever known for many reasons.

A thesis statement should...

• use more than one topic

• be the main idea of an essay

• be broad

• be wordy or very long

This is a good example of a thesis statement: In this essay I will discuss the crime rate in Mountain City.

• True

• False

A thesis statement should never:

• ask a question

• give two reasons

• be concise (not too wordy)

• say what the paper is about

The thesis statement should express a main idea to links to supporting claims?

• True

• False

How long should a thesis statement be?

• One paragraph

• one essay

• one word

• one sentence

What is the purpose of a thesis statement?

• To be a pretty sentence

• to introduce your paper to the reader

• to be a sentence in your introduction

• to explain what your essay will be about