Thesis Statement Exercise

Hello All! Well, this is my first post ever. I thought I would share something I discovered today in a non-writing class that would be useful for helping clients write good introductory paragraphs with thesis statements. My professor proposed a 5 step process as thus: 1. Make a Statement 2. Define terms/clarify 3. Give an Example 4. Ask, "So, what?" 5. Answer the, "So, what?" 1. Make a statement: This is in response to a general topic/someone's elses statment/what an article has to say/etc. It's your feelings about something. For example, I read an article that says "high school is the most critical period for character-development" and I disagree. My statement might be, "High school is only one part of a long life journey." 2. Define Terms/Clarify: At this point I now was to clarify what I'm trying to say. I might start a sentence with, "In other words..." Running with my statement in #1, "In other words, human beings are shaped by their experiences from birth until adulthood, which everyone will reach at a different point, despite the expectations of society." I've now developed my topic a little more. 3. Give an Example: At this point, I should illistrate what i am talking about for further clarity and development. "For example, some people act immaturely at age 50, still possessing adolescent behaviors like getting black-out drunk on a regular basis despite the consequences, because they didn't push themselves to develop beyond their high school years." 4. So, what? Now, we need to ask a ,"so what" question in response to what we've said so far. In the case of what I've written so far I might ask myself, "So, why should we care what high school does and does not do for personal/character development?" 5. Answer the "So, what?": Give your best answer. What results should look something like a fairly prescise and concrete thesis statement. I had answered, "If people do not recognize all the facors that contribute to maturity beyond high school, they will likely fail to understand, much less achieve, what signifies a fully developed character." Let me put all the parts together now: "High school is only one part of a long life journey. In other words, human beings are shaped by their life experiences from birth until adulthood, which everyone will reach at a different point, despite the expectations of society. For example, some people act immaturely at age 50, still possessing adolescent behaviors like getting black-out drunk on a regular basis despite the consequences, because they didn't push themselves to develop beyond their high school years. So, why should we care what high school does and doesn't do for personal character development? If people do not recognize all the factors that contribute to maturity beyond high school, they will likely fail to understand, much less achieve, what signifies a fully developed character." It's not perfect. Of course it's not. But if done correctly, this process will show a paragraph that introduces a topic, develops it a bit, and ends up with an argument. From there, revision and polish can be worked through, but I often find clients struggle to get something written down to work with in the first place. With a little tweaking, I think this 5 step process can be adjusted to fit a lot of assignments that include arguments and asserting opinions. Anyway, try it! It worked for me!