Sun 19 Jan 2003 11.34GMT If your thesis meets these three standards, your paper is off to a good start! Without a good thesis, your paper will lack focus. Many of these common writing issues are usually symptoms of a bad thesis statement. New settlements were developing away from the East Coast in an ungovernable backcountry, weakening colonial authority. Would I read this paper? Do you see why this thesis is better? Quite often, students get so caught up in the mechanics of a thesis that they forget the most important part of writing a good paper: it needs to be worth reading! Sometimes you wont even realize your main point until the end of the paper. Sure, many people would like to read a paper on this topic. No, not really. After all, the more you have to choose from, the easier it will be, right? Being able to write a good thesis statement is the foundation of a good paper. Yes, some readers would find this topic interesting. The American Revolution was the first successful revolution against a European empire that provided a model for many other colonial peoples who realized that they too could break away and become self-governing nations (New world Encyclopedia, 1).The American Revolution was vital to history because ideas seen by other countries started A good thesis statement must be manageable. This is a close call, but its probably safe to say this thesis is specific. For over eight years, our freelance writers on subjects like "Revolution" have helped Ph.D. students, doctorate academics, and university undergrads globally by offering the most comprehensive research service online for "Revolution" assignments and coursework. It can change. Just make sure you go back and revise your introduction when you finally realize your main point. I call this writing towards your thesis. It happens quite often, in fact. But heres the good news. If your thesis meets these three standards, your paper is off to a good start! If your thesis meets the following criteria, theres a good chance youve got a winner. It focuses on the single theme of protest in American culture. Starting out as a heroic struggle for liberty against the nasty British Empire, it then became the providential fulfilment of the American people's destiny. Have you heard these critiques from teachers before? He demonstrates with enthusiasm how a rebellion which its leaders insisted was on behalf of the principles of the English constitution was actually going much further, and how the irreconcilable faultline over the issue of sovereignty led to the development of a radically new kind of political structure. First published on Sun 19 Jan 2003 11.34GMT, The American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood Weidenfield & Nicolson 14.99, pp174. This website is created by a former college writing professor with several years of experience teaching Developmental Writing and composition to students of varying ages and backgrounds. Is it interesting? Eight: Signal Phrases & Smooth Connections. Lets see how this thesis statement works according to our guidelines. Theres no specific method that will always result in a perfect thesis every time. Think about how many protests have occurred over the past 250 years of American history. If theres one thing your English 101 teacher will focus on, it will be thesis statements. Very broad thesis statements lead to information paralysis. Is it manageable? The lessons are presented free of charge for use in college writing classrooms or for personal study. Available for everyone, funded by readers. There are, however, a couple strategies you can keep in mind that will make your life easier. A light bulb will go off in your head and youll begin to recognize an organizational pattern to your writing that actually makes sense. If you have a question about this website, please contact us via the contact page. If you can master the process by which we create good theses, you will be well on your way to becoming a better writer. Chances are your paper was suffering from one small issue that was causing all of these other complications. Standards of living were going up as cross-Atlantic trade flourished and settlements developed their own manufacturing, undermining the old paternalistic structure of colonial society. Different people write different ways. Learning to craft a good thesis statement takes practice. French Revolution - Marie Antoinette (Reading, Cartoon Analysis, Writing Assignment with Key and Rubric) This 10 page French Revolution resource about Marie Antoinette is an excellent resource when learning about the life of Marie Antoinette and the role she played in the French Revolution. Aha, heres the problem. If thesis statements are so important, what exactly makes a thesis statement good? By simply learning how to fix these weak thesis statements, you can dramatically improve your writing. Similar to the specificity guideline, a good thesis statement must also be manageable. So much can be said about the topic that the writer ends up barely saying anything at all. Seen the corrections glowing on the page in bright red ink? When crafting your thesis statement, keep in mind that this important sentence is flexible. We dont know what group will be the focus of this paperstudents, retirees, families? Is it manageable? Buy The American revolution at Amazon.co.uk. When you feel good about thesis statements, continue on to Lesson Two: Topic Sentences. Although there are reminders of what, in the future, this new structure was going to evolve into, Wood is fairly scrupulous about not viewing the revolution through a twenty-first-century lens. Any student who masters these eight steps will be on his or her way to becoming a successful writer. The two hundred years following the American Revolution have seen various approaches to the writing Joyfully for those of us who find it hard to get our historical kicks from ferreting on the battlefields, he devotes few pages to the eight years of actual fighting. You would have to write a whole book to cover this vast topic. A good thesis statement must be interesting. That small issue was a weak thesis statement. You dont want to set up an epic game plan for a three-page paper. Summary OfThe Writing Revolution By Peg Tyre 994 Words | 4 Pages. Youll start to see why transitions work and how to use them effectively. Whether you craft a strong working thesis in the beginning or whether you write towards your thesis, just remember those three important questions: Is it interesting, specific, and manageable? Actually, the exact opposite is true. Slavery continued for the following century and nothing was achieved for women, so what kind of a revolution was it anyway? He is careful to calibrate precisely what 'equality' meant at a time when blacks and women were essentially left out of it. Our Mission The Writing Revolution transforms instruction across the curriculum through a proven, coherent method that enables all students, and especially those from low-income families, to develop the literacy and critical thinking skills they need to engage productively in society. The five-pager would be more manageable if you focused only on one of his novels, likeThe Sound and the Fury. It is hard as a reader, though, not to consider some current elements of American politics. Is it interesting? This new thesis zeros in on two very focused periods in American history and compares them. Wood clarifies the convoluted British attempts to justify their ill-fated policy of taxing the colonies without providing them representation in Parliament. 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. For more on writing good thesis statements and also on the craft of teaching Developmental writers to create good thesis statements, check out our resource page. Usually, the writer never actually explores the topic in any kind of meaningful way. For more on writing good thesis statements and also on the craft of teaching Developmental writers to create good thesis statements, check out our resource page. When the American Revolution required place, the citizens of those colonies were starting to get fed up with the British rule. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly what point you want to make. Think of these guidelines as rules of thumb that will make your thesis statements more likely to succeed. The two hundred years following the American Revolution have seen various approaches to the writing of its history. The more you do it, the better youll get. Is it specific? With no space to go into their background, famous names are fluently introduced in order to step forward and play their part. It focuses specifically on one group (recent college graduates) and it limits the discussion to three major provisions, thereby making the argument manageable. Always consider the reader. Quite often, a weak thesis will cause your entire paper to unravel. Okay. Settlers were quick to blame the British, right up to the young George III himself, for any misfortunes which befell them. Having won a Pulitzer in 1993 for his book The Radicalism of the American Revolution , which demonstrated how society and culture were transformed, Wood is clearly on strong territory when it comes to the real-life effects of the move from monarchical to republican society - on popular religion, the economy, education, the family and the slavery question. Read TWRs statement on racial justice and equity in education here. Thats the question. Fixed: The protests that sparked the American Revolution have much in common with contemporary political movements like Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party. Professor Wood rejects any such anachronistic impositions of value as a comment only upon their proponents, and gets on with telling the story. It would be good to be able to smile wryly, remembering how Bush Jnr was elected, while reading of the principle that only election should be a criterion of representation - but in these dangerous days it is more likely to provoke the tearing of hair. It all comes down to this one simple step of learning how to craft good thesis statements. If you can write a good thesis, youll be miles ahead of most English 101 students when you get to college. Manageability will vary according to the length of the paper you are writing. Its amazing how much easier writing is when you actually know what point youre trying to make. All this, then the preparations for military action and the fighting itself, are described with great elegance and crispness. The paper will go in circles, repeating the same points over and over again. Developing writers commonly think that choosing a broad topic will make writing the paper easier. This is why we often refer to your first few attempts as a working thesis statement. Actually, he does rather more than that; for a slim summary of a big event there is a great deal of synthesised analysis wound around his narrative. Do you want to perform a Demtia Test or Menopause Test? Bad Thesis 1:The Affordable Care Act has many pros and cons. Thats why we begin right in Lesson One and continue discussing theses every week until you pass the course. For example, you wouldnt want to examine all of William Faulkners novels in five pages, but you might for a 300-page PhD dissertation. Ask yourself: Do I care about this topic? The American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood Weidenfield & Nicolson 14.99, pp174. If no reasonable reader would care about the topic, then it doesnt matter how good or insightful your argument is. The revolution as a social movement thesis writing The 13 colonies that grew to become the united states were initially colonies of effective Britain. No paper can succeed if it reaches no reader. This topic is not manageable. All rights reserved. Maybe, but because the thesis lacks specificity, we dont know for sure whether the topic is appropriate for the assignment. And few of the British 'understood the explosive energy and the sensitive nature of the people they were tampering with' when a tax on all paper sold in America was imposed in 1765, succeeding only in uniting colonies against metropolis. This paper would leave out everything that happened in between these two historical events and, as a result, the papers thesis will be much more manageable. The article The Writing Revolution by Peg Tyre is a piece which aims to address the problems in school systems often associated with the way in which writing is taught to students. A good thesis statement must be specific. In Developmental Writing, we focus intensively on honing your ability to write a good thesis. _____ When you feel good about thesis statements, continue on to Lesson Two: Topic Sentences. During the first half of the twentieth century it was re-evaluated as a class and sectarian conflict, and more recently has become an event whose very worth requires serious questioning.