MAKE UP ASSIGNMENT, for 18 November 2016 (Friday) class: developing a good thesis for The Big Idea paper

11/17/2016

If you remember what I said on Wednesday, a good idea for this paper has three qualities: it is a complicated thesis that has a lot of parts to it so you have to prove a lot of things--giving you your five pages; it is arguable--someone can reasonably tell you you are wrong and why; and, finally, a point we didn't get to, you could do research on it. If you can't come up with something that fits all three of these criteria, you are not going to have an easy time writing your paper. So, to that end, please post the following:

1. A Tentative thesis statement. Think back to my Dirty Dancing thesis. It was long. It was more than one sentence. It had lots of parts to prove--making it a good thesis for a five page paper.

2. Explain in a sentence or two how you could argue against your point.

3. Tell me what kind of research you could maybe do. Don't worry if you don't know for sure, just try.

Please try to write your answer on the blog by 5:00 PM on Friday. And, then, REPLY to one or more of your classmates giving them feedback. If you DON'T think it is an arguable point, tell them. If you think there is no way they could do research on that subject--or that it would be crazy hard--tell them. If you think that it's just sort of boring, tell them that--but nicely. You know I'm certainly going to do that. Please RESPOND to your classmates by Sunday at 5:00.

TO POST: CLICK ON THE "COMMENT" BUTTON AT THE TOP RIGHT OR BOTTOM LEFT OF THE PAGE.
On MONDAY we will meet in the library computer room, which is located on the first floor of Maxwell Library. If you walk in the main entrance, just before you get to the staircase, turn left and walk all the way back until you hit the wall. That room will be the library computer room.

31 Comments

Kevin Daniels

11/18/2016 01:13:53 pm

My arguement will be what if we took away the foul ball rule in baseball? Would the game be fair? Also, will the game go quicker than it normally does. I am going to look up why the foul ball rule is in place then talk about the counter arguments a little bit also.my argument that the game will be fair and that the game will go by quicker.

11/21/2016 06:56:41 am

So, Kevin, I think this is a good start. For an actual thesis, you want it to be a statement. So, once you decide, it would read, Despite a good reason for inventing the rule in the first place, the foul ball rule in baseball should be eliminated because it will make games go more quickly and, most importantly, will make the game more fair. So then I understand all the parts of the argument you'd have to prove: you'd show me why the rule got created and if it was a good reason or not so good. You'd have to explain to me that it should be eliminated and why, then you'd have to show me how it would shorten the game (a good thing) and why AND HOW it would make the game more fair.

Meghan McGrath

11/18/2016 01:37:10 pm

Traveling gives people more opportunities to learn and explore new cultures and destinations. People always ask me how travel has changed me. If I look back at who I was before I began traveling and compare that to who I am now, I would have to say that travel has made me a better and more well-rounded person. People would think this is expensive, but I think it's worth the money. It can be risk, but that's a risk people are willing to take. In conclusion, there are so many other reasons that people would be against this, but this will my thesis for this essay.

Kyle Res

11/18/2016 01:49:31 pm

I like traveling too and i can agree it is also very expensive. Is the argument more about people who dont like traveling vs people who do or is the argument about people that like to travel because they can afford it vs people who like/dislike it because they cant afford it?

11/21/2016 06:58:08 am

I think this is a good thesis. YOu can do research on it and I get all the parts that you would have to prove: who you were before you traveled. Who you became after travel. You'd have to talk about money and risk. But you could also find a lot of research about the benefits to students who travel/study abroad.

11/18/2016 01:38:38 pm

The Walking Dead is a show where zombies aka walkers are basically ruling the world. While rick and his groups of survivors plan on slicing and slashing all the walkers down to survive, one of his friends Morgan struggles with that concept and has opposing views. As you learn through the show a man had taught Morgan a type of fighting called “aikido” which is one of the reasons he is so passive aggressive towards the walkers. Morgans wife had turned to a walker and he was unable to put her down which lead to the death of his child as well. He still believes there are other ways to deal with the walkers and that you can live around them in peace. Although thinking this way has downfalls Morgan is able to keep a more open mind of finding a solution to a problem where as Ricks human mentality begins to diminish every day because of all the killing he does and the death that constantly surrounds him.

I am trying to argue that at this point in the show which was a few seasons ago, who is more right? Not killing the walkers led to the death of Morgans wife and child but he himself is alive mentally and physically. While on the other side Rick loses people (and himself mentally) daily. Due to how much killing he does he is not able to think clearly and this leads to the death of many of his friends.

11/20/2016 12:55:04 pm

Kyle, I think this is a solid arguement. You have a lot of information and have a counter argument also. I think you are off to a good start.

Joanly

11/20/2016 02:23:32 pm

I think this is an interesting argument. Though, I was unclear of your thesis. You summarized a bit too much. It's not bad, I just think you should save the summarization for the next paragraph and focus your introduction on the argument.

11/21/2016 07:04:15 am

Yeah. I agree with Joanly. I THINK there is something cool going on here, but I'm just not sure what the argument is. Who is right? Who are the two people we are talking about? Rick and Morgan? And what is one of them right about? It would help me to help you if I had one sentence that was a statement.

I do think that there is a lot of research you can do on this topic probably. So that's good.

Mykal

11/21/2016 12:08:10 pm

Kyle I like the all info you shared and the fact that you have two different sides to your argument. I think this is a pretty good thesis, especially for someone who doesn't know much or has even seen the show, and I think that your paper is going to be a good one.

Sami Schmall

I will be arguing whether or not elementary children should have homework or not. After many long hours of sitting in a classroom, they come home and have more work to do. I will look up the effects of children mentally and how the extra work that they have after school can take away from their social lives. Also they could get overworked and could take away from the family time that every family should get to have everyday.

11/20/2016 12:57:16 pm

Sami, I think you have a great argument. I like the steps you are going to take to for the research part of this paper. I was just confused on what your thesis was.

11/20/2016 02:18:46 pm

I think this is a good argument and has its potential to be well written. Expand on a thesis, what about elementary education? Why? etc.

11/21/2016 07:07:43 am

This is a strong thesis that will let you do good research. The one thing you want to remember to do, when it comes time, is phrase this as a statement. So more like For this reason, this reason, and this reason, students in elementary school should do or not do homework and this will be the good result. Obviously, I'm just making that up, but you get my point.

11/18/2016 03:25:21 pm

Even though it is 2016 it still seems that some people don't really understand the effect that a hate crime can have on a person's life nor do they seem to know that hate crimes still exist, which is pretty pathetic to be honest. There is nothing worst that you can do to someone than making them feel like complete shit about themselves on a daily basis and also making them feel like they're not important to our society because once you mess with a persons head like that, not only is it hard for them to recover but it also instills a great amount of fear into their lives. Over the recent years the number of complaints for hate crimes have been slowly increasing but just last year that number jumped up to sixty-seven-per-cent and since our recent election, its been recorded as probably the one of the largest increase in the history of hate crimes; for example between November, 8th and 14th, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported an estimated 500 reports of hate crimes targeting people of all race, color, religion and immigrants. Hate crimes against Muslims has had a drastic increase and its been at its highest ever not to mention all the other minorities that live among us whose have also increase by a notable amount; and now this why I find pathetic and appalling that people and even states in this great country can actually stand around and act like none of this stuff exists and not have any means of help for someone who is a victim of such abuse.

So my argument for this paper is to try and prove that hates crimes are very much real and they are happening all around us on a daily basis and I also want to point out that most of these hate crimes/intimidation is a snowball effect from this year's election and the candidates involved.

11/20/2016 12:59:24 pm

Mykal, I really lie your idea for this paper. I also like your thesis that you are going to try and prove that hate crimes are very real. Ithink you are off to a good start.

11/21/2016 07:11:14 am

There is certainly a lot of research you can do on this. You can do a lot about the rise of hate crimes. I think that it seems sort of obvious to me that hate crimes would hurt people, so a more nuanced thesis would be HOW if affects people--and I would suggest looking at both the people who are the victims of hate crimes and the people who perpetrate hate crimes. I know that's hard to believe, but that does have a psychological affect on the perpetrators.

Andrew Silsvestro

11/19/2016 01:15:24 pm

My argument is going to be about how Tom Brady did not deflate the footballs, and how his punishment was unjust and unfair. I am going to argue that Brady had nothing to do with the deflated balls, and also that the punishment that he received was so unfair. I will look up the proven science that the cold weather was the reason why the balls were under inflated. Also I am going to explain why Brady's punishment was tottaly uunfair and compare it to other suspensions

11/20/2016 01:01:23 pm

Andrew, I was going to do something similar to yours but I thought I could not get 5 pages out of it. With your information that you have and what you are going to research, I think you can get 5 pages.

11/21/2016 07:28:01 am

So Kevin's point is worth considering: how will you get 5 pages out of saying that Tom Brady's punishment was unfair. I think it's possible, but it requires that you think about the parts of this. What was actually wrong with deflating the balls? Who did deflate them and what evidence do you have that they did it and not Brady? What about all this cold weather stuff? What about the punishment? Why is it unfair? is it only unfair because he didn't cheat? Would it be fair if he did? Would it be unfair even if he did cheat?

Here is the only thing, A LOT has been written about this, so trying to say something new and interesting could be tough. But that's your challenge.

11/20/2016 12:52:20 pm

Meghan, you have a lot of good information but I was a little confused on what you are arguing. I think you need to tell us what exactly you are arguing.

Joanly Ayala

11/20/2016 02:15:25 pm

Although there are many people addicted to social media, a lot of apps help people express themselves in a way reality does not. For a great amount of people,being themselves in the real world is not easy. They try to escape into a world where they can be themselves and connect with people similar to them.

This is just an idea, but I may argue how social media helps people to express themselves in different ways.

11/20/2016 03:50:31 pm

Joanly i think you have a great idea of what your argument is going to be. I know its just the start but what apps/social media are you going to be referring too?

11/21/2016 07:46:54 am

I too think this is a good thesis--I think it needs to be a little more focused and Sami's suggestion is a good one--So you could add a "for instance" so perhaps name a few apps. When I think about your research, you want to look for research that is positive about social media, but you also want to consider the other side. That can work for you. It will give you several things to research. But looking at specific apps will help you narrow your searches.

Noah Duarte

11/20/2016 02:58:00 pm

My argument will be about how the drinking laws here in the U.S. aren't effective enough. Let's be real we're all in college and a lot of underage people drink. The law is suppose to be stopping anyone under 21 years of age from drinking, when in reality most people have had their first drink of alcohol im highschool. Many teens die from alcohol poisoning every year. I will give a solution to bring the death rate down.

Lia Cipolla

11/21/2016 05:03:03 am

Noah, I think your topic is one that you could talk about for pages and pages but I'm not getting the clear point. Do you think the drinking age should be lowered or just enforce it more?

11/21/2016 07:51:40 am

So your argument is that by lowering the drinking age we will bring down teen deaths related to alcohol? I can see that. You'd have a lot of research to work with, I think that you'd want to consider a more specific thesis. Lowering the drinking age will result in fewer teen deaths because of the following reasons.

11/21/2016 05:01:19 am

My argument will be about how Fighting in Hockey is a necessity and shouldn't be abolished. Since the beginning of time, there has been fights in hockey, it's just a part of the sport. Fighting makes this sport unique because it's the only sport that allows players to drop their gloves and have it out. Fight's benefit the teams by bringing them closer together, creating a distraction, or just livening up the game to get some momentum. In my paper, I will explain all the reasons why fighting needs to and always will be a part of Hockey

11/21/2016 07:54:25 am

The problem is "it's always been a part of the game" is not really much of an argument. I think that you need to have a thesis that explains why it is an essential part of the game BEYOND because we've always done it. I think that you'll find a lot of research that says we SHOULD NOT fight in hockey, but finding the other side might be difficult.

Legend Bienvenu

11/21/2016 08:00:17 am

With hours of non breaking focus and sugary late night diets, gamers all around the world have dedicated themselves to systems they hold dear. Blood, sweat, and tears are common sacrifices among the world's top athletes but I could argue with you that some of the most dedicated gamers have given the same, if not more in the name of the game. My argument will be focused around the topic of video games and whether they should be included in the Olympics.

joe parziale

11/22/2016 06:15:20 pm

tom Brady is the best quarter back of all time. I will prove this by researching his statist and comparing him to other great quarterbacks and researching his awards

MAKE UP ASSIGNMENT, for 18 November 2016 (Friday) class: developing a good thesis for The Big Idea paper

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MAKE UP ASSIGNMENT, for 18 November 2016 (Friday) class: developing a good thesis for The Big Idea paper