Practice Worksheet A Writing A Thesis Statement: Fill & Download for Free

Essay Structure and Citation Guidelines What comprises a logically constructed essay? In general, good essays have a clear, overarching argument that is developed and substantiated in the body of the paper. Subthemes need to be related in some way to the main argument and you need to make the connections between sub-themes clear. By the conclusion, the reader should have a new perspective on the topic at hand.ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPERIntroduction (Theme and Thesis) The most important functions of the introduction are to introduce your topic and to present your position on the relevant issues of the topic. The essay questions give you the topic or theme for your paper (in this case, evidence that class inequality affects the quality of public education offered our children). Your particular position on the topic should be expressed as broadly-stated argument or thesis statement. For example, “In this paper I will show how education is not always ‘the great leveler’ of inherited class differences, but opens opportunities for some while closing opportunities for others.” Or, “In this essay, I will explore how educational institutions can either create or take away opportunities from their students. I will argue that in the absence of a class-based understanding of education inequality, we as a society will continue to see success in individualized terms.” Notice that the second example has two sentences. Your argument should be brief, but it doesn't have to fit into a single sentence. If you are not sure whether you have an overarching argument, try inserting this phrase--"In this paper I will argue that"--before the sentence that you think is your thesis statement. If you don't have a clearly formulated argument when you begin your paper, relax. Many scholars begin their work with only a vague conception of their main argument. Jot down an idea on what you think you will argue in the paper, and start on the body of your draft.Once the essay is in draft form, you can rewrite your introduction with a clearer formulation of your position. While it is not necessary to do so in this assignment, scholars often finish their introductions with a brief overview of the paper. This part of the introduction is also easier to write once you have a draft of your entire essay. A word of caution: you might be tempted to use your own experience as the basis for your argument about class structure and schools. As sociologists, we are looking for general patterns. There are always individual exceptions to any general pattern, but individual exceptions are not sufficient to support generally applied conclusions.Therefore, if you want to write about your school experience as “exceptional,” make sure you acknowledge the general social trends. For example, “Although most sociological evidence documents a correlation between poor communities and less effective public schools, a well-organized poor community can lobby for and often get meaningful educational reforms.” Body For the purposes of this essay, you don't need to have formal subsections in the body of the paper, but you might want to organize your writings so that you move from a brief review of relevant points in the readings to your analysis of the material. For example, the reader should clearly understand what sociologists mean by the term “class” and how it is 2 measured.You might also want to introduce some ideas from the readings on the relationship between class and education. The data/statistics you use from your worksheet will have more meaning if you create an interpretive context for your data. As you reread your draft, make sure that the paragraphs in the body of the paper are in some way related to the main argument. And, when you change topics, make sure to use transitional sentences that clarify the link(s) between your new subject and old. Conclusion By the conclusion of the essay, the reader should have more or new insight into the topic at hand. An unwritten rule of conclusions is that they shouldn't include radically new material. While your conclusion should re-emphasize the most important argument of your paper in a clearly stated manner, you can enhance the sense of completion if you return to a major idea—now in more nuanced form—initially presented in the introduction.OTHER CONCERNSCollaboration vs. cheating You will be asked to work with people in small groups. I ask that you work with peers in order to exchange ideas and experiences, help each other clarify key concepts, and in general make the process of writing an essay more fun. You may create some common ideas for your essays, but it is very important that you write your essays in your own words. If we find essays that have identical sentences (including identical sentences in different order), we will consider the identical sentences as evidence of cheating and mark down your grade accordingly. Definitions It is always a good practice to define a discipline-specific term (e.g., “cultural capital” or “socioeconomic status”) the first time you use it in your essay. Grammar note: I find that some students still confuse “it’s” and “its.” If you use the apostrophe, you are writing a contraction for “it is.” Since we avoid contractions in formal writing, spell out “it is” if this meaning is appropriate. If you mean the possessive form of the pronoun “it” the correct form is “its”—with no apostrophe (e.g., Each school in the study had its own additional measures to assess student achievement). By all means, use spell check (and even grammar check) before you turn in your final draft. In either case, there should be no “it’s” in your final paper—only “it is” or “its.”CITATIONSIf you use direct quotes in your text (a good idea), make sure you cite the author(s), year of publication. Include page number when you quote directly from the work or refer to specific passages. Note, if you are using material from the course reader, cite the name of the actual author (available from the syllabus as well as the table of contents in the reader) and the year of publication (available from the table of contents of your reader). Use the original page number from which the quote was taken rather than the stamped page number of the course reader. 3 Citing quotations in the text Quotations in the text (where the quote is four lines or less) begin and end with quotation marks. Example one: If author’s name is in the text, follow it with the publication year in parentheses. The beginning and end of the quote is enclosed in quotation marks.The page number(s) is placed at the end of the quote—outside the closing quotation mark and preceding the period. In her study of childrearing patterns and social class, Lareau (2003) argued“white and Black middle class children in this study exhibited an emergent version of the sense of entitlement characteristic of the middle class. They acted as though they had a right to purse their own individual preferences” (p. 6). Example two: If the author’s name is not in the text, enclose the last name and year of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The page number follows the year of publication after a colon.Note that there are no spaces between the date, colon, and page number. One study found middle class black and white children both shared “an emergent version of the sense of entitlement characteristic of the middle class. They acted as though they had a right to purse their own individual preferences” (Lareau 2003:6). Block quotations Block quotations (for quotes longer than four lines) are presented in smaller type and are set off in a separate, indented paragraph. They are not enclosed in quotation marks. Example one: If author’s name is in the text, follow it with the publication year in parentheses. The “P” for “page” is capitalized when the page number is cited alone without author and date in formation, as in the example below. As stated by Lareau (2003): Educators believe parents should take a leadership role in solving their children’s educational problems. They complain about parents who do not take children problems “seriously” enough to initiate contact with educators.In short educators want contradictory behaviors from parents: deference and support, but also assertive leadership when children had educational problems. (P. 27) Example two: If the author’s name is not used in the text, then the author’s name, year of publication and page number follows the period in a block quote. Some scholars noted teachers’ inconsistent expectations of parents: Educators believe parents should take a leadership role in solving their children’s educational problems. They complain about parents who do not take children problems “seriously” enough to initiate contact with educators. In short educators want contradictory behaviors from parents: deference and support, but also assertive leadership when children had educational problems. (Lareau 2003:27) 4 Key idea citations You should also give credit to an author if you paraphrase a key idea associated with a particular author.Like direct quotes, you should cite the author's name and the date of publication. You may want to include a page number (see example three) if you are citing very specific ideas, definitions or data. Example one: If author’s name is part of your sentence, follow it with the publication year in parentheses In her study of childrearing patterns and social class, Lareau (2003) argued that class differences were far more significant than racial differences as a predictor of family interactions and attitudes of parents toward children. Example two: If the author’s name is not part of the sentence, enclose the author’s name and date of relevant publication in parentheses. This method is often used when two or more authors make the same point. If citing two or more sources, use a semi-colon to separate your sources.

The Ultimate Dissertation Checklist: Pro Tips And SuggestionsOne of the most daunting challenges in the pursuit of higher studies, dissertations send many a shiver down the spines of students because of the elaborate and long-winding processes involved. Requiring the ability to conduct in-depth research and sharp analytical skills, a dissertation is one of the most prestigious scholastic papers in academia. It is thus no surprise that thousands of students seek expert dissertation help on the Web every day, looking for expert guidance and assistance with framing their dissertations.The standards of academics in case of higher studies has been on the rise for quite long now, and with technological advancements in the digitized era, the learning resources and teaching methods have also changed drastically. Nowadays professors have very high expectations from their students in every sphere of academia. Whether you are pursuing an MBA or a graduate of music, turning in impeccable assignments is a must for every discipline these days. Learning how to compose an impressive dissertation is now a part of the coursework in almost every university and college for the fulfillment of degrees. That is where many students falter for most of them lack the necessary finesse needed to draft a dissertation all by themselves and sometimes conducting hours of research at a stretch takes a heavy toll on them too.Panicked, the students at times search everywhere they can to find able assistance with their dissertations. Coming to the help of those students in need of expert guidance, the following are some foolproof tips from experts in academia about how to compose the perfect dissertation.Know the structureThe structure forms the backbone of a dissertation and is one of the first things that you should learn about it. Planning ahead in the initial days of writing your dissertation, you should prepare an outline of the structure, so you know what goes where in the large academic paper. The following is a structure that most universities and colleges follow for a dissertation. The number of chapters may vary according to the specific scholastic requirements of your educational institution, but the format remains more or less the same all over the globe. As custom writers from leading dissertation writing help websites opine, an excellent dissertation should ideally follow the general structure that is described below.Title page: The first page of your dissertation that has the title and other specifications about your dissertation (such as the name of the author and supervisor as well as the degree for the partial fulfillment of which you will be turning in your dissertation)Acknowledgements: The acknowledgements page should contain the names of the people you are grateful to for aiding you in the completion of your dissertation. This should ideally contain the professors in your department, the respondents of your research and the stalwarts of your discipline.Abstract: In this part, you need to outline the purpose of your research, a summary of the study, and the findings in brief.Table of Contents: As the name suggests, the table of contents contains all the chapters with relevant page numbers as well as the list of figures and graphs that you have used throughout the dissertation.Chapter 1: Introduction – For the introduction, include the background of your research by carefully detailing the rationale behind your dissertation. State the objectives and your thesis statement of the dissertation and introduce the readers to your topic briefly.Chapter 2: Literature Review – In this chapter, you will need to summaries the works of eminent thinkers in your discipline and beyond that is relevant to the topic of your dissertation. Do not forget to include the summary of all the works that have been instrumental in supporting your dissertation in this chapter for this forms the foundation on which you will need to carry out your research.Chapter 3: Research Methodology – Describe the research methodology for your dissertation in this chapter. The techniques and tools that you have used to conduct the research on the topic of your choice should be included in great detail in this chapter.Chapter 4: Data Analysis & Interpretation – The interpretation and analysis of your findings are to be described in this chapter along with the graphs and diagrams that are needed to explain the data that you have collected through your study.Chapter 5: Conclusion – Based on the findings, discuss the primary results that you have found by conducting the study. The conclusion should mostly be an in-depth discussion of your findings and what it might mean for your discipline having a universal significance.Bibliography: A list of all external sources that you have used in your research should make their way into the bibliography section of your dissertation. Several academic formats are followed for composing this particular section, and it is best to take note of the accepted format in your college or university before you compose this part.Appendices: All the additional material used for your study such as questionnaires or interview schedules are to be included in the appendices of the last section of your dissertation.Following the structure outlined above, you can plan the various stages of composing your dissertation to perfection. Be careful to check the academic requirements of your college or university well in advance before you proceed to plan your dissertation, so you do not miss out on any critical detail and follow all the guidelines to the T while composing your dissertation.Hone your writing skillsIt is no secret that writing a dissertation needs a good command over writing skills. As academic writing requires special attention towards your writing skills, it is best to brush up on your grammar, punctuation and sentence structure in the days ahead of drafting the first copy of your dissertation. There are many ways to go about this one. You can complete the first rough draft of your dissertation and send it to your supervisor or professors for their feedback, so you work to improve the areas that they highlight. If the writing centre at your college or university offers a writing tutorial to help you compose your dissertation, then you can contemplate about enlisting for availing efficient dissertation writing help. Alternatively, you can enrol in online tutorials to improve your English writing style through exercises and concise writing tasks set as practice worksheets. At this phase, make good use of the libraries (both offline and online) to read up on academic journals, papers, and magazines to learn more about the academic writing style and practice writing regularly to sharpen your skills that you will need for turning in a dissertation that is sure to impress your professors, peers, and even publications alike.Keep a check on plagiarismPerhaps an academic sin of the highest order, plagiarism is to be avoided at all costs while writing your dissertation. The remedial actions for plagiarised papers will not bode well for your degree, so it is best to learn about ways to avoid plagiarism in your dissertation at the very outset. Always state the sources whenever you are including information that you have collected externally and are not your original ideas and, keeping the meaning intact, paraphrase them so that they bear very little, or o resemblance to original sentence structure. If you are keen on inserting quotes in your paper, then do so with proper punctuation in place and always cite the sources following the academic formatting guidelines as specified by your professors or supervisor.Learn how to referenceAs you proceed along the path of higher studies, you will gradually come to appreciate the importance of learning how to reference like a pro for all your academic papers. Organising your references for the bibliography section is imperative for having a well-referenced dissertation that follows all the academic guidelines of your college or university. It is best if you create a database of all the readings, authors, publications, and the date that you sourced the information all marked clearly in spate sections along with a summary of bullet pointers to help you keep track of what you sourced from where. The pre-writing phase of your dissertation is the best time to invest in a referencing guide if you do not have one, so you know all the referencing styles in academia and follow the one that is accepted at your educational institution. Using digital tools such as EndNote is also an effective way to go about reference management for your dissertation because it has advanced features that help you keep track of all the external sources and publications with ease.Revise and proofread like a proThe only task that is left to do after you wrap up your dissertation (after many a stumble along the way, that is) is the revision, editing, and proofreading stage. This is the final stage before you turn in your dissertation, and make sure that you finish this with equal enthusiasm for it can determine the fate of your academic paper to a great extent. After you finish writing the final draft of your dissertation, take a few days off and unwind with friends or family. After a few days, start revising your dissertation with a refreshed mind and fresh outlook. You will be able to find out all the typographical errors that have unintentionally crept in your copy, and correct the misplaced commas and other punctuation errors. Filter out all the grammatical and factual mistakes to streamline your dissertation and finally, proofread it a few more times to ensure that the writing style is absolutely top-notch. Rewrite the bits you feel need rewriting and edit once again before you turn in your dissertation. Remember that this stage is crucial in fetching you those extra credit points for a well-formatted and flawless dissertation.

There are some really good answers here, and I agree with all of them. I’d like to add that making friends with your department is essential to survivial, and that’s where you can also get a lot of your “magpie” materials. There is no need and no expectation that you reinvent the wheel. Use anything you can from the experienced teachers around you who have been where you are. You may not choose to reuse it next year, but at least you won’t be quite as swamped with preparation when you don’t have to create all your own materials. This will free you up to focus on developing your classroom management and grading/giving feedback.Something no one has said yet, perhaps because they feel it is unethical, but you judge for yourself—you don’t have to grade everything your students do! You don’t have to read every word. I started out doing that because I felt if I required my students to write something, I should do them the honor of reading it. I still feel that way. However, there are creative practices that allow you your sanity and your students their feedback (more important than grading).Formative casual feedback: During activities and practice, roam the room, checking student work as they go and giving constructive feedback. Careful about phrasing and situation, and know which students would be ok with this, since some might not appreciate feedback in front of their friends if it’s something they have to change. I’m sure you already know to couch suggestions for change/improvement in specific feedback of what they are doing well. This protects their pride and increases your classroom management since they see you see where they are succeeding. And later, you’ll already know which kids are getting it and which need more practice, speeding any necessary grading.Progressive/process feedback: By the way, I am making up these terms. They are what I call my practice. Similar to the first, but this one is a little more formal. Say we’re writing an essay. I will give time in class to work on their essays and tell them every student needs to check off their thesis statement and supporting key reasons with me before class ends. I might allow a reward after they have done so, like letting them to listen to their music while they work on their opening paragraphs. Either you can have them stay in their seats or come to you to get it checked off. When I check it off, I make sure to ask the student to explain their supporting reasons, maybe use some clarifying questions, give feedback if it’s a bit too broad or something, and tell them how interesting their choice is, as my enthusiasm helps them keep going, especially if they have to come back and get it checked off again once they fix it up. The downside to this method is that the rest of the class could be doing just about anything, so maybe don’t try this until you feel there is a culture of respect established. And it takes the entire period, sometimes two. But the attention given to each student individually is invaluable in creating rapport and supporting their self-image as developing writers. They appreciate personalized attention. It means so much to them in a time when they feel both way too exposed and way too ignored. And in the end, you know the essays are going to be waaaay better for having a solid thesis checked off by the teacher.Spot-checking: Think math worksheets. The teacher doesn’t say if she is going to grade the odds or the evens. Students aren’t willing to gamble though some smarty pants might try working out exactly how much of each they have to do in order to barely not fail. In a writing assignment, this might look more like grading a certain numbered paragraph or a certain skill. You do not need to grade everything. It can be overwhelming to the students to receive more than one, possibly two things to work on and your time spent grading everything will therefore go to waste.Peer reviewing/feedback: Obviously this only works if the students themselves have been trained well enough, but it also is good practice for them to get out of their own heads and read others’ work. Evaluation is a higher order thinking skill and students must understand the concepts fully in order to apply them appropriately. Once again, giving specific guidance and examples on one thing to look for (comma splices? sentence fragments? passages where the reader lost the thread of argument?) will be more productive than more than one thing. Giving students examples and possibly a rubric to use is helpful. If you’re successful, the final product will be a bit more polished, students will be more practiced, and that means less work for you. Related to peer reviewing is self-review with a rubric or checklistRubrics: I live and die by rubrics. A good rubric is simple, readable, and specific. An arbitrary “4” or “mastery” doesn’t say much in terms of specific feedback, but those can be the labels at the top of the chart, while in the boxes below you describe and give an example of exactly what “4” looks like. The brains of most middle school children are just barely ready for more abstract thinking, so keep it concrete. The more concrete examples, the better their work. Don’t worry too much about them “copying” examples. Imitation is a legitimate form of learning, and if you’re really worried, just have a private convo with them where they explain to you their thinking. Don’t accuse or shame. Good rubrics have the additional value of justifying your grading practices in case of student or guardian disgruntlement and keeping your consistent. They also minimize handwritten feedback, already giving students an idea of what they are doing well and where they could improve. And they increase your speed of grading when you have a consistent pattern to follow.The most important thing to do Is to know your students. I’ll say it again for the people in the back—KNOW YOUR STUDENTS! I have seen this literally save lives. Multiple times. There will be those who want to fly under the radar and those who demand your constant attention in the most creative ways. But every child needs to know they are seen and heard, whether or not you like them. Know their names. Greet them at the door. If you know a kid had something going on they were excited about, follow up with them. They will be amazed and flattered you remembered. They will feel like they matter. And that is the heart of a culture of respect.Good luck on your teaching journey, cut yourself some slack, do something you love, and know you are surrounded by people ready to help if you ask!