Thesis Statements: The Makeover Edition

Well, there’s only so much I can do to make a blog post about thesis statements interesting, so prepare yourselves for some irrelevant Michael Jackson gifs dispersed throughout.

I’m sure most of you have had some sort of instruction on thesis statements, but often, students will be taught simplistic methods for developing a thesis that they sort of latch onto rather than using the beginner’s method at first and then evolving toward a more complex method of thesis development. Think about giving your thesis a makeover. That look you had going in high school was fine for back them, but it just isn't working for you anymore now that you're a collegiate superstar. Time to take it to the next level!

Michael's excited about your strong thesis!

So what makes a strong thesis? 

• Promotes thinking: leads you to arrive at ideas, rather than just stating the obviou
•  Reduces scope: separates useful evidence from the mass of details. (Sometimes students think, “I know, I’ll write a really general thesis, so I can add additional content to my body paragraphs if I need to,” but this creates a watered-down, vague argument).
• Provides direction: helps you decide what to talk about, what to talk about next, and what NOT to talk about. Imagine little arrows going from your central argument (thesis) to the analysis portions of your body paragraphs. Each new piece of analysis should build on that central argument.

Now, let’s take a look at what makes a not-so-strong thesis:

• Attaches you too early to a too-large idea so that you stop actually seeing the evidence in its

  

  Get outta here, Three-Point Thesis!

  real-life complexity or thinking about the idea itself
• Produces demonstration rather than discovery of new ideas by making the same overly general point again and again about a range of evidence
• Includes too much possible data without helping you see what’s most important to talk about. You really want to avoid facts or lists in your thesis. Save your paragraph topics and information for your body paragraphs.

A strong, productive thesis… 

•  usually contains tension, the balance of “this” against “that.”
•  often begins with a grammatically subordinate idea that will get outweighed by a more pressing claim: “Although X appears to be about Y, it’s actually arguing Z.”
• avoids listing (like a 3-point thesis/5-paragraph essay).
• uses active verbs and specific nouns.

May your thesis be as strong as the screws in MJ's shoes.

Here are some examples of strong and weak thesis statements that relate to our course theme:

Weak: Homelessness can be caused by circumstances, mental illness, or addiction.

Strong: While homelessness is a pervasive problem in American society, homeless female vets are an especially vulnerable population.

Weak: The upper class lifestyle isn’t all it seems to be.

Strong: One might assume that a child raised in the upper class has it all, but upper class children struggle in a variety of ways.

For your comment EITHER post your working thesis statement you're thinking about using for your SSI OR comment on two students' thesis statements, providing helpful/constructive feedback. Also, feel free to share your favorite Michael Jackson song/video. 

Finding Credible Sources During These Crazy Times We're Living In

C'mon, you know you'd click.

*Sigh, where do I even begin. My lecture on credible sources used to be so succinct and cute. I had a little acronym (courtesy of some awesome librarians) that helped explain how to tell in an online source was credible. CRAP. Currency, Relevance/Reliability, Authority/Audience, Purpose/Point of View. (link for those who want to know more). Sure, the acronym really should’ve been CRRAAPP, but it was a simpler time. 

It can be easy to roll our eyes as our Aunt Kimothy shares yet another clickbait article about scientists secretly plotting to a coup so that killer whales can finally take their rightful place as our overlords. But there are real, important issues at play here. Fake news, biased articles, and flat-out propaganda are harder and harder to distinguish from good, fact-based journalism. Part of this is because of how the internet has evolved. Very few people get their news from print anymore, so the internet is the place to go. But the internet doesn’t have to go through fact-checkers, editors, etc. (although many sites certainly do have stringent editing mechanisms in place). Also, there is a huge financial incentive for content creators to write clickbait articles. Some are accurate with clickbait titles like “You’ll Never Believe What This Ghost Said to Tom Cruise” but some are purposefully inaccurate in an attempt to get people like Aunt Kimothy to hit the “share” button and spread that puppy around, generating advertising revenue with each sucker who clicks. The people behind these types of articles like these Macedonian teens who are in the game to pay for their guitar equipment or this liberal dude who built a fake news empire with fake pro-Trump/anti-Hillary content. 

We know that fake news (as in journalism based in falsehoods, not journalism a certain someone disagrees with) and extreme bias is everywhere. How do we sniff out that putrid, stinking rat? (What a gross expression. My bad!)

Here are four types of sites/articles to keep an eye out for (courtesy of Dr. Melissa Zimdars): 

1. “Fake, false, regularly misleading sites” which rely on “outrage” using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits” (examples: Politicalo, AmericanNews.com)  
2. Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information (examples: ConsciousLifeNews.com, CountdownToZeroTime.com)
3.   These websites sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions (examples: BipartisanReport.com, TheFreeThoughtProject.com
4.  Purposefully fake satire/comedy sites that can offer critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news (examples: Christwire.org, TheOnion.com)

Give them their Pulitzer!

Here are some tips for routing out bad info (also courtesy of Dr. Melissa Zimdars):

1. Avoid websites that end in “lo” ex: Newslo (above). These sites specialize in taking a piece of accurate information and then packaging that information with other false or misleading “facts.”
2.  Watch out for websites that end in “.com.co” as they are often fake versions of real news sources.
3.  Watch out if known/reputable news sites are not also reporting on the story. Sometimes lack of coverage is the result of corporate media bias and other factors, but there should typically be more than one source reporting on a topic or event.
4.  Odd domain names generally equal odd and rarely truthful news.
5.  Lack of author attribution may, but not always, signify that the news story is suspect and requires verification.
6. Check the “About Us” tab on websites or look up the website on Snopes or Wikipedia for more information about the source.
7.  If the story makes you REALLY ANGRY it’s probably a good idea to keep reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read wasn’t purposefully trying to make you angry (with potentially misleading or false information) in order to generate shares and ad revenue.



Uh oh, she needs step #7!

8.  It’s always best to read multiple sources of information to get a variety of viewpoints and media frames. Some sources not specifically included in this list (although their practices at times may qualify them for addition), such as The Daily Kos and Fox News, vacillate between providing legitimate, problematic, and/or hyperbolic news coverage, requiring readers and viewers to verify and contextualize information with other sources

 So here’s your assignment for this post—copy and paste the link to a fake news article. It can be as blatant or as camouflaged as you’d like. Along with the link, I’d like you to provide a paragraph response explaining how you could tell this source wasn’t legitimate. What about it made you question its veracity? When you’ve done this, also respond to one other classmate’s post, adding your take on the linked article they provided. Did you think it was not credible? Were you fooled?

What's the Point of WEx?

Now that we've gotten a little practice working with the Writers' Exchange or WEx, let's talk about why it's such a useful learning tool. (If you need a refresher on what WEx is, check out the WEx Guide pt. 1 and pt. 2 and the WEx infographic in the Week Four module).

Peer Review Time!

"Peer Review." When I say those two simple words in my in-person courses, I watch a collective shudder run through the classroom, as if I'd just asked them all to watch The Ring video. Believe me, I get it. I've been in truly terrible peer review groups before. Sometimes people are too polite and just tell you that your paper is great, and you'll definitely get an A (and then don't, and you want to tear your hair out). Or you'll have that one person who tears your work apart like they want nothing more than to see you weep, but they don't offer anything beyond insults. And it can be hard to be the person giving feedback You have this whole essay in front of you, and you might not know where to begin in terms of giving the writer helpful suggestions for making their paper better.

WEx is an elevated form of peer review. In other words, it's designed to provide you with enough structure and direction that everyone gets something out of it. There is a misconception about peer review. A lot of people think it's about getting feedback which takes the place of instructor comments. But that's not what peer review or WEx is all about. Yes, you should get a healthy amount of feedback if the students reviewing your draft do a good job.

BUT, what WEx/peer review is really about is learning how to break down a text and figure out how to make it better. When you evaluate another student's work using the WEx criteria, you are training yourself to revise your own work more effectively.

This could be you!

As you move on after English 1110.01, you will have to write a lot of papers for other classes. You probably won't have the advantage of peer review, and being able to work on the same project throughout the whole semester, getting instructor feedback along the way. If you have the experience pinpointing an essay's weakness and looking for ways to improve it, you'll be able to revise your work using those skills you developed in WEx.

Post either one original comment relating to one or more of the questions below OR respond to two other students below.

What worries you about WEX? What have your past experiences with peer review been, good or bad? What does your revision process look like now (how many drafts do you write, do you have anyone look over your essays, etc.)?