Key Terms

details that provide enough support for a thesis: to support a claim about a friend’s habitual tardiness, for example, more than one example should be provided in order to provide adequate support

a broad topic, such as "marriage"; in prewriting, writers often begin here, and then narrow their topic to a limited subject (such as "honeymoon"), and finally to a thesis (such as "A honeymoon is perhaps the worst way to begin a marriage").

ineffective support for a thesis (e.g., "People are often messy"): specific details (e.g., "Teenagers toss their gum wrappers to the floor, and young parents allow their toddlers to shower their seatmates with popcorn ") should be provided

a topic, such as "honeymoon" that is narrower than a general topic, but broader than a thesis (such as "A honeymoon is perhaps the worst way to begin a marriage").

concrete, specific evidence (e.g., "Teenagers toss their gum wrappers to the floor, and young parents allow their toddlers to shower their seatmates with popcorn ") that provides support for a thesis

thesis, common errors in writing:

simply stating the topic ("The subject of this paper will be my parents"), rather than a claim or assertion about the topic ("Parents who spank their children are guilty of a serious error in childrearing").

too many ideas to be adequately developed in a single essay; often two theses in one (e.g. "My parents helped me grow in important ways, although in other respects I was limited").

a common error in writing a thesis: making a statement too broad to be supported adequately in a student essay. Ex.: "My parents have been very influential in my life."

a common error in writing a thesis: making a statement so narrow that no support is necessary. Often a statement of fact (not acceptable as a thesis). Ex.: "My parents had only one child."