How to get better thesis statements from students
Giving feedback on student writing is an opportunity to think about teaching. One issue I see often is a weak thesis statement. This usually takes the form of a list of concepts rather than a straightforward answer to the question in a prompt. Students get here by writing body paragraphs in author-by-author fashion, “wrapping” these in listy thesis statements, then thinking the job is done. In short, students are writing body paragraphs to arrive at their theses — all while worrying about meeting some word count. I want to suggest the idea of a “definitions paragraph” as a way to break these habits. I think it can do so by getting students to think about the readings’ main points in an integrative way.
Let me stress: I don’t mind seeing listy thesis statements (at first) because they suggest students are thinking for themselves rather than letting GPT answer a prompt.
Dunleavy’s excellent essay on paragraphs is clear that good writing can be understood from its topic sentences alone. For that reason, I include it in my rubrics. What it says less about is how to arrive at an overall thesis statement.
Enter the idea of a “definitions paragraph.” I see this as analogous to the theory section of a larger research paper. Most citations of course readings can go into this paragraph. When that’s done, the student becomes free to use remaining body paragraphs to explain each component of an argument. Here is something I wrote about “definitions paragraphs” before switching 100% to rubric grading:
Definitions paragraph — This is for defining and explaining any terms on which your point is based. For example, you may have been asked to say whether some real thing in politics conforms to a definition. How can you do that without giving the definition? Also, if you put effort into this paragraph, the rest of the paper will be much easier to write.
Your professor may rely heavily (but not only) on this paragraph to judge how much you learned… and how efficiently you read.
The definitions paragraph seems like it might have a few effects:
Induce engagement with course readings at the level of main point.
Focus thinking on how main points disagree, fit together, make different empirical predictions, etc.
Make it difficult to use other body paragraphs to fill space by summarizing.
Clarify what might be done in non-summarizing body paragraphs.
The definitions-paragraph approach may need to come with lower expected word/page counts. Otherwise, the student may feel crucified by the need to make a clear point and write “a lot of words” at the same time. Someone once remarked that the job of writing is rewriting. (I think it was Przeworski but can’t find the citation.) Getting to a good thesis statement, and therefore to good topic sentences, usually involves rewriting. Three tight pages are better than five meandering ones.