Thesis Proposal and Topic Sentences
Instructions:
Step One: Write your thesis and topic sentences
- Devise a list of questions that you have about your topic and its historical significance.
- Pick one of those questions to answer.
- Answer the question by making a claim or an assertion. What is your stance or opinion?
- Back up your claim with historical evidence.
- Provide at least three reasons supporting your claim.
- Combine your assertion plus your three reasons to create a strong thesis statement.
The resulting thesis statement should be a historically defensible claim. Remember: A thesis statement identifies the point of the essay in its entirety.
The three reasons that you use to support your claim should be used when writing your topic sentences.
Step Two: Post your thesis and topic sentences on the Discussion board (4 sentences).
- Thesis statement
- Topic Sentence #1
- Topic Sentence #2
- Topic Sentence #3
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Here are some examples of topic sentences:
- Sample Thesis: American occupation of Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico at the end of the Spanish-American war represented the nation’s first steps to becoming a world power in the 20th century because it elevated the status of the United States among the European powers, spurred exponential development in the nation’s global economic role, and set the stage for the spread of American idealism.
- Sample Topic Sentence #1: Although the United States was largely absent from the global stage before the late 1800s, this all changed with the dramatic increases in military strength and territorial control that America experienced after the Spanish-American war.
- Sample Topic Sentence #2: Another way the newly acquired American territories pushed the country towards becoming a world power was the economic opportunity they opened for the United States.
- Sample Topic Sentence #3: While American control of former Spanish territory had potent physical effects on the colonies, the indigenous people felt the most vital impact as the United States sought to impart its beliefs and system of government to its new colonies.