2tvwo thesis statement essay lesson series (3 lessons)

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• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

2TVWO essay lesson series

Thesis statement essay.

In this lesson series, you will learn what a thesis statement is and what topic sentences are.

You will also learn how to structure your essay and you will make a writing plan

Lesson one: the thesis statement

Different to an FCE essay!

True or false: A thesis statement consists only of a topic

1. True
2. False

False!

A thesis statement has a topic in it, and a claim (your opinion) you make with regards to the topic.

Where in the essay should the thesis statement be?

Thesis statements are a road map for your essay. Look at the example below:

In a Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Christopher's autism is more of a hindrance than a boon in finding out what happened to the dog, because (1)it causes him to be terrified of noises and (2)his autism also causes him to block up entirely when he is lied to.

Look at the thesis statements below. Write them down. Do you agree or disagree?

1. In Midsummer Night's Dream, there is a constant battle between love (1) in the illusion and (2) love in the real world.

2. Because of love, the difference between (1) what is real and (2) what is an illusion becomes unclear in Midsummer Night's Dream.

3. Magic has an important role in A Midsummer Night's Dream because … 1+2

4. Love is the main theme of A Midsummer Night's Dream because.. 1+2

5. A Midsummer Night's Dream could not be classed as a comedy because … 1+2

6. Puck is the most important character in the story of A Midsummer Night's Dream because… 1+2

Now Brainstorm

For each of the thesis statements from the previous slide, brainstorm supporting ideas you could use to support your opinion/claim.

For example: In Midsummer Night's Dream, there is a constant battle between love (1) in the illusion and (2) love in the real world. --> which parts of the text could you use to support (1) and (2)? How could you describe that?

Choose one thesis statement

You will use this thesis statement for your own essay.

Keep in mind the essay on MSND is a 2-test

Do you need to do any additional brainstorming to reach the max. 250 words mark?

Is this thesis statement essay the same as an FCE essay?

End of lesson one

Lesson two: the topic sentence and body paragraph

Now that you have your thesis statement, it's time to start deciding what you're going to write in the body paragraphs to support your claim.

In this lesson, you will learn what a topic sentence is, how to write one and how to support your thesis statement with the body paragraphs.

Where do you put the topic sentence?

1. At the end of your introduction
2. At the end of your body paragraphs
3. At the start of your body paragraphs
4. In the conclusion

What is the main purpose of a topic sentence?

1. It has no purpose
2. To give the reader an idea of what the paragraph is about
3. To confuse the reader

What should the topic sentence always be linked to?

1. The title of your essay
2. The conclusion
3. The thesis statement
4. It doesn't have to be linked to anything

Take out your thesis statement again

Which two ideas are you going to use to support your opinion?

Write these two ideas down below your thesis statement

These two ideas will be the main topics of your body paragraphs.

Look at the example on the next slide to see how this could be done.

Example: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

Thesis statement: In a Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Christopher's autism is more of a hindrance than a boon in finding out what happened to the dog, because (1)it causes him to be terrified of noises and (2)his autism also causes him to block up entirely when he is lied to.

Topic sentence one: First of all, Christopher can't concentrate on his quest because his autism causes him to be terrified of noises, which distracts him.

Topic sentence two: Secondly, when Christopher is lied to, his autism causes him to block up entirely which means he can't think straight.

Now make a topic sentence for each of the supporting ideas.

Remember that these sentences should start with a linking phrase!

These sentences should include the topic and a clear link to the thesis statement.

Can your topic sentences be debatable (someone might be able to agree or disagree)?

1. Yes
2. No

Important:

It's important that your topic sentences are debatable. Someone should be ale to say 'yeah, I agree!' or 'no, I totally disagree with this'. That's the point of an essay - it's an opinion piece!

Now collect information from the book

 you can use to support the information in your topic sentences and write it down. Use this information as examples to support your claim!

Use the PIE structure 

to structure the information you will use to support your topic sentence. 

For each paragraph, fill in the P, I, and the E

End of lesson two: topic sentences & body paragraphs

Lesson three: the essay in general

In this final lesson, you will learn how to structure your essay. You will also look at some do's and don'ts and you will make a writing plan for your essay.

What do you think should be the structure of your essay?

How many words should you use for this essay, you think?

1. There is no word limit
2. Less than 250
3. Between 140 and 190
4. Between less than 190

Which tips are you taking on board from the video?

Structure

Title 

- blank line

Introduction - you introduce the topic (MSND) and explain in short what it is about. You try to link your explanation to your thesis statement. This means that, if your thesis statement is mostly about 'love', your short description should focus on that.

- blank line

Body paragraph 1 - PIE topic sentence 1 + support and explanation

- blank line

Body paragraph 2 - PIE topic sentence 2 + support and explanation

- blank line

Conclusion - a short summary of the information you have given

Make your writing plan for the essay

Use the structure you wrote down in the previous assignment.

Remember the word count in total 140-190 words.

Remember: a writing plan is there to help you structure your final work! Tip: include the PIE structure in your writing plan for the body paragraphs 

End of lesson three. Goals for this series:

You now know what thesis statements are

You now know what topic sentences are

You now know what structure your essay should use

You now have a writing plan for your essay

Final assignment

Type your essay digitally

Use a maximum of 250  words

Include your name and the word count (these are not part of the max. 250 words)

Hand your essay in through ELO in Magister (opdrachten)

Remember the lay-out, structure and useful tips!

Hand your work in as a WORD or PDF file