Lesson Plan: Motivating and Strengthening a Thesis
Anthropology
Objective
To help students work on incorporating a strong motive into their writing by using a sentence or two in their introduction to "sell" their thesis statement by building up to it and making clear why it is exciting and relevant.
Estimated Time
35 minutes
Work Completed Before Class
Students will be asked to come to class prepared with a draft thesis they intend on using for a future writing assignment.
In Class
- Briefly review as a class what makes a good thesis. (Re)introduce the concept of motive. Remind students that even a drab or a so-so thesis can really be spiced up if it is well motivated, and that even a potentially great thesis flounders without a good motive. Go over some common misconceptions of the concept of motive in analytical or college-level writing. (5 minutes)
- Ask students to work individually on the theses they have brought to class to write one or two motivating sentences to "sell" their thesis. Motivating sentences should provide a clear and compelling rationale for the thesis by addressing questions like: What intellectual or academic tension or puzzle does the thesis help to solve? How does the thesis address a gap or a contradiction in the literature? What makes the thesis new, relevant or exciting? (5 minutes)
- Have students split up into groups of three and share their motivating sentence(s) with their partners. Ask students to give constructive feedback on their partners' thesis and motive. What is good about their partners' thesis and motive — and how could they be made more clear, specific, interesting or compelling? (10 minutes)
- Ask students to again work individually on re-drafting their theses, using the motivating sentences that they have created to make their theses more focused and refined. (5 minutes)
- Reassemble as a class. Ask for volunteers to share and reflect on their "before and after" thesis motivating experiences. How has thinking more about motive helped them to write better theses? How might this exercise improve their writing in general? (10 minutes)
Casey Miller, Anthropology Department
Developed at Brandeis University through a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation