Exercise 1: Analyze the following thesis statements.
Note:You may want to use oneof the topics in this practice or the next for your own essay at the
end of the chapter.
Step 1 Locate the main topic and the subtopics in each of the following thesis statements.
Step 2 Draw a box around the topic.
Step 3 Underline the subtopics.
Step 4 Color the words or punctuation marks that introduce the subtopics.
The first one has been done for you as an example.
1. Capital punishment should be abolished
not onlybecause it deprives another person of lifebut alsobecause it does not stop crime.
2. Women generally live longer than
men for two main
reasons:They tend to take better care of their health,and they have better resistance to stress.
3.
Teenagers declare their separateness from their
parentsby the way they dressand by the way they talk.
4. In
choosing a major, a student has to consider various factors,such
aspersonal interest, job opportunities,andthe availability of training institutions.
5. An architect should be
bothan artistand an engineer.
6. A healthy lifestyle
involveseating a nutritious diet,exercising regularly,and getting enough sleep at night.
Exercise 2. Complete the following thesis statements by adding subtopics to them. Be sure to
check your sentences for parallel form.
1. A computer is necessary for college students for three
reasons: doing homework, communicating with friends and getting news.
2. Students have a difficult time taking notes in class due to
3. A generation gap exists in my home because
of_contrast in thoughts and age between two generations.
4. Living in a large city has certain advantages over living in a small
town:convenient traffic , convenient shopping and excellent education.
5. To survive a major disaster such as an earthquake requires bravery , belief and confidence.
Exercise 3. Write a thesis statement for a logical division essay on each of the following
topics. For items 1-3, suggestions for subtopics are given in parentheses, which you do not
have to use if you have ideas of your own. For items 4 and 5, use your own ideas.
1. Clothing, hair, or shoe styles in your school (three styles)
Fashion in my school includes three styles: clothing, hair, and shoe styles.
2. Dangerous automobile drivers (speeders, cell-phone users, teens)
Here are three typical kinds ofdangerous automobile drivers—newdrivers,
drunkdriversand speeders.
3. Disneyland's or Disney World's appeal (children and adults)
Disneyland's or Disney World's appeal mainly focuses on children and adults.
4. The advantages (or the disadvantages) of living in a large city/a small town
Convenient traffic , convenient shopping and excellent education are advantages of
living in a city
5. Kinds of appeals television advertisers use to sell automobiles/beer/any product or
service
Automobiles , beer and service are selled on TV by kinds of appeals television
advertisers.
Exercise 4Connect the ideas in the following paragraphs by adding a transition word,
phrase, or clause to the topic sentences of the third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs. Try to
vary the transitional linking expressions you use. You may rewrite the topic sentences if
necessary. The first one has been done for you as an example.
Icebergs: A Potential Source of Water
1In countries where rainfall is very sparse,l scientists must constantly seek ways to
increase supplies of water. One method being considered is the use of desalination
plants, which would remove salt from seawater. Another method being considered is the
towing of icebergs. According to this method, large icebergs from Antarctica would be
wrapped in cloth or plastic, tied to powerful tugboats by strong ropes, and towed to the
countries needing freshwater. While this plan may have some potential, there are certain
practical problems that must be solved.
2The first problemis the expense. According to estimates, it would cost between $50
million and $100 million to tow a single 100-million-ton iceberg from Antarctica to, for
example, the coast of Saudi Arabia.
3What makes us worried is the possibility that the iceberg would melten route. No one
knows if an iceberg could be effectively insulated for such a long journey. At the very
least, there is the possibility that it would break up into smaller pieces, which would
create still other problems.
4What’s more,there is the danger that a huge block of ice floating off an arid3coast could
have unexpected environmental effects. The ice could drastically4 change the weather
along the coast, and it would probably affect the fish population.
5On the one hand,the cost of providing freshwater from icebergs would be less than the
cost of providing water by desalinization, according to most estimates. It would cost
between 50 and 60 cents per cubic meter to get water from an iceberg, as opposed to
the 80 cents per cubic meter it would cost to get the same amount by desalinization.
6On the other handbefore icebergs can become a source of freshwater in the future,
problems involving cost, overall practicality, and most important, environmental
impact5must be solved.
Exercise 5 Rewrite the introductory paragraph of your essay on culture.
