NROC Developmental English Foundations

Developing an Implied Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences

Learning Objectives:

Choose a topic in response to a narrative prompt.
Write an implied thesis statement in response to a narrative prompt.
Develop topic sentences supporting an implied thesis statement.

LESSON
Different types of writing require different types of thesis statementsA brief statement that identifies a writer's thoughts, opinions, or conclusions about a topic. Thesis statements bring unity to a piece of writing, giving it a focus and a purpose. You can use three questions to help form a thesis statement: What is my topic? What am I trying to say about that topic? Why is this important to me or my reader?. Most academic essaysA formal writing that the author composes using research, a strong thesis, and supporting details in order to advance an idea or demonstrate understanding of a topic. require the writer to include a stated thesis statementA thesis statement that has been explicitly written in an article, essay, or other reading. while other pieces, such as personal narrativesA story or account of events that is written or told. , allow the writer to use an implied thesis statementAn indirect overall argument, idea, or belief that a writer uses as the basis of an essay or dissertation but is never stated directly in the writing., one that is not directly stated but one that the reader can inferTo reach a conclusion based on context and your own knowledge. from reading. Both types of thesis statements tell the reader the authorA person who wrote a text.'s topicThe subject of a reading. and purposeThe reason the writer is writing about a topic. It is what the writer wants the reader to know, feel, or do after reading the work. for writing about it.

Both an implied and stated thesis in an academic essay may sound like this: Preparing a weekly schedule helps students to be successful because it allows them to structure their class and work schedules, plan ahead for busy periods, and build in some free time for themselves. Both types of thesis statements provide direction for the remainder of the essay. The difference is that as a stated thesis, the statement actually appears in the introductionThe first paragraph of an essay. It must engage the reader, set the tone, provide background information, and present the thesis. of the essay. An implied thesis statement, on the other hand, does not appear in the essay at all.

The introductory paragraphThe first paragraph of an essay. It must engage the reader, set the tone, provide background information, and present the thesis. written for a narrative using the above thesis as an implied thesis statement may sound like this:

My first week in college taught me many things about my new, busy schedule. I got caught up in socializing and missed a few important assignments. I also thought I could work more at my part-time job like I had during high school. I soon learned, however, that I needed to schedule my activities better in order to be successful.

An opening paragraphA selection of a writing that is made up of sentences formed around one main point. Paragraphs are set apart by a new line and sometimes indentation. like this one in a narrative does not come out and state the author's exact thesis. It does, however, provide similar direction for the reader, resulting in an implied thesis.

A narrative is a story that has a purpose for being told. In other words, when a writer chooses a topic for a narrative, he or she must have a reason for writing about it. For example, if you wanted to write about a significant event in your life by telling a story about how you got your first job, you would need to think about your audience reading the narrative and ask yourself, "What do I want my readers to take away from this story?"

Using a variety of starting strategies such as brainstormingA prewriting technique where the author lists multiple ideas as he or she thinks of them, not considering one more than another until all ideas are captured. The objective is to create one great idea, or many ideas, on which to base a writing., listing ideas, freewritingA prewriting technique where the author begins writing without regard to spelling or grammar about ideas, topics, or even characters, descriptions of events, and settings. Often the writer will freewrite for a set period of time. The objective is to develop a storyline through the writing process itself., clusteringA prewriting technique where the author creates an informal visual layout of possible ideas, grouping them together. The objective is to create visual clusters of information on which to base a writing., or webbingA prewriting technique where the author creates an informal visual layout of possible ideas and then draws lines to connect them into a type of "web." The objective is to see connections between events and characters. can help you to begin thinking about a topic. Then, you can ask yourself questions about your topic using the five "Ws and the H – who, what, where, when, why, and how" to gather more ideas to write about. From there, you can begin the writing process by writing one paragraph about your topic, including a clear topic sentenceA group of words, phrases, or clauses that expresses a complete thought. A complete sentence has these characteristics: a capitalized first word, a subject and a predicate, and end punctuation, such as a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamation mark (!).. That paragraph should reveal the main pointsThe most important idea in a paragraph. Main points support the main idea of a reading. you would like to expand on in multiple paragraphs. The topic sentence in the paragraph can be used as your implied thesis statement for a narrative essay.

To write an implied thesis statement in response to a narrative promptInstructions for a writing assignment given by an instructor., follow these steps:

Step 1: Brainstorm.

Brainstorm possible ideas from your life experience that could potentially answer or respond to the prompt.

Step 2: Choose a topic and write a paragraph.

Choose one of the topics and write a brief paragraph explaining how that particular topic applies to the prompt.

Step 3: Write an implied thesis statement.

Using the topic sentence of the paragraph as a guide, write an implied thesis statement that explains why the details of the paragraph are important.

Step 4: Develop the topic sentences.

Begin outliningA preliminary plan for a piece of a writing, often in the form of a list. It should include a topic, audience, purpose, thesis statement, and main and supporting points. the essay by developing topic sentencesA sentence that contains the controlling idea for an entire paragraph and is typically the first sentence of the paragraph. from the supporting details in the paragraph. This ensures that the implied thesis works as the guiding idea for the narrative.

There are many approaches to writing a narrative essay, but using the steps above can help you respond effectively to a typical narrative prompt in a college class.

+ PRACTICAL APPLICATION+ EXAMPLE

Let's examine the process of developing a narrative essay that includes an implied thesis statement.

Prompt from instructor: Write about an important life lesson you have learned.

Step 1: Brainstorm.

First, create a list of possible narrative essay topics from the prompt given by the instructor.

Ideas:

A little kindness goes a long way.
Being patient can bring rewards.
I am a role model in everything I do.

Step 2: Choose a topic and write a paragraph.

Next, choose one of the ideas related to a life lesson to be your topic.

Topic: How I learned to be a role model in everything I do.

Now, begin to create the implied thesis using this topic. To do this, write a short paragraph describing how you will tell this narrative and what you learned or are trying to explain to the reader.

Narrative: I will tell the story of when I worked at the daycare center last summer. When I worked as a childcare assistant, I learned the children were watching me and would mimic my actions. This taught me to be careful of what I said and did because I learned that children act like those around them.

Step 3: Write an implied thesis statement.

Now, write the implied thesis statement: "My experience at the daycare center taught me to always be a good role model because children are always watching."

Step 4: Develop the topic sentences.

From here, develop topic sentences that support the implied thesis statement for the paragraphs of the essay.

Paragraph 1, Introduction, Topic Sentence:

"I learned many lessons when I worked at the community daycare center."

Paragraph 2, Topic Sentence:

"My first day on the job was the most important of them all."

Paragraph 3, Topic Sentence:

"Little Johnny taught me what it meant to be a bad role model for children."

Paragraph 4, Topic Sentence:

"I changed my actions and saw immediate results with the children."

Paragraph 5, Conclusion, Topic Sentence:

"I’ve worked at the daycare center for three summers now and continue to learn lessons from the children each year."

From here, a draft of the narrative essay can be created using the topic sentences.

+ YOUR TURN+ METACOGNITIVE QUESTIONS