Module 3: Lecture Materials Exploring A Topic And Developing A Working Thesis

Module 3: Lecture Materials -- Exploring a Topic and Developing a Working Thesis Online Lecture - Exploring a Topic and Developing a Working Thesis This week you will continue with the development of your research project by submitting a tentative thesis and an outline of your research project. What is a thesis? Are you ready to write an informal outline? A Thesis: The "So What?" of Your Writing:A thesis is meant to evolve during the life of the project, so you will be adjusting it during the next few weeks based on your research. In academic writing, we start with what we call "a working thesis", that is, a statement that establishes your purpose for writing to your audience, but does so in a tentative way. This is because, as a writer beginning the drafting process, you yourself need some direction and purpose. Later on, after you've crystallized your themes and ideas, you can revise the statement of purpose to better reflect what you've concluded. So in this way, a thesis statement is like a signpost, or like the preview to movie, in that it establishes some of the highlights of what readers can expect along the road of your