Did I Prove My Thesis?

An Exercise to Keep the Writer on Topic

Did I Prove My Thesis?

  1. Write your thesis, as it is written on your draft, below:
  2. Now write the topic sentence or main idea of the first body paragraph:
    1. In ONLY 1-2 sentences, explain how this sentence/main idea relates to the thesis:
  3. Now write the topic sentence or main idea of the second body paragraph:
    1. In ONLY 1-2 sentences, explain how this sentence/main idea relates to the thesis:
  4. Now write the topic sentence or main idea of the third body paragraph:
    1. In ONLY 1-2 sentences, explain how this sentence/main idea relates to the thesis:
  5. Now write the topic sentence or main idea of the fourth body paragraph:
    1. In ONLY 1-2 sentences, explain how this sentence/main idea relates to the thesis:
  6. Now write the topic sentence or main idea of the fifth body paragraph:
    1. In ONLY 1-2 sentences, explain how this sentence/main idea relates to the thesis:
  7. Write out your conclusion in full:
    1. Does your conclusion restate your thesis but ALSO sum up the main points of your previous paragraphs? Does it leave the reader with that something extra that conclusions require? If not, try to rewrite it here:

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Handout created by Amilca Mouton-Fuentes, Student Learning Center, University of California, Berkeley

©2000 UC Regents

Handout revised by Bina Patel, Student Learning Center, University of California, Berkeley

©2002 UC Regents

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.