 |  English Skills with Readings, 5/e John Langan,
Atlantic Community College
The First and Second Steps in Writing
Key Terms
| adequate details | details that provide 'enough support for a thesis: to support a claim
about a friend's habitual tardiness, for example, more than one example
should be provided in order to provide adequate support
| | | | | general subject | a broad topic, such as "marriage";
in prewriting, writers often begin here, and then narrow their topic to a
limited subject (such as "honeymoon"), and finally to a thesis
(such as "A honeymoon is perhaps the worst way to begin a marriage").
| | | | | generalities | ineffective support for a thesis (e.g., "People are often messy"):
specific details (e.g., "Teenagers toss their gum wrappers to
the floor, and young parents allow their toddlers to shower their seatmates
with popcorn ") should be provided
| | | | | limited subject | a topic, such as "honeymoon"
that is narrower than a general topic, but broader than a thesis
(such as "A honeymoon is perhaps the worst way to begin a marriage").
| | | | | specific details | concrete, specific evidence (e.g., "Teenagers toss their gum wrappers
to the floor, and young parents allow their toddlers to shower their seatmates
with popcorn ") that provides support for a thesis
| | | | | thesis, common errors in writing: |
| | | | | announcement | simply stating the
topic ("The subject of this paper will be my parents"), rather
than a claim or assertion about the topic ("Parents who spank their
children are guilty of a serious error in childrearing").
| | | | | more than one idea | too many ideas to be adequately
developed in a single essay; often two theses in one (e.g. "My parents
helped me grow in important ways, although in other respects I was limited").
| | | | | too broad | a common error in writing
a thesis: making a statement too broad to be supported adequately in a
student essay. Ex.: "My parents have been very influential in my
life."
| | | | | too narrow | a common error in writing
a thesis: making a statement so narrow that no support is necessary. Often
a statement of fact (not acceptable as a thesis). Ex.: "My
parents had only one child."
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education