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Prof. Bondhus English I w/ Workshop

OC Essay 2: Crafting a Thesis Statement and Areas of Support

-Choose one of the sample thesis statements below.

-Fill in any blanks it has or change the underlined claims if you’d rather focus on a different kind of popular culture or make a different claim.

-Come up with 3 areas of support for the thesis statement. The areas of support will come from the piece of popular culture.

Templates for Using “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”

1) (Your TV show supports Johnson’s argument) I agree with Johnson’s claim that certain TV shows provide us with a cognitive workout because my experience watching ______ confirms it.

2) (Your TV show contradicts Johnson’s argument) I disagree with Johnson because I think that there are other, more important standards for judging the quality of television shows. For example I think that _The Simpsons , is a great TV show even though it doesn’t fit Johnson’s criteria.

3) (Your TV show supports and contradicts Johnson’s argument) While I think that Johnson is right about ___________, I also feel that _____________. A good example would be ______________.

4) (You’re looking at something other than a TV show, but you think Johnson’s argument could also apply to that form of pop culture) I think that what Johnson says about quality TV can also be applied to other forms of popular culture, particularly _________________.

Templates for Using “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

1) (Your technology supports Carr’s argument) I agree with Carr’s idea that __________________ because my experience with _________________ confirms it.

2) (Your technology contradicts Carr’s argument) I have to disagree with Carr’s assessment that __________________. My opinion on the internet and technology is that __________________. As evidence, consider ___________________.

3) (Your technology supports and contradicts Carr’s argument) While I think that Carr is right about _________________, I also feel that _______________. A good example would be ________________.

4) (You’re looking at something other than technology, but you think Carr’s argument could also apply to that form of pop culture) Carr’s theory that the high-paced nature of the internet impairs our ability to concentrate is useful because his ideas can also be extended to other forms of media, such as video games.

Templates for Using “I’m So Totally, Digitally Close to You”

1) (Your social networking technology supports Thompson’s argument) If Thompson is right that social networks have changed the way we view ourselves, as I think he is, then we need to reassess that popular assumption that Facebook is just a time-killer.

2) (Your social networking technology contradicts Thompson’s argument) I disagree with Thompson’s claim that _______________. I actually think that _________________. For example, __________________ shows us that ________________.

3) (Your social networking technology both supports and contradicts Thompson’s argument) My feelings on Thompson’s point that _________________ are mixed. On the one hand, I agree that _________________. On the other hand, I feel that _______________. Much of my ambivalence stems from my own experiences on Twitter.

4) (You’re looking at something other than social networking, but you think Carr’s argument could also apply to that form of pop culture) Carr’s points about social networking technology make a lot of sense to me, particularly when he says _________________. In fact, I think that this idea could also apply to ________________.

Templates for Using One of the Unit 1 Essays

1. (Your piece of pop culture supports the author’s argument) In “(Essay),” _(Author)_ makes an interesting point about __________________. Essentially, he/she believes that _____________________. This point is borne out by (piece of pop culture) in the sense that _______________.

2. (Your piece of pop culture contradicts the author’s argument) In “(Essay),” (Author) suggests that _____________________. What he/she means by this is that _________________. However, (piece of pop culture) calls (Author)’s idea into question because _________________.

3. (Your piece of pop culture both supports and contradicts the author’s argument) In “(Essay),” (Author) points out that __________________. In some ways, this claim is supported by (piece of pop culture) in that ________________. However, (piece of pop culture) also seems to contradict this point because ___________________.

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