Blog 9

Thesis / Thesis Statement- gives direction to a research paper. Answers the question presented to you. It creates an argument people can make. It can found at the end of your first paragraph.
Example:
A weak thesis - Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.
A thesis with potential- In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.
A strong thesis- Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave "civilized" society and go back to nature.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/thesis.html
Research – the search for information trough reading books, searching the web, watching a film etc.
Example:
Searching the web and reading different articles on a certain topic to collect information.
Argument- a debate with different opposing views.
Example:
Barack Obama and John McCain had many arguments in their debates about what the future of America should be.
Claim- a demand of a right. It states a position.
Example:
It is eighty degrees outside.
The world will come to an end in the future.
Reasons- conclusions from assumptions. It is used to justify ideas.
Example:
I am angry because you hit me.
Heaven awaits me due to the fact that I believe in Jesus.
Edivence-proof of a claim.
Example:
A picture taken from space is evidence that the world is round.
MLA Citation Style- helps identify your sources for your research. It gives credit to the sources.
Example:

The first gambling Web site appeared in 1995, and online gambling has since become the most
lucrative Internet business (Will 92).
or,
George Will reported that in 2002 Internet gambling surpassed pornography to become the
Internet's most lucrative business (92).

In your Works Cited list:
Will, George F. "Electronic Morphine." Newsweek 25 Nov. 2002: 92.

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/legacylib/mlahcc.html

For my mid-term I’m being asked to be a media sociologist. I have to answer the question of if media affects society in a negative way. I believe media does not affect society. Human by human nature are violent and exhibit animistic behavior. We have been the same our whole existence. A television isn’t going to affect us in a more negative way and influence our natural human emotions. I can try to find evidence on the web that pertain to crime and television and look at graphs that compare the two. I can also use the online school library.