Draft Thesis Statements

This post will break down the key points behind my controversy and will present a few thesis statements I have constructed based off of them. I used the method given in the Student's Guide to First Year Writing textbook on page 192. The title of the process is "Creating a Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement."

francois schnell. "pen and paper." 03/11/2011 via Flickr. Public Domain Dedication.

Pertinent Information

Author: Brad Plumer, Interviewee: David Keith, climate scientist

Publisher: The Washington Post, published on October 30, 2013

Purpose: To inform readers of David Keith's views on geoengineering, more specifically solar engineering or what he calls, "solar radiation engineering." He is an advocate for such methods to aid in the issue of global warming, thus making him a biased but informative source.

Audience: People interested in the aspects of geoengineering or solar engineering in global warming. This article may also cater to people wanting to better understand the viewpoint of an advocate for geoengineering.

Ethos: Use of a reliable but non-credible source; Acknowledgement of counterarguments and refutations to those arguments; Appeals to values or beliefs

Pathos: Repetition of key words surrounding geoengineering and global warming; Word drawing of images of beneficial methods to solve global warming; Neutral tone of voice

Logos: Use of an interview and an expert's opinions; Effective organization of questions and answers; Clear transitions between sections of text


Parts of Rhetorical Situation to Include in Thesis Statements

• Acknowledgement of counterarguments
• Repetition of key words surrounding geoengineering and global warming
• The use of David Keith's expert opinions

Thesis Statements

1. "In his interview with Plumer, David Keith can help an audience questioning the methods of geoengineering used to solve global warming by giving his expert opinions and extensive research on the subject."

• This thesis statement paints a clear picture to readers that Keith is an expert that presents geoengineering as an advocate for the cause.
• Readers will be able to make first thoughts that Keith is an expert on the subject.
• Readers confused thus far about the topic of the paper can now understand that connections between geoengineering, or solar engineering, and global warming will be made apparent.

2. "Climate scientist and Harvard Professor, David Keith, can help the world's misunderstood better understand the benefits and risks of geoengineering methods by weighing in his expert opinion with its regards to solving global warming."

• Although very similar to the first thesis statement, this statement gives an extended title to the person being interviewed by Brad Plumer.
• The title gives additional professionalism to a widely unknown individual.
• Readers can understand that the paper will cover the good and the bad of geoengineering as drawn from the views and opinions of David Keith.
• This thesis tells that the paper will be catered to the population of readers who are misunderstanding the context of the subject.

Reflection: Looking at my own thesis statements compared to Alyssa's and Savannah's as they have constructed and posted in their blogs makes the ones I created look like slop. Alyssa was able to present her blog readers with two very similar yet very focus different thesis statements. She aims to inform her future readers of the stance of the people on the method of circumcision, an ongoing debate on whether it is a good process to use or not. Savannah presents two thesis statements much different that Alyssa, but along the same lines of the human body. Her article is on the ethics of genetic engineering babies. She constructs two thesis statements that have to do with Parry's effective argument going against the practice of gene editing in human code. Parry is the author of the article that Savannah had researched.