14c Examine your assumptions.
Once you have a working thesis, examine your assumptions to help test your reasoning and strengthen your argument. Begin by identifying underlying assumptions that support the working thesis.
| WORKING THESIS | Because they endanger the lives of farmworkers, pesticides should be banned. |
| ASSUMPTION 1 | Workers have a right to a safe working environment. |
| ASSUMPTION 2 | Substances that endanger the lives of workers deserve to be banned. |
Once you have a working thesis, you may want to use qualifiers to make it more precise and thus less susceptible to criticism. The preceding thesis might be qualified in this way:
Because they often endanger the lives of farmworkers, most pesticides should be banned.