Choose Reasons to Accept Your Thesis Statement

In longer documents, such as essays, reports, and Web sites, writers usually present readers with several reasons to accept their thesis statement. The kinds of reasons writers present will vary according to the types of documents they are writing. In informative documents, for example, writers might focus on the three or four most important aspects of the subject they want readers to understand. In analytical documents, they might choose points that help readers understand the results of the analysis. In argumentative documents, writers usually offer a series of claims that will lead readers to accept the arguments they are advancing.

To choose the reasons you’ll offer to support your thesis statement, consider brainstorming, freewriting, looping, or clustering (see Chapter 2). As you generate ideas, reflect on your purpose, your role as a writer, the type of document you intend to write, and your readers.