Stumped? Questions to Ask When Constructing a Thesis

1. What kinds of patterns or implications emerge when I look closely at my evidence?

2. What kind of evidence and support do I need to support my tentative thesis?

3. What kind of evidence cannot be adequately accounted for by my tentative thesis?

4. How can I explain the mismatches between my thesis statement and my selected

evidence?

5. How can I rewrite my thesis statement in order to accommodate the evidence that

doesn't fit?

- From David Rosenwasser, Jill Stephen, and Doug Babington, Writing Analytically, Toronto:Nelson