112 ChApTEr 4 | an atlantiC eMpire | period three 175 4 –18 0 0a subordinated thesis statement allows you to give one of the topics greater signifi-
cance than the other while still acknowledging their interrelatedness. In your subor-
dinated thesis, you will subordinate either the topics to the categories, or vice versa.steP 1 Understand the prompt, and identify the key words
As you remember from Chapter 1, you must first understand your question. Draw
a square around your topic (“pursuit of natural resources and political domina-
tion”), draw a line underneath your task (analyze “To what extent”), and draw a
circle around the categories in the question (“conflicts among the French, English,
Americans, and Native Americans in North America between 1754 and 1800”).steP 2 Brainstorm and organize your evidence
To generate a working thesis from a historical prompt, begin by brainstorming
what you know. Review the prompt’s topic and categories above, and create a list
of facts that fit under the topics and the categories. A few have been done for you:“pursuit of natural resources and political domination”
The British and French used their colonies for raw materials.
British: tobacco, shipbuilding materials, hemp, fish, etc.French: furs
Stamp Act
“conflicts among the French, English, Americans, and Native Americans”
The French and English fought throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.
French and Indian WarPontiac’s Rebellion
American Revolution
With this information, you have two choices to subordinate:
- Pursuit of natural resources
- Political domination
When you subordinate, you often use words such as these:
However
Still
While
Althoughputting it all together 11305_STA_2012_ch4_085-114.indd 112 26/03/15 10:11 AM