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- Finally, your body paragraphs must have a Thesis Connection – how does your example
relate back to your thesis and PROVE your point? Don’t expect the reader to put the
connection together, you have to hold the reader by the hand and tell her specifically HOW
it relates back to your thesis.
Don’t forget that the reader does not have telepathic powers and can’t get inside your brain to figure out what
you were thinking. That is why clarity of thought is incredibly important. Leave no room for the reader to guess,
assume, or fill in all the open holes in your essay. Because they won’t. They will just deduct points.
Example of Thesis Connection:
Question: Is knowledge a benefit, or a burden?
- Knowledge can most certainly be a burden when it
tests your sense of right and wrong and loyalty to a
friend. My best friend confessed to me that she was
only passing chemistry class because she was getting
the answers to the tests from a fellow student. She
swore me to secrecy and then smiled with relief. “So
good to get that off my chest and tell someone,” she
said. However, I was now left with the burden of that
secret. I wanted to unload that knowledge onto
someone else, and my strong sense of right and wrong
compelled me to inform our chemistry teacher. My
equally strong sense of loyalty to my best friend held
me back. As a compromise, I confronted my best
friend. “I will help you study and pass the chemistry
tests, but you have to promise to stop cheating,” I said.
She accepted the deal and we studied hard for the rest
of the semester, but I will never forget the strain her
secret put on me, making me wary of the knowledge
others willingly pass on.
Transition from thesis to
specific example.Thesis Connection .............................................................
Thesis ConnectionDetail of example – not too
much, and not too little.
Certainly no superfluous
information here.Thesis Connection – she
connects her example to her
thesis (knowledge can be a
burden) throughout her body
paragraph.