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 PilzeEssen
ProfessionalMunter
Registered: 12/24/07
Posts: 3,210
Last seen: 1 hour, 8 minutes
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 help with thesis statement for philosophy paper...
#8890988 - 09/07/08 01:34 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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i suck at writing papers. i dropped out of high school in junior year, that was over 3 years ago, and this is my first year back in school since then. so that being the case, i suck at everything. studying, remembering shit i need to remember, doing homework, and of course writing papers.
i have a paper due in 2 days.. this is usually how i do things. wait till the last minute and then do it. so heres my problem. i have to write a paper for my philosophy class, i have to answer the questions, "who am i?" and "where did i come from." but i have to start the paper off with a thesis statement and i have no clue how to do that or what to say. can anyone help me out here?
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The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live.
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Ogre812
Padawan Learner
Registered: 05/25/08
Posts: 1,351
Last seen: 50 minutes, 10 seconds
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 Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: PilzeEssen]
#8891015 - 09/07/08 01:44 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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First I would suggest that you buy a writers manual. I will quote you what mine says.
A thesis which usually appears at the end of the introduction, is a one-sentence ( or occasionally a two sentence) statement of your central idea.
I have multiple books but this one is called "A Pocket Style Manual" Fourth edition by Diana Hacker
You should check out your schools book store I'm sure they have one. You WILL need it.
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin ~
"Let me tell you about a Porcupine's balls. They're small, and they don't give a SHIT!" ~Danny~
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Ogre812
Padawan Learner
Registered: 05/25/08
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: Ogre812]
#8891020 - 09/07/08 01:44 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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What style paper is it?
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin ~
"Let me tell you about a Porcupine's balls. They're small, and they don't give a SHIT!" ~Danny~
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PilzeEssen
ProfessionalMunter
Registered: 12/24/07
Posts: 3,210
Last seen: 1 hour, 8 minutes
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: Ogre812]
#8891046 - 09/07/08 01:53 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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just an essay. 1-2 pages double spaced.
im leaning towards not doing it.. its just pissing me off.
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The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live.
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Ogre812
Padawan Learner
Registered: 05/25/08
Posts: 1,351
Last seen: 50 minutes, 10 seconds
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: PilzeEssen]
#8891077 - 09/07/08 02:00 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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Get used to it, welcome back to school. Just get through it a 1-2 page double spaced paper is cake. There will be plenty of harder ones to blow off.
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin ~
"Let me tell you about a Porcupine's balls. They're small, and they don't give a SHIT!" ~Danny~
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fireworks_god
Sexy ButtMcDanger
Registered: 03/12/02
Posts: 20,453
Loc: red panda village
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: PilzeEssen]
#8891079 - 09/07/08 02:01 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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So, what ambitions do you have, if you obviously aren't interested in what you're doing now?
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Meet me in outer space
We could spend the night;
watch the earth come up 
I've grown tired of that place;
won't you come with me?
We could start again.
 
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 deCypher
Registered: 02/10/08
Posts: 6,510
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: PilzeEssen]
#8891522 - 09/07/08 03:39 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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A thesis statement is the essence of your essay. Just ask yourself who you really are--think about it for ten minutes or so, come up with a convincingly deep philosophical answer (true thought is not a requirement for philosophy class--only the ability to bullshit well and pad it up with good rhetoric), and start writing.
Following the step-by-step directions in those writer's manuals invariably made my essays shittier. It's only when you take a step back and start letting the words pour out of your mouth that you'll become better.
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we are born naked, wet, hungry, and torn from the woman we love. then things get worse.  
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Ogre812
Padawan Learner
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: deCypher]
#8891531 - 09/07/08 03:42 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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You are supposed to be able to sum up your whole paper in one sentence.
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin ~
"Let me tell you about a Porcupine's balls. They're small, and they don't give a SHIT!" ~Danny~
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deCypher
Registered: 02/10/08
Posts: 6,510
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: Ogre812]
#8891556 - 09/07/08 03:45 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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That kind of eliminates the need to write a whole paper if you've already said everything that needs to be said in that single sentence, though. 
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we are born naked, wet, hungry, and torn from the woman we love. then things get worse.
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Ogre812
Padawan Learner
Registered: 05/25/08
Posts: 1,351
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: deCypher]
#8891558 - 09/07/08 03:46 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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No, you leave out the details but you tell everyone what you will be talking about. Kind of like a table of contents for the rest of the paper.
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin ~
"Let me tell you about a Porcupine's balls. They're small, and they don't give a SHIT!" ~Danny~
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deCypher
Registered: 02/10/08
Posts: 6,510
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: Ogre812]
#8891579 - 09/07/08 03:50 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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Yeah, I'm still of the opinion that laying out an essay through this step-by-step process is only for encoding the basic writing essentials for a good essay--being able to speak clearly and coherently about what it is that you're actually talking about, and then laying down support for your claims. Once you've practiced enough, you shouldn't need to adhere to a rigid format at all to convincingly get your ideas across.
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we are born naked, wet, hungry, and torn from the woman we love. then things get worse.
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Ogre812
Padawan Learner
Registered: 05/25/08
Posts: 1,351
Last seen: 50 minutes, 10 seconds
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: deCypher]
#8891587 - 09/07/08 03:52 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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Yeah but to get the grade he will. Unless things have changed since I was in college. It's almost as if they curb creativity and grade you on conformity.
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin ~
"Let me tell you about a Porcupine's balls. They're small, and they don't give a SHIT!" ~Danny~
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Platinum
Psychonautical Engineer
Registered: 06/04/08
Posts: 1,905
Loc: New York
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: Ogre812]
#8891656 - 09/07/08 04:06 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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Here's a tip that worked out REALLY well for me.
DONT WRITE THE THESIS FIRST.
Write out your paper in it's entirety. Then at the end read through it and from there you should be able to come up with a good 1-2 sentence thesis that encompasses the whole paper. Try it, it works.
The only thing you need to make sure is that you stay focused to what you're writing about. Without a thesis it's easy to go astray and go off-topic. But if you start writing about 1 thing... stick with it. Because that will help you make a thesis. If you hop from 1 topic to the next, it's going to be a very disorganized paper and you won't be able to create a thesis.
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(______(________________((()
SIG-ARETTE
You can never be lost.
When have you ever been apart of me?
You can never depart and never return.
For we are continuous, indistinguishable.
Some say you need to be in touch with your inner child...
Me? I molest it...
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PilzeEssen
ProfessionalMunter
Registered: 12/24/07
Posts: 3,210
Last seen: 1 hour, 8 minutes
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: fireworks_god]
#8891936 - 09/07/08 05:03 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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Quote:
fireworks_god said:
So, what ambitions do you have, if you obviously aren't interested in what you're doing now?
i would say something dickish right now, but i wont do that.
youre not helping me at all.
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The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live.
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PilzeEssen
ProfessionalMunter
Registered: 12/24/07
Posts: 3,210
Last seen: 1 hour, 8 minutes
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: PilzeEssen]
#8891946 - 09/07/08 05:03 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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and to everyone else, thanks for the help. its very much appreciated.
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The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live.
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dill705
fuckin' J key sticks
Registered: 12/10/07
Posts: 2,252
Loc: A continual state of dark...
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: PilzeEssen]
#8892429 - 09/07/08 06:42 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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~dill's girlfriend~
So basically my advice to you would be to make a list of the things you think of when you think of yourself
{your personality, what you like to do,what you want to do in the future, the kind of person you are, what is important to you, stuff like that}
Once you can visibly see this list it should make it easier for you to decide who you are.
Do your best to generalize your traits and make them connect and flow together.
Once you have an idea of who you are, how you got there should be pretty easy
{think of why you are the way you are, why you believe what you do, why you think what you do, why you act how you do}
When I write papers, I usually make a quick outline of what I want to say in the body paragraphs.
And once I have that done I write my thesis statement {see Ogre812's post} and then my intro. flows into the thesis.
Finally I write my conclusion {re-stating the thesis at the end to sum everything up in a nice strong sentence}
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Drug control - $12 billion/yr
Incarceration - $30 billion/yr
Police protection - $9.1 billion/yr
Legal adjudication - $4.5 billion/yr
Having a populous trained to recognize their own bodies as government regulated property, and to gorge exclusively on government approved brands of pharmaceuticals and fast food - PRICELESS
This sig brought to you by: ExplosiveMango ~ ripe fruity taste, explosive diahrea!
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dirtydirt
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: dill705]
#8892561 - 09/07/08 07:04 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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one way to do it is to throw conventionality to the wind and piss your honest opinion all over the paper in concise form.
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NiamhNyx
I'm NOT a 'he'
Registered: 09/01/02
Posts: 3,110
Last seen: 1 month, 16 days
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: PilzeEssen]
#8892833 - 09/07/08 07:52 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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Basic essay structure goes as follows:
Intro
- opening sentence to introduce the subject of the paper
- thesis statement, a brief one sentence summing up of the point you are atempting to illustrate
- introduction of 3 major points you are making to support your thesis "i will make the following arguments to support my thesis"
Paragraph 1
an elaboration of the first argument that supports your thesis
paragraph 2
an elaboration of the second argument that supports your thesis
paragraph 3
an elaboration of the third argument that supports your thesis
conclusion
a brief summary of what you already talked about
a repeat of the thesis
"these arguments have effectively supported my thesis"
Philosophy profs in particular tend to look for well organized arguments that are consistent, coherent and easy to follow. They generally like it when you explain what you are doing in the paper. The structure I've outlined makes it alot easier to write because it's straight forward and well organized. Throwing convention out the window may seem easier, but its alot harder to keep track of your argument when you're just pissing all over the place. Stick with the formula and you'll be comfortable writing papers in no time. Once you get it, you can toss it out if you feel so inclined.
Edited by NiamhNyx (09/07/08 07:58 PM)
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deCypher
Registered: 02/10/08
Posts: 6,510
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: dirtydirt]
#8893316 - 09/07/08 09:06 PM (2 months, 26 days ago) |
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Quote:
dirtydirt said:
one way to do it is to throw conventionality to the wind and piss your honest opinion all over the paper in concise form.
And watch your GPA get pissed away like so many irritable professors reading your paper.
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we are born naked, wet, hungry, and torn from the woman we love. then things get worse.
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PilzeEssen
ProfessionalMunter
Registered: 12/24/07
Posts: 3,210
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Re: help with thesis statement for philosophy paper... [Re: deCypher]
#8894161 - 09/08/08 12:19 AM (2 months, 25 days ago) |
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my philosophy teacher seems pretty cool. its the first assignment, i might just do that dirtydirt to see what happens.
im not worried about my grade really. of course, in saying that, im sure there some people out there in the shroomery land that frown upon people going to school and not caring about their grade. well, im just not going to let it get to me. fuck that, i get what i get and i dont care.
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The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live.
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