How to Write a Thesis

How to Write a Thesis How to Write a Thesis How to Write a Thesis By Mark Nichol An analytical or persuasive essay is a capsule thesis, and, like its more substantial analogue, it requires a thesis statement. Here are some notes about how to develop that statement. A thesis statement is a sentence (or two) that encapsulates and introduces an analysis or argument. An essay benefits from a thesis statement by concisely expressing the writer’s argument and serving as a basis for developing and organizing it. If you are assigned to write an essay, whether in an academic or professional setting, the topic may or may not be given. If the topic is specified, you can produce the thesis statement by converting the explanation of the assignment into a question; your response to that question is the thesis statement. For example, if you are asked to write about feeding wild animals, you might pose the question â€Å"Why is feeding wild animals a bad idea?† You might reply, â€Å"Feeding wild animals disrupts natural habits in animals and endangers them and the people who feed them.† You would then research the issue and jot down notes about how feeding wild animals, or making food available to them, might make them dependent on food supplied by humans, which in turn may affect their ability to forage or hunt when the human-provided food may no longer be available. Another supporting point would be the consequences to humans: Animals that are fed may become insistent or even aggressive, damaging property or attacking humans or their pets; diseased animals may infect humans they come in contact with, and so on. If it is your responsibility to select the topic, consider these elements of a successful persuasive essay: the topic is an issue that is arguable (that is, it isn’t a given that every reader would agree with you), and it can be adequately discussed in the framework of the assignment. In addition, confirm that you are adhering to one main idea and that, when you are done, you have not only stated your views but also supported your conclusions. Distinguishing characteristics of effective theses are that they are specific, they clearly state the writer’s position, and they encourage discussion. These qualities should be apparent in the work as a whole as well as in the thesis statement itself. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Business Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and Toes30 Baseball IdiomsThe Uses of â€Å"The†

An Introduction to Irregular Verbs - Proofeds Writing Tips

An Introduction to Irregular Verbs - Proofeds Writing Tips An Introduction to Irregular Verbs Most verbs do exactly what you’d expect them to when you change their tense. But this isn’t always the case. Some verbs are grammatical rebels. And when these terms pop up, it is easy for errors to creep into your written work. Join us, then, for a quick look at how to handle irregular verbs. Regular Verbs Before we look at irregular verbs, though, we should define what a regular verb is first. These terms are easy to understand because their simple past tense and past participle forms all end with the letters â€Å"-ed.† For instance, the verb â€Å"sail† becomes â€Å"sailed.† Other examples include: Base Verb Form Simple Past Tense Past Participle Bake Baked Baked Hurry Hurried Hurried Kick Kicked Kicked Lower Lowered Lowered Play Played Played As shown above with â€Å"hurry† and â€Å"hurried,† the spelling of certain words changes slightly when forming past tense forms of a regular verb. But even these terms end â€Å"-ed.† Importantly, too, the simple past tense and past participle forms are the same in each case for regular verbs. Irregular Verbs An â€Å"irregular verb† is any verb that doesn’t follow the rules above when forming simple past tense and past participle forms. As a result, these words don’t end with â€Å"-ed† like regular verbs. For example, the simple present tense verb â€Å"break† does not become â€Å"breaked,† but actually changes into â€Å"broke† (simple past tense) and â€Å"broken† (past participle). Other examples include: Base Verb Form Simple Past Tense Past Participle Cut Cut Cut Drink Drank Drunk Sit Sat Sat Think Thought Thought Write Wrote Written As you can see, there is no real pattern to how irregular verbs behave: Some change just one letter in different forms (e.g., drink drank drunk) Others change more significantly (e.g., think thought) In some cases, the simple past tense and past participle forms are the same Some words use a different term for past tense and past participle forms Others don’t change from the base form in either case (e.g., cut) It can, therefore, become a bit confusing! Our advice is to watch out for irregular verbs when reading and learn how they’re used. Checking unusual terms in a dictionary and having your work proofread to correct any verb-based errors is also a good idea. To Be or Not to Be? No, we’re not quoting Shakespeare. We’re just highlighting how tricky the verb â€Å"be† can be. This little word is one of the sneakiest around, with a variety of forms depending on how it is used. Verb Forms First Person Second Person Third Person Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Present Tense Am Are Are Is Are Past Tense Was Were Were Was Were Present Participle Being Past Participle Been This may make â€Å"be† the most irregular verb around! And while it is easy to master the basic forms with practice, you should still be careful when using the subjunctive mood.

Empirical Evaluation in Software Engineering Essay

Empirical Evaluation in Software Engineering - Essay Example The systems developed are inherently complex by nature not to mention that they are constantly changing and this has in a large part required empirical evaluations to be carried out especially with regards to the large systems so as to incorporate continuity. Question 2 What factors might make it difficult to conduct an empirical evaluation of the scenario? Explain five factors and relate each of them to the scenario. There are several factors that might make it difficult to conduct an empirical evaluation in this scenario. They include: i. The researcher’s inexperience. The complex nature of carrying out such tasks requires one to have experience in this field. In this scenario, the person concerned has not even studied this subject and this coul prove to be a mjor stumbling block. ii. Inadequate resources. In order to carry out an empirical evaluation, large amount of resources are required. In our scenario, it might not be possible to acquire adequate funding to carry out s uch a project and therefore transforming theory into reality via empirical evaluation might not be possible. iii. Cumbersome. ... v. Inadequate information.Another difficulty might come about when seeking further information with regards to the two methods. There is very little information on the matter as there has been little or no reaserch done cocerning this. Question 3 Using the Fenton and Pfleeger model, why is it hard to show that an lntegrated Development Environment (such as those stated in the scenario) leads to improvements in the software project, or in the quality of the software produced. The end product in software production is greatly dependent on two factors; the experience of the developers and the input applied to the development process. A high quality software at the end of the day should do what it was intended for but in a simpler manner and for this to come to fruittion, it depends largely on the design principles and the developer. The Integrated Development Environment lays more emphasis on the ease of use, manageability and user interfaces. This makes it more difficult to evaluate th e importance of determining the quality of the controls, resources and input since they are determined by the developers. Further, in order to determine the output, provision of empirical evidence is key so as to predict it. Coming back to our scenario, this is not practical because of the complexities and numerous functionalities of the environments (Lewis & Veerapillai 2005) Question 4 Critically discuss the benefits and limitations of the case study and the survey study to answer'- the friend's question. There are many benefits that can be realised through conducting a case study method in the evaluation process. Some of these benefits may include; quantifying of the various benefits and functionalities that may be realised in a single

Senior Project - Team Contract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Senior Project - Team Contract - Essay Example The deadline for turning in the work should be set well before the final deadline so that any changes that need to be made can be accomplished. The best case scenario would be to see that all components are turned in at least two days before the deadline so that the work can be assessed for its value by all of the members of the team. By creating this deadline, the group can ensure that there is enough time for all aspects of the project to be perfected after evaluations by each member. If a member does not turn in their work by the team deadline it will give the team time to compensate for this problem. Lack of participation will be incorporated into the notes that will be made on the overall project and reported according to the guidelines that are provided for the project. Team leadership will be selected according to a group discussion. However, the best teams are not divided by leadership, but by responsibilities. Therefore, the team leader will have the responsibility of making sure that all aspects of the project are in on time, but will not be given the powers to rule over issues that occur during the project nor be given the power to veto aspects of the project. The goal will be to work as a team in such a way as to encourage the strengths of each team member and compensate for any weakness. The team leader will organize the details of the project, but will not have the power to control the project. This should be a collaborative effort, rather than ruled by a dictator. Section III In order to deal with team conflict, it will be necessary to put into place a way to negate any disagreements on how the team should progress towards its goals. Conflicts can occur due to a number of different problems that might arise during the project. Seeing the project through different ideas will be the first potential problem. A team vote on how to focus the project from the beginning will help to negate this potential problem. Making sure that all members are on boar d and agree on how the project should proceed will be the best way to prevent problems from the beginning. A second problem that might arise involves the issues of strengths and weaknesses. Before tasks are given to each of the members, it is important that each member identifies which parts of the project will give them the best opportunity to excel and which aspects are representatives of weaknesses. Creating a chart that identifies all tasks and allowing members to identify their strengths and weaknesses will assist in giving responsibilities and in balancing out where weaknesses are shown. The team agrees to handle all conflicts through mature and reasonable methods of communications. The team agrees that it will not argue, but discuss any disagreements on the project and that it will be necessary to sometimes deal with conflicts that arise. Through a recognition that the potential for a disagreement exists, it is clear that the project members are willing to work through any pr oblems that might come to light. As disagreements come to light, the differing sides of the problem will be discussed through breaking down each element of the disagreement, assessing which portions are similar and which elements require a decision or

Astronomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Astronomy - Essay Example Global warming due to climate change is recognized by many individuals, but big business, politicians, and deniers have caused serious doubt among some. The five following current articles reviewed show the perception of today’s world about the climate change occurring. â€Å"Climate change may trigger earthquakes and volcanoes† is an article about the link between volcanoes and earthquakes and climate change. Even slight climate changes can cause responses of the earth’s crust. â€Å"Evidence of a link between climate and the rumblings of the crust has been around for years, but only now is it becoming clear just how sensitive rock can be to the air, ice and water aboveâ€Å" (Fisher). With the warming of the earth, the sensitive crust is erupting more than other. This article showed how new technology is proving the link between earthquakes and volcanoes due to global warming. It also presents the idea the whole world is already being affected by global warming, not just the Artic regions. Global warming affects the whole Earth. â€Å"Scientists: Pace of Climate Change Exceeds Estimates† is article reviewing the expectations of world scientists about global warming and the rapid climate change. Scientists are now finding out their original estimates of climate change and global warming. At first the predictions were bad, but more recently the predictions have become worse. Scientists had not planned on the earth’s reaction to climate change worsening the affects of the global warming. The cycle of warming and worsening has already begun. Scientists have found: The permafrost holds 1 trillion tons of carbon, and as much as 10 percent of that could be released this century, Field said. Along with carbon dioxide melting permafrost releases methane, which is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. In â€Å"Address threat of climate change† a passionate plea for the world to take action to stop climate change is asserted. Since

Argumentation-Persuasion Essay - Obesity and Tax on Soda and Candy in

Argumentation-Persuasion - Obesity and Tax on Soda and Candy in US - Essay Example on of their money, around $150 billion dollars on resources being consumed in the healthcare department to treat morbidities which pop up due to metabolic syndrome. In U.S, obesity is now considered to be a ‘threat to national security’ after an observation was made that many of the military men were rejected to become part of the army due to obesity. This is affecting the country on national level and realizing the critical importance of the issue, the U.S government has decided to take a serious step to combat with the issue. The government is now considering implying penny per-ounce soda tax which will be the result of an increase in the price levels of a single can i.e. of 2 cents. Around 58% of the consumed soda contains sugar and a sufficient amount of 216 liters per year is consumed by every U.S citizen (Lustig, ‎ et al 2012). This shows that the people living in U.S have made soda a part of their daily food consumption which means soda will be price inelastic, demand of the soda will be less responsive to the change in price. So here a question can be raised: ‘Is the price change will affect the demand of soda and in all lead to a decrease in soda consumption?’ Well the answer to this question is: No, because people will continue to demand for soda and such a small increase in prices will not stop this massive intake of sugars leading to few changes in obesity. This means that this will be less beneficial and near to useless. This is also proved in a study and it is clearly stated that a considerable change will begin to appear only when there will be a double price increase. In many places like San Francisco etc. milk is more expensive than soda drinks. The level of consumption has been proliferated, continuing the problem of obesity. Besides Soda, candies also have led to some excessive consumption of sugars in US. Many schools are trying to curb this issue by stop vending candies in the school premises and instead of them, they provide

New Business Proposal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

New Business Proposal - Research Paper Example The needs of the customer are vital because they help in making changes for the product such that it conforms to their needs (Stark, 2011). Providing a product that suits customer’s needs in terms of size, price and other characteristics will enhance revenue generation due to increased sales (Stark, 2011). The revenue will increase by creating a new product line extension. This process entails bundling the new product with the existing products by using a similar brand name. Apart from improving the name of the brand, the process will act as criteria for marketing the new product (Stark, 2011). As the product gains customers, it is possible to perform an analysis of the market in terms of demand and elasticity. This determines how customers will respond to any changes in price. If demand appears to be inelastic, it will be convenient to increase the prices of the commodity in order to generate sufficient revenue. When demand is inelastic, the amount of sales remains unaltered, meaning that a slight increase in price will result in high revenue (Stark, 2011). Determination of the profit-maximizing quantity requires understanding of basic concepts of total revenue and total cost (Stark, 2011). After performing the sales of the new product, there will be a need to determine the gain at each sales level. This computation shall involve a consideration of all costs including labor plus other variable costs. It is possible to determine the profit maximizing quantity by first computing the marginal profits after the sale and finding where the marginal revenue becomes identical to the marginal cost (Stark, 2011). In this case, the formula: marginal profit= marginal revenue – marginal cost, will apply. If the marginal revenue is higher than marginal cost, it means that there will be a marginal gain (Taylor & Weerapana, 2012). In order to maximize profits, the business shall ensure reduction of marginal costs and improvements in