While you could present almost any statement, some topics lend themselves better to one kind of statement than another. What kinds of arguments are people making about your topic? Think about the sources you've been reading. What kind of arguments do they offer? You probably want to make a similar kind of argument, though you'll present your own opinion, not someone else's.

Once you know what kind of statement you want to make, you need to figure out where you stand. One of the best ways to do this is freewriting. Just sit down and start writing about your topic. Don't worry about grammar or even writing complete sentences. If you start running out of steam, refocus by asking yourself "What do I think about the issue?" This kind of writing, in which you focus on ideas rather than on how you're phrasing things, can help you sort out your own opinions from all the things you've been reading.

Now that you know where you stand, spend some time working on your thesis statement. Try different ways of phrasing it. Test it out on some friends to see if it's clear. You might try using it as the starting point for some freewriting. If the thesis statement you've developed works well to get you started writing about your topic, that's good. If you find yourself going off in another direction, though, you might want to rephrase your thesis.

However, an argument requires more than a good thesis. You also need to provide supporting ideas and evidence. Keep your audience in mind as you develop your supporting arguments. What do they know about your topic? What do your readers think about it? What kinds of ideas and evidence will they find most persuasive and interesting? What questions would they ask, and would they challenge any part of what you have to say? From there, you can create a rough outline, listing your main supporting ideas, the evidence you want to use to explain those ideas, and any questions or challenges you need to answer in order to persuade your readers. When you have many outside sources, it is easy to fall into the trap of writing a paper that mostly summarizes what other people think. To avoid this, start planning your essay by listing your supporting ideas. Under each idea, list the information you need to provide in order to explain the idea. Some of this information will be evidence from your outside sources, but some of it could be stories of your own experience or explanations of why you think something is important.

See sample student work:

• Freewriting

Working with Sources

Using Sources Fairly and Accurately

E-mail your comments and suggestions to the YSU Grant Team (cardcat@bgnet.bgsu.edu)