UNIT THREE SEMINAR:

Narrow Your Topic and Make Your Point!

CM103: Effective Writing I for Criminal Justice Majors

Welcome to seminar!

We will begin at the top of the hour. Please feel free to chat with your

classmates in the interim.

Before we get into the content of the session….

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In this seminar, we will discuss …

Brainstorming and pre-writing

Crafting a thesis

Focusing a topic

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How do you brainstorm?

Make lists?

Outline?

Use clustering, mapping, or webbing?

Use charts or graphs?

Free write?

Something else?

Brainstorming is one way to generate ideas.

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ESIS

Best Advice from Diana Hacker, author of Rules for Writers…

Tattoo on the inside of your eyelids the following definition"[A thesis] is a debatable point, one about which reasonable persons can disagree. It is not merely a fact [. . .]. Nor is it a statement of belief [or faith] [. . .]. Neither facts nor beliefs can be substantiated by reasons, so they cannot serve as a thesis for an argument" (Hacker, p. 574).

Know that your thesis statement serves as the crux of the argument that is your paper; it is your informed opinion about your paper's subject…

Hacker, D. (2008). Rules for writers (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press.

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(CO

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)The best way to

learn about focusing a topic is to practice.

As a group, we will explore some

possible topics and talk about ways we

can narrow our topic and distill that into a

one sentence statement.

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ESIS

TO MAINTAIN FOCUS A THESIS WILL…

Be a complete sentence (or two)•Identify the topic•Make an assertion about the

topic

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ESIS

PERSUASIVE THESIS

The topic is a debatable issue• •The thesis articulates a stance

on the issue• •Words like should, must, or

needs are often used

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THREE POINT THESIS

The issue or topic•The writer’s assertion, point, or

stance on the topic•Plan of development

LAW ENFORCEMENTPO

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CS •Less than lethal use of force

•Remote offender tracking and GPS

•Electronic surveillance and civilian privacy

•Reliability of Brain Fingerprinting

•Digitalization of police records

CORRECTIONSPO

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CS •Privatization as a cost effective means of managing prisons

•The SuperMax system as a response to violent offenders

•Rehabilitation in the prison system (Is it possible? Is it cost effective?)

•Cell phone bans in prisons

•Mixed gender issues in prisons (Should females guard males and vice versa?)

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT

•Mass Casualty Incidents and crowd control (or Martial Law)

•Use of social networking for emergency and disaster responses

•Effectiveness of electronic models to predict natural disasters

•Civilian preparedness

•Hospital (or prison) evacuation planning, procedures, and responses

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FIRE SCIENCE FIRE SCIENCE

 •Emergency services in rural areas (Should rural residents pay city fire houses to respond to rural fires?)

•Technology and Fire Science (How has the evolution of technology changed the field of fire science?)

•Technology and forensics in arson investigation

•Risk assessment and fire prevention in urban and/or rural areas

•Controlled pyrotechnics in entertainment venues (theater productions, concerts, or public fireworks displays)

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QUESTIONS??

I want to remind you that I am here to assist you with any questions you have about the class. Feel free to contact me via email nbains@kaplan.edu, or via aim nbains during office hours Mondays, 2-3, PM ET and 3-4 PM ET or by using my virtual office. If necessary, we can arrange for a phone conference.