Courageous thesis writing

Madison and I have been diving into non-narrative writing. It has been great to explore with different topics and start writing in a way that lets us say something important--make a claim about something we care about--and support it with details.

Earlier this week we got gutsy with our theses. We discovered that sometimes you have to have the courage to look at a thesis and ask, "It this really what I am trying to say?" We looked at some of my writing to see if I needed to consider pitching my thesis. I had been writing a piece about my dad, and my thesis was "My dad is really important to me." I asked Mads what she thought of it (hoping that our work had strrrrrretched her to look at our writing with a critical eye) and she looked at it for a few moments and replied, "I don't know...it seems kind of shallow to me. Don't you have something more significant you can say about your dad?" Holy smokes! Fireworks! It is amazing how exposure to great writing can help us see our own writing in a new light.

I knew the mini-lesson had really resonated when she had some time for independent work. She took her old thesis and decided to shake things up a bit. She had the "what am I really trying to say?" look on her face and went to work. She was excited to share with me after her writing time. Her thesis had transformed from
            It is more important to spend time with your family than it is to watch TV
                          into
            TV can become an idol.
Her supporting details now became: TV can be an idol because it takes you away from your family, TV can be an idol because it takes you away from the world around you, and TV can be an idol because it takes you away from God.

Holy smokes. Talk about stretching your thinking! Can't wait to see how the essay turns out!