a thesis statement that can be clearly expressed in just one sentence. Stage 2 is to develop a logical argument based on the thesis statement by finding the premise or premises that can provide a convincing support for the statement. Stage 3 is to compile an abstract by integrating the outcomes of stage 1 and 2 into a succinct logical structure of the paper that specifies the research’s motivation, main task, method, and results. Stage 4 is a detailed elaboration of stage 3, which covers a detailed explanation about (i) why the research was carried out (Introduction section), (ii) how the research was carried out (Method sections), what was found in the research (Results and Discussion sections), (iii) how the future research might proceed from here (Conclusion section).
1.1. Stage 1: Build a Thesis statement
Across the writing community in general, a thesis statement has been given many different roles in writing. Some regard a thesis statement as the “road map’’ of an academic paper, and some regard it as what “articulates the purpose of your paper’’ . In LWPC, thesis statement is given a rather specific role. It encapsulates the central idea put forward by a research paper. The idea takes the shape of a hypothesis or merely intuition in the early stage of writing, and gradually transforms into a research conclusion after all the premises for the idea are properly established and confirmed.
Representing the central idea of a research paper, a thesis statement is ultimately responsible for the clarity of the paper. Like the presence of a properly functioning heart is vital to the survival of a living body, the presence of a clear thesis statement is vital to the success of a research paper. Unless the author of a research paper can clearly present a thesis statement in the paper, the thoughts he or she expresses in the paper cannot be properly conveyed to its readers.
In LWPC, a thesis statement not only is the central idea of a research paper, but also the center of the paper’s development. The first thing our students are asked to do in LWPC is to build a preliminary thesis statement. No doubt, it is almost impossible to have the precise knowledge about the paper’s conclusion in the early stage of writing, but it is not impossible to begin thinking and hypothesizing about it. In fact, it is highly beneficial for the entire writing process to have a preliminary thesis statement built in the beginning. That way the author will have a focus point and direction in the writing. The thesis statement will become the basis of the writing development. The subsequent writing stages will be predominately about the support, elaboration, and confirmation of the thesis statement. As a result, the statement will evolve through different stages of writing. It will be modified whenever some new information is discovered in the process of writing. Once all the premises for the statement are properly established, elaborated and confirmed, then the statement is done and the writing process is complete.