great links/info re "thesis question" development?

[Joan in Geneva]

My son is working on his 9th grade research paper a la WTM rhetoric section for high school.

SWB has good suggestions and we're using the suggested Preparing the Research Paper by Davies...we're still having some trouble coming up with a thesis question complete with hypothesis....

So I just thought I'd ask those with experience for any great links or suggestions....

With thankfulness for any responses,
Joan

[mdetaos]

I wish I had a great link to help out here but the following might spark some additional ideas....

http://www.powa.org/

Generally speaking, if you can narrow down your topic to a manageable chunk and then come up with a question format for the thesis, the hypothesis will then be what you prove in your research. Ds had to do a research paper on US history up till 1877 so he thought about what events in that time frame were interesting and what he wanted to learn more about. HE then focused on the South, decided he didn't know if there were any other reasons for the South's secession and then formulated a question (can't remember the exact words): Beyond slavery, what were the reasons for the South's Secession. His research yielded the answer which he then developed into a hypothesis and ran with it.

Not much help but maybe it will spark comments from others!!

Mary

[Joan in Geneva]

Thanks for the link and example Mary. Seems like there is a lot out there about a thesis statement but not as much about a thesis question for "research"....

My ds actually has several interesting questions - he's researching the Huguenots in Geneva in the 1500-1600's but so far they are not the type that have much information about them.

Best,
Joan

[Joan in Geneva]

Since his draft is due soon, I've been doing more searching...

***good for history research (http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/)
there's a link on the left for how to ask good questions
and others about reading primary sources...

with his sample thesis (http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/sample%20road%20map.htm)

These are power point presentations...

good question (tho not all with premises) development here
(http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:tv9CJYRnnnkJ:www.mountida.edu/filelibrary/library_developResearchPaper_082107.ppt+research+p aper+%22thesis+question%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=ch)
good ideas for developing the thesis (tho not all with premises) and taking notes (http://www.brockport.edu/%7Eslc/research%20paper%20powerpoint.ppt)

Others

Maybe I've been using the wrong terminology. On this site, she uses the term "thesis question" for a paper that is exploring an issue...

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/develop.shtml

One thing that would be nice is if all these writing instructors could agree on the types of papers and questions. I like sorting type diagrams so I can clearly understand a topic. Instead, there's this hazy mishmash... Any "writers" out there with some type of diagram tree?

Best,
Joan