INPUT ARTICLE: Article: A thesis statement should be an arguable idea, meaning that someone could potentially hold and argue the opposing view.  For example, the following thesis statement is weak because it just states a fact: “Exercising is good for you.” This kind of thesis statement leads to an uninteresting, underdeveloped paper.  It is a proven fact that exercise is good for you and no one would legitimately argue against that. Writing a thesis is tricky business. You must give enough background information to guide your reader, but not overshare and provide too much material in your introduction. A broad thesis statement makes claims that are ambiguous, vague, or overreaching. They attempt to address too many topics for the assignment and don’t have a clear focus. A narrow thesis statement is too single-minded or specific to use in crafting a well-developed essay.  An example of a broad thesis statement is, “Sigmund Freud is one of the greatest psychologists in medical history.” This thesis statement is too broad because it is too general/vague and could discuss almost anything. It doesn’t tell you where the paper will go, what the main idea is, or any support for this claim.  An example of a narrow thesis statement is, “Sigmund Freud’s theories on dream interpretation single-handedly changed the evolution of psychoanalysis.” This thesis statement is too narrow because it only allows for one viewpoint (that Freud was the only influence on psychoanalysis), which will lead to an essay that ignores a lot of evidence (other influences on psychoanalysis). Generalizing, especially in thesis statements, is dangerous because it attempts to summarize all of the paper’s content into one lump sum idea while omitting any of the supporting details. These kinds of statements are weak because they make a claim that is not backed up by evidence. Statements that generalize tend to start with a phrase like:  “What it all boils down to is…” “What this adds up to is…”

SUMMARY: Refrain from simply stating facts. Find the line between too broad and too narrow. Don’t generalize.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: First, go to https://www.wikipedia.com and click Create an Account at the top-right corner. Then, choose and enter your username and password. You can also provide your email address if you want to receive updates from Wikipedia, but this is optional. There are 2 ways you can start making edits to existing Wikipedia articles. First, after submitting your registration information, Wikipedia will automatically send you to a new webpage with a pop-up window asking if you want to edit a suggested article. You can then click on the Edit a suggested article button to make 10 edits to suggested articles. You can also choose which articles you want to edit by clicking the Edit button at the top of the article’s page. If you make an edit that is later deleted, this will still count towards your total number of edits. Once your Wikipedia account has been active for 4 days and you’ve done at least 10 edits on existing articles, you will automatically be granted autoconfirmed status. This will allow you to create articles, as well as move pages, edit semi-protected pages, and upload files. In order to have a personal Wikipedia user page, where you’ll be able to create and write articles, click on your username at the top of any Wikipedia page. This will direct you to a page where you’ll then see a link for Start the user [username] page. Click this link, which will direct you to your unpublished user page. You can then click on the Publish page button at the bottom of the page to create your user page. When you’re directed to your unpublished user page, you’ll see an empty text box above the Publish page button. This space allows you to write something about your Wikipedia user page. Writing in this box will not create an article. Once you’ve published your user page, made 10 article edits, and have had your account at least 4 days, you'll be able to start writing new articles for Wikipedia. To get started, search Wikipedia for the topic you'd like to write about. If an article about that topic does not already exist, you'll see a message that says "The page does not exist. You can ask for it to be created, but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered." If you decide a new page should be created, click the red link containing your search terms to proceed to the article creation page.  Before writing your first article, read through Wikipedia’s article creation and writing guidelines to help ensure that your article gets published. To read through Wikipedia’s article guidelines, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Your_first_article. See this method for tips on choosing your first article topic. As long as your account has been autoconfirmed, you'll be brought to a blank article page on which you can compose your new article. If your account has yet to be confirmed, click Start creating to launch the Article Wizard, and see this method for more information. Writing a Wikipedia article isn't as simple as typing plain text into a box. Familiarize yourself with Wikipedia's Manual of Style and Markup syntax to ensure your article is properly formatted before submitting. Before submitting your article, make sure it looks exactly how you want it to look by clicking this button at the bottom. If you need to change anything, you'll be able to do so in the editor below the preview. Because your account is autoconfirmed, your new article will be published to the live site immediately. If your article does not contain proper formatting or violates any of Wikipedia's rules, it may be deleted immediately. Don't save the page until you are sure the finished work is suitable for publishing.

SUMMARY:
Register an account with Wikipedia. Make at least 10 Wikipedia article edits. Get autoconfirmed status after 4 days. Click your username to create your user page. Create your first article. Type your article into the blank. Click Show Preview to check your work. Click Save Page when you're ready to publish.