Find the tension in each of the following thesis statements (An example of this is below). Decide which of the ideas is primary --- the one you think the writer plans to support. Then locate the claim or claims in the thesis against which this primary claim will take shape. 1. Emphasis on the self in the history of modern thought may be an exaggeration, but the consequences of this vision of a self set apart have surely been felt in every field of inquiry.
2. We may join with the modern builders in justifying the violence of means -- the sculptor's hammer and chisel -- by appealing to ends that serve the greater good. You too often modern planners and engineers would justify the creative destruction of habitat as necessary for doubtful utopias.
3. The derogation of middlebrow, in short, has gone much too far. It's time to bring middle brow out of its cultural closet, to hail its emollient properties, to trumpet its mending virtues. For middlebrow not only entertains, but also educates -- pleasurably training us to appreciate high art.

Example 1: "It may not seem like it, but "Nice Pants" is as radical a campaign as the original Dockers series."

In the first thesis sentence, the primary idea is that the new advertising campaign for Dockers trousers is radical. The back pressure against which this idea takes shape is that this new campaign may not seem radical. The writer will demonstrate the truth of both claims, rather than overturning one and then championing the other.

Example 2: "If opponents of cosmetic surgery are too quick to dismiss those who claim get psychological benefits, proponents are far too willing to dismiss those who raise concerns. Cosmetic surgery might make individual people happier, but in the aggregate it makes life worse for everyone."

One part of the thesis makes claims for the benefits of cosmetic surgery. The forward momentum of the thesis statement comes from the back pressure of this idea against the idea that cosmetic surgery will also make life worse for everyone. Notice that the thesis statement does not simply say, "Cosmetic surgery is bad." The writers job will be to demonstrate that the potential harm of cosmetic surgery outweighs the benefits, but the benefits wont just be dismissed.