To start learning how to craft a thesis with tension, read Chapter 2, Concept 2.2 in Ramage, et al.; then, complete the following exercise.

Set your timer for five minutes. Choose one of the topics listed below and create as many surprising thesis statements as you can. Be outrageous. You do not have to worry about supporting any of these statements; this is just a brainstorming exercise to stretch your imagination.

For example, if the topic is pets, a surprising statement might be: Most people think pets provide psychological benefits for people, but pets are actually harmful to psychological health. I have no idea how to support such a statement, but that's irrelevant for this exercise. The idea is to come up with as many surprising statements about your topic as possible. Possible topics include:

• television news
• college athletics
• taxes
• the right to vote
• movie stars
• the Internet