define a tentative thesis

How It Works
PhD thesis writing
Master thesis writing
Bachelor thesis writing
Dissertation writing service
Dissertation abstract writing
Thesis proposal writing
Thesis editing service
Thesis proofreading service
Thesis formatting service
Coursework writing service
Research paper writing service
Architecture thesis writing
Computer science thesis writing
Engineering thesis writing
History thesis writing
MBA thesis writing
Nursing dissertation writing
Psychology dissertation writing
Sociology thesis writing
Statistics dissertation writing
Buy dissertation online
Write my dissertation
Cheap thesis
Cheap dissertation
Custom dissertation
Dissertation help
Pay for thesis
Pay for dissertation
Senior thesis
Write my thesis

Essentials of How To Write a Tentative Thesis in 2023

Do you know that you can write your tentative thesis without stress? Here are expert directions on how you can achieve this task effortlessly.

You will need more than a tentative thesis definition, some words on a paper, and a few hours to have a quality document. Creating a substantial piece requires time, planning, dedication, and above-average writing skills.

For an excellent paper, apt students will google, ‘write my tentative thesis’ to find professional help. You must be one of those desiring top-grades, and that is why you are here. We will provide you with all information you need to know on how to create a tentative thesis that will earn you an A+.

What is a Tentative Thesis?

The statement forms the subject matter’s backbone as contained within a paper by stating something significant and relevant to the reader. The tentative thesis statement summarizes the paper’s main points and says the essay’s necessity to the readers.

The tentative claim is paramount to the essay, and without it, the paper will appear uncontrolled and inadequate. It’s like a plane that is about to land on a runway without lights and a radar. The pilot will only circumnavigate around the airport without landing on the ground.

Now that you can define tentative thesis let us proceed to the basics.

How To Write a Tentative Thesis: Outline

A tentative thesis outline will determine how much time you will invest in your paper. In other words, it will help you develop the topic, reflect on it, and write the Thesis. Since a tentative thesis states your standpoint regarding the subject, it should be clear and to the point.

Let’s look at some of the steps that you will take:

Select your topic

The key to cracking a tentative thesis statement is evident in the topic from the onset. A good topic should be relevant, practical, and one that contributes to solving a problem. Such a task is not easy, and thus you should be ready for an in-depth, mind-intriguing process.

Brainstorming on the topic

Once you have your topic set, it is now time to disintegrate it. This will prompt you into a process of brainstorming to develop ideas for your tentative Thesis. You will put on the table various ideas that come to our mind either silently or through reading other sources.

Developing the tentative thesis statement

It is important to note that the tentative claim is in the introduction of your paper. Since it is a single statement found at the end of the intro, you have to be strategic and approach it precisely.

Parts of a Tentative Thesis

As short as it may seem, a tentative thesis has three crucial parts that you cannot avoid at any cost. Therefore, you will have to be coherent and logical in your approach to this section. Let us look at each of these critical sections in brief:

Tentative Thesis Introduction

In the intro, you will give the reader a feel of the topic by summarizing the arguments you intend to bring in the body. To achieve this, you should use clear and spot-on statements to hook the reader to your paper.

The first statement that meets the eye of the reader should interest and captivate him/her. It should arouse a sense of curiosity in the reader that makes him want to read your essay more. You should also include background information to put the topic into context.

All these three culminate in the thesis statement, which is the last statement of the introduction paragraph.

Tentative Thesis Body

It contains statements in support of your claim, and they form the bulk of your paper. These statements should comprise of evidence and facts in support of your stance. The tentative thesis body will fortify your claims and make them viable.

The structure of the body paragraphs is this: topic sentence, explanation, and supporting statements. At the end of each section, there should be a transition sentence that ushers in the next paragraph.

Tentative Thesis Conclusion

In this section, you will find a summary of the key arguments and claims made in the body. The reader will have a chance to re-visit the discussions in the body in a concise way. You remind him/her of the thesis statement and the conclusions made from it.

While restating the thesis statement, do not merely repeat what you wrote in the introduction, word for word. Instead, summarize it differently while still maintain the original idea. Remember also to include your recommendations, opinion, or final thoughts on the discussion.

An impressive tentative thesis conclusion leaves a strong impression on the reader.

Writing Tips For A Top-Notch Tentative Thesis

It should be specific and clear – to make it easy to understand
The tentative thesis statement should be in the introduction (the last sentence)
It should communicate a single thought or idea rather than a myriad of pictures here and there.
Write it from scratch. A fresh and original thesis statement will attract top grades rather than a plagiarized one.
Write it concisely and coherently. It will keep your readers hooked.

Tentative Thesis Statement Samples

Sample 1: “The continued ignorance of people towards the coronavirus prevention guidelines is wanting. This ignorance will likely lead to a second wave of infections.” Sample 2: “Global pandemics threaten the stability of the world in different areas. There are political, social, and cultural implications.”

Tentative Thesis Writing From Profs

As a college or university student, knowing how to write a tentative thesis is crucial because it constitutes the bulk of assignments. From the discussions above, you can note that structure of a tentative thesis is vital.

Disregarding any section may cause your paper to be rejected. Since it forms the first part of your essay, ensure that it is appealing and captivating.

But don’t worry – thesisgeek.com is here to assist you with that! You can use this professional thesis writing service to help you with the topics, structure, and format of a tentative thesis. It will also enable you to have a different understanding of the subject.

Get your thesis paper written by an expert now!

Developing a Tentative Thesis

The thesis statement of an essay is to your argument paper what the topic sentence is to the paragraph: a guide, a control--a single promise. It indicates the subject, the approach, and the limitations of your topic. It also suggests your position, your attitude, and a commitment to the subject. It conveys the sense that your subject matters, that you have a stake in it. Rather than say, "Advertisers often use sexist ads," tell us something we don't know. Perhaps you could shed new light on an old subject: "Although long criticized for their sexist portrayal of women in TV commercials, the auto industry is just as often guilty of stereotyping men as brainless idiots unable to make a decision." The first statement stimulates "Ho hum," the other "Oh, yeah? I'd like to know more about that."

The thesis statement is your promise to the reader and to yourself.

For today's assignment, please focus a tentative thesis by first deciding on a specific audience and a specific purpose.

Your specific audience: Your specific purpose: Your tentative thesis:

How to Write a Tentative Thesis: A Comprehensive Guide

Tom Baldwin - Jan 19, 2024

Navigating the academic waters can be daunting, especially when confronted with the colossal task of crafting a thesis. But fear not, intrepid researcher! Before diving headfirst into a final thesis statement, consider the invaluable tool of writing a tentative thesis . This roadmap of your research lays the groundwork for a well-structured and focused academic endeavour.

Let’s Get Started with How to write a tentative thesis.

What is a tentative thesis.

A tentative thesis is a preliminary statement outlining your central argument or claim about your chosen topic. It’s a dynamic entity, evolving as your research progresses, guiding your exploration and analysis. Unlike its final counterpart, the tentative thesis allows flexibility and revision, allowing you to refine your focus and delve deeper into the most promising avenues.

How To Write A Tentative Thesis: Building Blocks

Crafting a rock-solid tentative thesis requires careful consideration of several key factors:

Topic Selection: The Foundation of Your Research

The initial step in writing a Tentative Thesis is meticulously selecting a topic.

This decision not only shapes the trajectory of your academic exploration but also plays a pivotal role in sustaining your interest and aligning with your academic aspirations.

When choosing a topic, consider its ability to captivate your fascination, the availability of scholarly resources , and its seamless integration with your academic goals.

Subject Immersion: Delving Deeper into Your Chosen Topic

Once you’ve identified a compelling topic, the next phase involves subject immersion. Immerse yourself in the wealth of knowledge surrounding your chosen subject.

Consume relevant academic literature, attend lectures, and seek the guidance of experts in the field.

This immersive process is not just about gathering information but about developing a profound understanding that forms the bedrock for crafting a nuanced and well-informed central argument.

Drafting the Thesis Statement: Crafting Clarity from Complexity

Distilling the wealth of information acquired during your subject immersion, your next task is articulating a clear and concise thesis statement.

This statement is the linchpin of your entire research endeavour, encapsulating the core of your central claim.

Avoid vagueness and absolutes at this stage; strive for specificity and arguability. Your thesis statement should be a beacon guiding the direction of your research, providing a clear roadmap for both you and your readers.

Write a Draft of the Thesis Statement: A Working Blueprint

With your initial thesis statement in hand, it’s time to translate your thoughts into a working draft. This draft is not set in stone but rather a dynamic document open to refinement as your research progresses.

Be prepared to revisit and revise your thesis statement as you delve deeper into your exploration. This fluid approach ensures that your thesis statement reflects your evolving understanding of the topic.

Write the Body: Constructing a Compelling Argument

With a tentative thesis statement as your guiding light, proceed to build the body of your research.

This is where you substantiate your central argument with a meticulous presentation of evidence, insightful analysis, and consideration of counter-arguments.

Each section of the body should contribute cohesively to the overarching narrative, providing a robust foundation for your thesis.

Write the Conclusion: Reinforcing Significance and Insights

As you approach the culmination of your research, the conclusion becomes a critical element. Summarize your key findings, reiterating your tentative thesis with emphasis.

Reflect on the significance of your research within the broader academic context. A well-crafted conclusion not only reinforces the importance of your central argument but also leaves a lasting impression on your readers.

Qualified Tutors

How Long is a Tentative Thesis Statement?

While there’s no set word count, aim for concise clarity. A strong tentative thesis typically ranges from one to three sentences.

What are the characteristics of a strong tentative thesis statement?

Specificity:.

Precisely pinpoint your research focus, avoiding generalization.

Ensure your statement is readily understandable by an informed reader.

Argumentability:

Present a claim that invites debate and analysis, not a mere fact.

Actionable:

Guide your research by clearly stating your intended direction.

What is a tentative thesis example?

“While many scholars attribute the success of the Roman Empire to military prowess, this paper argues that its economic and social policies played an equally crucial role in its long-term dominance.”

Example 2:

“Despite initial skepticism, the recent surge in renewable energy production suggests that it may offer a viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, as this paper will explore through an analysis of case studies and policy initiatives.”

“This paper contends that Shakespeare’s portrayal of female characters in Hamlet subverts traditional gender roles, challenging contemporary societal expectations.”

How does a tentative thesis differ from a final thesis?

Remember, your tentative thesis is a dynamic entity. As you delve deeper into your research, your understanding of the subject may evolve, prompting revisions to your initial proposition. Embrace this fluidity! This iterative process allows you to hone your focus and develop a more nuanced argument, ultimately leading to a well-grounded and compelling final thesis.

Tentative thesis:

Broader and flexible, outlining the initial question and potential avenues of exploration. Think of it as a wide-angle lens capturing the vast landscape.

Final thesis:

Narrower and focused, highlighting the specific conclusions drawn from your research. It’s a zoomed-in view showcasing the details and intricacies of your chosen path.

Superficial, providing a preliminary understanding of the subject. It’s like dipping your toes in the intellectual pool, testing the waters.

Final thesis:

Profound, reflecting a comprehensive analysis of your chosen topic. It’s a deep dive into the academic ocean, revealing hidden currents and fascinating creatures.

Open to change and evolution as your research progresses. Think of it as a pencil sketch, easily erased and redrawn.

Confident and conclusive, representing the culmination of your academic journey. It’s like a pen-and-ink map, fixed and final after a thorough exploration.

Guides your research, providing a direction and framework for exploration. It’s a compass, helping you navigate the vast academic territory.

Summarizes your findings, presenting your argument and supporting evidence. It’s a testament to your intellectual voyage, showcasing the knowledge and insights you’ve gleaned.

1. How specific should my tentative thesis be?

Your tentative thesis should be specific enough to guide your research but open enough to allow for new discoveries. Avoid broad statements or factual summaries. Aim for a clear claim that asserts your unique perspective on the topic. For example, instead of “Shakespeare’s plays explore human emotions,” try “Shakespeare’s character portrayals in Hamlet reveal the complex interplay between ambition and morality.”

2. What questions should I ask myself to develop a good tentative thesis?

You should ask these questions to develop a good tentative thesis:

What is the main topic of my research?
What key arguments or ideas have I encountered so far?
What specific aspect of the topic am I most interested in exploring?
What unique contribution can I make to the existing knowledge in this area?
Can I formulate my argument as a clear and concise statement?

3. When should I write my tentative thesis?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but the ideal time is after you’ve done some preliminary research and have a general understanding of your topic. However, don’t wait until you have everything figured out. Having a tentative thesis can actually help you direct your research and make sense of your findings.

4. What if my tentative thesis changes during my research?

That’s perfectly normal! The beauty of a tentative thesis is its flexibility. As you explore your topic, new insights and perspectives may emerge. Embrace these changes and refine your thesis to reflect your evolving understanding. Don’t be afraid to rewrite and adjust your thesis as your research progresses.

Conclusion: Final Words

The tentative thesis isn’t just a stepping stone; it’s a vital tool for shaping a powerful academic investigation. By mastering its nuances and embracing its flexibility, you equip yourself with the roadmap to navigate the complex research landscape. So, step into the academic arena with confidence, knowing that within you lies the potential to craft a groundbreaking thesis that leaves its mark on the world.

I'm a prolific academic freelancer, has completed over 150 online classes and authored more than 600 essays, providing academic assistance to students globally.

Why Wait? Get Our Help Now!

Let’s Get Started

Standard pricing starts from: $9.99

Enjoy a completely custom, expertly-written dissertation. Choose from hundreds of writers, all of whom are career specialists in your subject.

Tentative Thesis Guide

At some time during their academic careers, every student is faced with the challenge of writing a thesis. And this is why it is important for students to learn how to write a thesis. But there are lots of things that go into writing a thesis. You have to understand topic selection, thesis statement construction, and never lose sight of your audience.

To get a captivating tentative thesis topic and mold it into a captivating tentative thesis, it is important to first clarify what a tentative thesis is. In this article, you will learn what a tentative thesis is and how to write a superior tentative thesis. Keep reading to see all you need to know about writing a tentative thesis and check out the tentative thesis example!

What Is a Tentative Thesis?

A tentative thesis is a strong provisional idea that keeps the writer’s attention on the paper. It reveals the author’s strategy, clarifies the subject, and emphasizes the key concepts that will be explored throughout the piece.

A tentative thesis describes what you will be arguing in your paper. It is also often referred to as a working hypothesis. It is the first draft (short version) of your paper, meant to give you an idea of what your final thesis will look like.

With the tentative thesis, you can think about your topic, figure out how to approach it, and think about what kind of writing style you want in your final thesis. The tentative thesis is not supposed to be perfect; it’s just an outline of the ideas that will go into your final paper and a way to test your ideas and see how they hold up.

You should write down your tentative thesis before you start writing your paper, so that you can see how your ideas are developing and how they relate to one another.

Tentative Thesis Statement Examples

One of the most important parts of a tentative thesis is a tentative thesis statement. This statement is always placed towards the conclusion of the introduction paragraph in a typical tentative thesis example.

A strong tentative thesis statement will be helpful while looking for additional facts to include in the article. You must have a firm understanding of the subject and the issues that will be covered in the thesis before drafting a tentative thesis statement.

Here are some tentative thesis statement examples to give you a clearer understanding of what a tentative thesis statement looks like.

“It is disappointing that people continue to disregard the recommendations for preventing coronavirus. A second wave of illnesses will probably result from this ignorance.”

“Trade issues between the US and China have significantly decreased sales of Apple products in China. In China, a market with close to 2 billion people, Huawei smartphones have gradually gained popularity, leaving Apple devices in that region of Asia playing catch-up.”

“Financing women’s businesses helps release them from tight economic yokes. It creates additional chances for them in the predominantly male workforce.”

Example 4:

“Global pandemics present many threats to world stability. They can threaten the political, social, and cultural ramifications that exist.”

How to Write a Tentative Thesis

You need a strong tentative thesis to steer your arguments regardless of whether you are writing a research paper or just an ordinary assignment that does not involve much research. Here are some steps about how to write a tentative thesis.

Choose a topic

Any tentative thesis should have a good topic that is expressed as clearly as possible. So, you should be clear on the subject or the issue before you start to frame a tentative thesis. Here are a few tips for choosing your topic.

The topic must provide the answer to a tentative thesis statement right away.
A good topic should be timely and help resolve an issue.
Your chosen topic must be useful and capable of contributing to knowledge in your research area.
You should be familiar with the topic and at least have basic knowledge about it.

After choosing a topic, you should expand your knowledge about it. To organize what you know about a potential thesis topic, brainstorm and write down the ideas or information that come to mind.

Discuss the subject

After you have chosen your topic, you should expound on it and generate ideas for your tentative thesis. During the brainstorming session, you should note as many concepts that occur to you while thinking aloud or reading other sources.

Write a draft of the thesis statement

It’s important to remember that your paper’s introduction should have a tentative thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be bold as it is a single remark that provides a more in-depth explanation of the thesis. A thesis statement should be thorough, precise and unambiguous, reflect the true nature of the topic, and be supported by facts.

Write the body

The main body of a tentative thesis contains the argument in the thesis. This section is typically divided into sentences that reflect the subject, sentences that provide evidence for it, and summing statements. Your sentences and paragraphs in this section should be logical, cohesive, and supported by facts and evidence.

Write the conclusion

The final component of a tentative thesis is the conclusion. The conclusion should contain a summary of the argument in the main paragraph of the tentative thesis. Usually, this will follow the format of the introduction paragraph closely. It should also include an overview of the article’s main concepts and points.

Important Tentative Thesis Parts

A tentative thesis comprises three important parts that must not be omitted. You must include all parts to ensure your paper is logical and coherent. Let’s take a quick look at each of these crucial sections:

The Introduction
The Conclusion

Tentative Thesis Writing Help

While you may know how to write a tentative, you may not have all the time in the world to do the necessary research and put down all your thoughts. For example, you may have lots of extracurricular activities that you have no time to brainstorm the right topic or what your tentative thesis statement should be. If this is the case, it’s only logical to get someone to help you write your tentative thesis for you.

Also, if you have gone through this article but you’re still unsure about how to write a tentative thesis, you can always seek help from tentative thesis writing help websites. You absolutely don’t have to wing it and end up with a bad score. So, get a reliable tentative thesis help today to help you write the perfect tentative thesis!

There you have it! Here’s all you need to know about writing a superior tentative thesis. With this guide, you should now know how to write a tentative thesis statement by taking cues from the tentative thesis statement examples. If you follow all these steps, you’ll be able to write a better thesis paper.

If you’re not sure whether you can write a tentative thesis or you need some help with your tentative thesis for one reason or another, seek help from expert thesis writers!

Frequently Asked Questions

Richard Ginger is a dissertation writer and freelance columnist with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the writing industry. He handles every project he works on with precision while keeping attention to details and ensuring that every work he does is unique.

Succeed With A Perfect Dissertation

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

nature = peaceful
war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
need for time and space to mourn the dead
war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
_______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
Question each part of your draft thesis
Clarify vague phrases and assertions
Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

Introduction

Background on the Course

CO300 as a University Core Course

Short Description of the Course

Course Objectives

General Overview

Alternative Approaches and Assignments

(Possible) Differences between COCC150 and CO300

What CO300 Students Are Like

And You Thought...

Beginning with Critical Reading

Opportunities for Innovation

Portfolio Grading as an Option

Teaching in the computer classroom

Finally. . .

Classroom materials

Audience awareness and rhetorical contexts

Critical thinking and reading

Focusing and narrowing topics

Mid-course, group, and supplemental evaluations

More detailed explanation of Rogerian argument and Toulmin analysis

Policy statements and syllabi

Portfolio explanations, checklists, and postscripts

Presenting evidence and organizing arguments/counter-arguments

Research and documentation

Writing assignment sheets

Assignments for portfolio 1

Assignments for portfolio 2

Assignments for portfolio 3

Workshopping and workshop sheets

On workshopping generally

Workshop sheets for portfolio 1

Workshop sheets for portfolio 2

Workshop sheets for portfolio 3

Workshop sheets for general purposes

Sample materials grouped by instructor

Developing a Tentative Thesis

Walden University
Faculty Portal

Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements

Basics of thesis statements.

The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper. Specific means the thesis deals with a narrow and focused topic, appropriate to the paper's length. Arguable means that a scholar in your field could disagree (or perhaps already has!).

Strong thesis statements address specific intellectual questions, have clear positions, and use a structure that reflects the overall structure of the paper. Read on to learn more about constructing a strong thesis statement.

Being Specific

This thesis statement has no specific argument:

Needs Improvement: In this essay, I will examine two scholarly articles to find similarities and differences.

This statement is concise, but it is neither specific nor arguable—a reader might wonder, "Which scholarly articles? What is the topic of this paper? What field is the author writing in?" Additionally, the purpose of the paper—to "examine…to find similarities and differences" is not of a scholarly level. Identifying similarities and differences is a good first step, but strong academic argument goes further, analyzing what those similarities and differences might mean or imply.

Better: In this essay, I will argue that Bowler's (2003) autocratic management style, when coupled with Smith's (2007) theory of social cognition, can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover.

The new revision here is still concise, as well as specific and arguable. We can see that it is specific because the writer is mentioning (a) concrete ideas and (b) exact authors. We can also gather the field (business) and the topic (management and employee turnover). The statement is arguable because the student goes beyond merely comparing; he or she draws conclusions from that comparison ("can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover").

Making a Unique Argument

This thesis draft repeats the language of the writing prompt without making a unique argument:

Needs Improvement: The purpose of this essay is to monitor, assess, and evaluate an educational program for its strengths and weaknesses. Then, I will provide suggestions for improvement.

You can see here that the student has simply stated the paper's assignment, without articulating specifically how he or she will address it. The student can correct this error simply by phrasing the thesis statement as a specific answer to the assignment prompt.

Better: Through a series of student interviews, I found that Kennedy High School's antibullying program was ineffective. In order to address issues of conflict between students, I argue that Kennedy High School should embrace policies outlined by the California Department of Education (2010).

Words like "ineffective" and "argue" show here that the student has clearly thought through the assignment and analyzed the material; he or she is putting forth a specific and debatable position. The concrete information ("student interviews," "antibullying") further prepares the reader for the body of the paper and demonstrates how the student has addressed the assignment prompt without just restating that language.

Creating a Debate

This thesis statement includes only obvious fact or plot summary instead of argument:

Needs Improvement: Leadership is an important quality in nurse educators.

A good strategy to determine if your thesis statement is too broad (and therefore, not arguable) is to ask yourself, "Would a scholar in my field disagree with this point?" Here, we can see easily that no scholar is likely to argue that leadership is an unimportant quality in nurse educators. The student needs to come up with a more arguable claim, and probably a narrower one; remember that a short paper needs a more focused topic than a dissertation.

Better: Roderick's (2009) theory of participatory leadership is particularly appropriate to nurse educators working within the emergency medicine field, where students benefit most from collegial and kinesthetic learning.

Here, the student has identified a particular type of leadership ("participatory leadership"), narrowing the topic, and has made an arguable claim (this type of leadership is "appropriate" to a specific type of nurse educator). Conceivably, a scholar in the nursing field might disagree with this approach. The student's paper can now proceed, providing specific pieces of evidence to support the arguable central claim.

Choosing the Right Words

This thesis statement uses large or scholarly-sounding words that have no real substance:

Needs Improvement: Scholars should work to seize metacognitive outcomes by harnessing discipline-based networks to empower collaborative infrastructures.

There are many words in this sentence that may be buzzwords in the student's field or key terms taken from other texts, but together they do not communicate a clear, specific meaning. Sometimes students think scholarly writing means constructing complex sentences using special language, but actually it's usually a stronger choice to write clear, simple sentences. When in doubt, remember that your ideas should be complex, not your sentence structure.

Better: Ecologists should work to educate the U.S. public on conservation methods by making use of local and national green organizations to create a widespread communication plan.

Notice in the revision that the field is now clear (ecology), and the language has been made much more field-specific ("conservation methods," "green organizations"), so the reader is able to see concretely the ideas the student is communicating.

Leaving Room for Discussion

This thesis statement is not capable of development or advancement in the paper:

Needs Improvement: There are always alternatives to illegal drug use.

This sample thesis statement makes a claim, but it is not a claim that will sustain extended discussion. This claim is the type of claim that might be appropriate for the conclusion of a paper, but in the beginning of the paper, the student is left with nowhere to go. What further points can be made? If there are "always alternatives" to the problem the student is identifying, then why bother developing a paper around that claim? Ideally, a thesis statement should be complex enough to explore over the length of the entire paper.

Better: The most effective treatment plan for methamphetamine addiction may be a combination of pharmacological and cognitive therapy, as argued by Baker (2008), Smith (2009), and Xavier (2011).

In the revised thesis, you can see the student make a specific, debatable claim that has the potential to generate several pages' worth of discussion. When drafting a thesis statement, think about the questions your thesis statement will generate: What follow-up inquiries might a reader have? In the first example, there are almost no additional questions implied, but the revised example allows for a good deal more exploration.

Thesis Mad Libs

If you are having trouble getting started, try using the models below to generate a rough model of a thesis statement! These models are intended for drafting purposes only and should not appear in your final work.

In this essay, I argue ____, using ______ to assert _____.
While scholars have often argued ______, I argue______, because_______.
Through an analysis of ______, I argue ______, which is important because_______.

Words to Avoid and to Embrace

When drafting your thesis statement, avoid words like explore, investigate, learn, compile, summarize , and explain to describe the main purpose of your paper. These words imply a paper that summarizes or "reports," rather than synthesizing and analyzing.

Instead of the terms above, try words like argue, critique, question , and interrogate . These more analytical words may help you begin strongly, by articulating a specific, critical, scholarly position.

Read Kayla's blog post for tips on taking a stand in a well-crafted thesis statement.

Related Resources

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

Previous Page: Introductions
Next Page: Conclusions
Office of Student Disability Services

Walden Resources

Departments.

Academic Residencies
Academic Skills
Career Planning and Development
Customer Care Team
Field Experience
Military Services
Student Success Advising
Writing Skills

Centers and Offices

Center for Social Change
Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services
Office of Degree Acceleration
Office of Research and Doctoral Services
Office of Student Affairs

Student Resources

Doctoral Writing Assessment
Form & Style Review
Quick Answers
ScholarWorks
SKIL Courses and Workshops
Walden Bookstore
Walden Catalog & Student Handbook
Student Safety/Title IX
Legal & Consumer Information
Website Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy
Accessibility
Accreditation
State Authorization
Net Price Calculator
Contact Walden

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

The paper that follows should:

Explain the analysis of the college admission process
Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

Write my thesis
Thesis writers
Buy thesis papers
Bachelor thesis
Master's thesis
Thesis editing services
Thesis proofreading services
Buy a thesis online
Write my dissertation
Dissertation proposal help
Pay for dissertation
Custom dissertation
Dissertation help online
Buy dissertation online
Cheap dissertation
Dissertation editing services
Write my research paper
Buy research paper online
Pay for research paper
Research paper help
Order research paper
Custom research paper
Cheap research paper
Research papers for sale
Thesis subjects
How It Works

How To Write An Incredible Tentative Thesis (Simply)

If asked, any scholar would tell you how crucial and essential a thesis is to their research life at campus or college. Elaborate research comes with years and months of intense data collection. The researcher gives his all from the selection of the research topic, methodologies, and final findings. However, challenges may arise on the way forcing the researcher to realign some aspects of the project. Does it mean that all the previous work will be rendered futile?

There is light at the end of the tunnel. And what is this light? A tentative thesis. So, what is the definition of a tentative thesis?

Working Definition Of Tentative Thesis

Now, let’s picture the Eiffel Tower in Paris standing on its own without pillars to support it. Will it be able to stand? I guess it collapsed the second you started picturing it. What’s my point here?

A tentative thesis can is similar to the pillars that support all the weight of the article. In other words, it is like the skeleton of the material without which the flesh would come crumbling down any minute.

One can also define a tentative thesis as the pilot of the research paper whose main argument is solely the responsibility of you, the writer. The writer should, therefore, articulate it in an organized manner that is analyzed and reviewed befitting the related topic.

Many students find it hard to intertwine between the objectives of the tentative thesis to the purpose of the research paper. It thus explains why they opt for the tentative thesis examples to act as their guiding principle.

Steps to Writing a Tentative Thesis

As a newbie in the kitchen, I found it hard when it came to boiling rice. I would first place the dry rice in the cooking pan and wait for some minutes before adding in the water. You see, I would end up with burnt rice because of following the wrong steps.

So, to avoid having a “burnt” tentative thesis like my rice, here are some simple steps you can follow:

1. Identify gaps

Almost all topics have been researched, and some scholarly articles or books written on the same. But the fact is there is no monopoly of ideas, and some niches are not adequately covered as they should.

You can only come to such a conclusion by reading publications already at hand. Group discussions can also enable you to brainstorm on various topics that you can cover in your research.

Yes, you read that right. It represents the question that you intend to tackle in your research project. From the first step, you will be able to identify a specific niche of the problem that you will be able to handle and present solutions to it.

Your thesis answers the question. Remember to create an item that you will be able to cover efficiently, not one that will leave you hanging on the way like a bounced date.

3. Answer the What

Let every detail that will be useful in answering the question be presented clearly and concisely. The reader should be able to see a connection between your items and the answers you present.

The answer should be as loud and clear as the “I do” in a wedding ceremony in the presence of many witnesses.

Crucial Elements of a Good Tentative Thesis

Even though a tentative thesis is not the final document, there is a need for it to be clear and precise. It will save you a great deal when writing the final dissertation.

A good tentative thesis should, therefore:

Be as short as possible
Follow the right writing style such as APA, MLA, and Chicago
Be in the introduction paragraph
Relate with the evidence provided
Have originality

A good tentative thesis should, therefore, be one that handles the question in a well-articulated, easy to follow manner.

Outline of a Tentative Thesis

After you have done your homework well according to the discussions above, it is now time to put it down in writing. A tentative outline is crucial in ensuring that your ideas e presented in the required format.

The structure of a tentative thesis is as follows:

Introduction

It should be appealing and adequately cover the purpose of the assignment at hand. The background and thesis statements should appear in the presentation.

The body contains the main points and supporting ideas. Ensure that the evidence sufficiently explains or covers the questions raised.

A lot of caution is necessary when writing the body as it determines whether the reader will be convinced or not.

The conclusion refers to the thesis statement in the introduction. The writer gives a summary of the discussions made in the body without bringing in any new ideas.

Like all other essays, a writer can give his or her final comments in this section.

Writing Tentative Thesis Or Getting Help With It?

The tentative thesis mirrors the last thesis statement. Hence, you should ensure a strong foundation by having an interim concrete dissertation that will be able to withstand the storms on the way. Remember, we said it could take years to write a thesis.

Begin your adventure towards improving your tentative thesis writing skills today!

We offer cheap writing assistance through our professional team of essay gurus. Contact us today!

Margin Size

Download Page (PDF)
Download Full Book (PDF)
Periodic Table
Physics Constants
Scientific Calculator
Reference & Cite
Tools expand_more
Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

3.5: Effective Thesis Statements

Last updated
Save as PDF
Page ID 5381
Lumen Learning

$ \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} $

$ \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$ $ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) $ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$ $ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$

$ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$ $ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$

$ \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

$ \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$

$ \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$

$ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$

$ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$

$ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$ $ \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}$

$ \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}} % arrow$

$ \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}} % arrow$

$ \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} $

What is a Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement tells a reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. Such a statement is also called an “argument,” a “main idea,” or a “controlling idea.”
A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should “telegraph” how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay
A standard place for your thesis is at the end of the introductory paragraph.
A thesis is an interpretation of a subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel that others might dispute.
A strong thesis not only grabs the interest of your reader, who now wants to see you support your unique interpretation, it also provides a focus for your argument, one to which every part of your paper refers in the development of your position.
A thesis keeps the writer centered on the matter at hand and reduces the risk of intellectual wandering. Likewise, a thesis provides the reader with a “road map,” clearly laying out the intellectual route ahead.
A thesis statement avoids the first person (“I believe,” “In my opinion”).

A simple equation for what a thesis might look like this:

What you plan to argue + How you plan to argue it = Thesis Specific Topic+ Attitude/Angle/Argument=Thesis

Steps To Write Effective Thesis Statement

Choose a prompt or, if appropriate, select a topic: television violence and children
What are the effects of television violence on children?
Violence on television increases aggressive behavior in children.
Avoid general phrasing and/or sweeping words such as “all” or “none” or “every”.
Lead the reader toward the topic sentences (the subtopics needed to prove the thesis).
While poor parenting and easy access to weapons may act as contributory factors, in fact when children are exposed to television violence they become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, are more fearful of the world around them, and are more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.

The Components of an Effective Thesis Statement

You can’t just pluck a thesis out of thin air. Even if you have a terrific insight concerning a topic, it won’t be worth much unless you can logically and persuasively support it in the body of your essay. A thesis is the evolutionary result of a thinking process, not a miraculous creation. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment .
Substantial – Your thesis should be a claim for which it is easy to answer every reader’s question: “So what?”
Supportable – A thesis must be a claim that you can prove with the evidence at hand (e.g., evidence from your texts or from your research). Your claim should not be outlandish, nor should it be mere personal opinion or preference (e.g., “Frederick Douglass is my favorite historical figure.”) It tackles a subject that could be adequately covered in the format of the project assigned.
Precise – It is focused and specific. A strong thesis proves a point without discussing everything. It clearly asserts your own conclusion based on evidence. Note: Be flexible. It is perfectly okay to change your thesis!
Arguable – It should be contestable, proposing an arguable point with which people could reasonably disagree.
Relevant – If you are responding to an assignment, the thesis should answer the question your teacher has posed. In order to stay focused, pay attention to the task words in the assignment: summarize, argue, compare/contrast, etc.
Aware of Counters – It anticipates and refutes the counter-arguments.

The best thesis statement is a balance of specific details and concise language. Your goal is to articulate an argument in detail without burdening the reader with too much information.

Questions To Review Your Thesis

“Do I answer the question?” This might seem obvious, but it’s worth asking. No matter how intriguing or dazzling, a thesis that doesn’t answer the question is not a good thesis!
“Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose?” If not, then you probably do not have a strong argument. Theses that are too vague often have this problem. If your thesis contains vague words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what makes something “successful”?
Would anyone possible care about this thesis? So What? Does your thesis present a position or an interpretation worth pursuing? If a reader’s first response is, “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
“Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering?” Just as a thesis that doesn’t answer the question ultimately fails, so does a thesis that isn’t properly supported with evidence and reasoning.
Does my thesis statement adequately address the direction words of the prompt: summarize, argue, compare/contrast, analyze, discuss, etc.?

Myths about Thesis Statements

Every paper requires one . Assignments that ask you to write personal responses or to explore a subject don’t want you to seem to pre-judge the issues. Essays of literary interpretation often want you to be aware of many effects rather than seeming to box yourself into one view of the text.
A thesis statement must come at the end of the first paragraph . This is a natural position for a statement of focus, but it’s not the only one. Some theses can be stated in the opening sentences of an essay; others need a paragraph or two of introduction; others can’t be fully formulated until the end.
A thesis statement must be one sentence in length , no matter how many clauses it contains. Clear writing is more important than rules like these. Use two or three sentences if you need them. A complex argument may require a whole tightly-knit paragraph to make its initial statement of position.
You can’t start writing an essay until you have a perfect thesis statement . It may be advisable to draft a hypothesis or tentative thesis statement near the start of a big project, but changing and refining a thesis is a main task of thinking your way through your ideas as you write a paper. And some essay projects need to explore the question in depth without being locked in before they can provide even a tentative answer.
A thesis statement must give three points of support . It should indicate that the essay will explain and give evidence for its assertion, but points don’t need to come in any specific number.

Progressively Complex Thesis Statements

We’re reviewing our resources this spring (May-August 2024). We will do our best to minimize disruption, but you might notice changes over the next few months as we correct errors & delete redundant resources.

Thesis Statements

This guide offers essential tips on thesis statements, but it’s important to note that thesis statement content, structure, and placement can vary widely depending on the discipline, level, and genre. One good way to get a sense of how thesis statements might be constructed in your field is to read some related scholarly articles.

A thesis statement articulates a writer’s main argument, point, or message in a piece of writing. Strong thesis statements will tell your audience what your topic is and what your position on that topic is. Also, they will often provide an overview of key supporting arguments that you will explore throughout your paper. A well-written thesis statement demonstrates that you have explored the topic thoroughly and can defend your claims.

For short, undergraduate-level papers, a thesis statement will usually be one to three sentences in length, often occurring at the end of the first paragraph. Its main function is to tie all of your ideas and arguments together. As you continue to present your evidence and argue your stance, your thesis will connect throughout your essay like a puzzle.

Two puzzle pieces, labelled "main argument" and "supporting arguments", fit together to create the complete thesis.

e.g., Closing the border between Greece and Macedonia has led to unnecessary suffering among refugees by preventing humanitarian aid from getting to those camps that need it most 1. Resolving this human rights problem will ultimately require cooperative effort from local, regional, and international agencies 2.

Statement of topic and main argument

Further details about topic that give your reader a sense of how the paper will be structured

Building Effective Thesis Statements

A strong thesis statement should be clear, concise, focused, and supportable. Unless your essay is simply explanatory, it should also be debatable (i.e., if your position on a topic is one that almost nobody would dispute, it may not be the best choice for an argumentative paper).

The following steps will help you throughout the process of developing your thesis statement::

Read the assignment thoroughly. Make sure you are clear about the expectations.

Do preliminary, general research: collect and organize information about your topic.

Form a tentative thesis. The following questions may help you focus your research into a tentative thesis:

What’s new about this topic?

What important about this topic?

What’s interesting about this topic?

What have others missed in their discussions about this topic?

What about this topic is worth writing about?

Do additional research. Once you have narrowed your focus, you can perform targeted research to find evidence to support your thesis. As you research, your understanding of the topic will change. This is normal and even desirable.

Refine your thesis statement. After doing extensive research and evaluating many sources, rewrite your thesis so it expresses your angle or position on your topic more clearly.

Sample Thesis Statements

This guide offers essential tips on the thesis statements, but it's important to note that thesis statement content, structure, and placement can vary widely depending on the discipline, level, and genre. One good way to get a sense of how thesis statements might be constructed in your field is to read some related scholarly articles.

6.5 Writing Process: Creating a Proposal

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Describe the elements of the rhetorical situation for your proposal.
Apply prewriting strategies to discover a problem to write about.
Gather and synthesize information from appropriate sources.
Draft a thesis statement and create an organizational plan.
Compose a proposal that develops your ideas and integrates evidence from sources.
Implement strategies for drafting, peer reviewing, and revising.

Sometimes writing a paper comes easily, but more often writers work hard to generate ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, draft, and revise. Experienced writers do their work in multiple steps, and most engage in a recursive process that involves thinking and rethinking, writing and rewriting, and repeating steps multiple times as their ideas develop and sharpen. In broad strokes, most writers go through the following steps to achieve a polished piece of writing:

Planning and Organization . Your proposal will come together more easily if you spend time at the start considering the rhetorical situation, understanding your assignment, gathering ideas and evidence, drafting a thesis statement, and creating an organizational plan.
Drafting . When you have a good grasp of the problem and solution you are going to write about and how you will organize your proposal, you are ready to draft.
Review . With a first draft in hand, make time to get feedback from others. Depending on the structure of your class, you may receive feedback from your instructor or your classmates. You can also work with a tutor in the writing center on your campus, or you can ask someone else you trust, such as a friend, roommate, or family member, to read your writing critically and give honest feedback.
Revising . After reviewing feedback from your readers, plan to revise. Focus on their comments: Is your thesis clear? Do you need to make organizational changes to the proposal? Do you need to explain or connect your ideas more clearly?

Considering the Rhetorical Situation

Like other kinds of writing projects, a proposal starts with assessing the rhetorical situation —the circumstance in which a writer communicates with an audience of readers about a subject. As a proposal writer, you make choices based on the purpose for your writing, the audience who will read it, the genre , and the expectations of the community and culture in which you are working. The brainstorming questions in Table 6.1 can help you begin:

Summary of Assignment

Write a proposal that discusses a problem you want to learn more about and that recommends a solution. The problem you choose must be a current problem, even though it may have been a problem for many years. The problem must also affect many people, and it must have an actual solution or solutions that you can learn about through research. In other words, the problem cannot be unique to you, and the solution you recommend cannot be one you only imagine; both the problem and the solution must be grounded in reality.

One way to get ideas about a problem to write about is to read a high-quality newspaper, website, or social media account for a week. Read widely on whatever platform you choose so that you learn what people are saying, what a newspaper’s editorial board is taking a stand on, what opinion writers are making cases for in op-eds, and what community members are commenting on. You’ll begin to get a handle on problems in your community or state that people care about. If you read a paper or website with a national or international audience, you’ll learn about problems that affect people in other places.

You will need to consult and cite at least five reliable sources. They can be scholarly, but they do not have to be. They must be credible, trustworthy, and unbiased. Possible sources include articles from reputable newspapers, magazines, and academic and professional journals; reputable websites; government sources; and visual sources. Depending on your topic, you may want to conduct a survey, an interview, or an experiment. See Research Process: Accessing and Recording Information and Annotated Bibliography: Gathering, Evaluating, and Documenting Sources for information about creating and finding sources. Your proposal can include a visual or media source if it provides appropriate, relevant evidence.

Another Lens. Another way to approach a proposal assignment is to consider problems that affect you directly and affect others. Perhaps you are concerned about running up student loan debt. Or perhaps you worry about how to pay your rent while earning minimum wage. These concerns are valid and affect many college students around the United States. Another way is to think about problems that affect others. Perhaps students in your class or on your campus have backgrounds and experiences that differ from yours— what problems or challenges might they have encountered during their time in college that you don’t know about?

As you think about the purpose and audience for your proposal, think again about the rhetorical situation, specifically about the audience you want to reach and the mode of presentation best suited to them and your purpose. For example, say you’re dissatisfied with the process for electing student leaders on your campus. If your purpose is to identify the problems in the process and propose a change, then your audience would include other students, the group or committee that oversees student elections, and perhaps others. To reach other students who might also be dissatisfied, you might write an article, editorial, or letter for the campus newspaper, social media page, or website, depending on how students on your campus get news. In addition, you might organize a meeting of other students to get their input on the problem. To reach the decision makers, which may include elected students, faculty, and administrators, you might need to prepare an oral presentation and a slide deck.

Below in Figure 6.7 are three slides from Shawn Krukowski’s proposal that he adapted for a presentation: the title slide, a slide on one aspect of the problem, and a slide introducing one of the proposed solutions.

Quick Launch: Finding a Problem to Write About

A proposal must address a real-life problem and present one or more workable solutions. Usually, problems worth writing about are not easily solved; if they were, they would no longer be considered problems. Indeed, problems in proposals are often complex, and solutions are often complicated and involve trade-offs. Sometimes people disagree about whether the problem is a problem at all and whether any proposed solutions are viable solutions.

Exploring a Problem

One way to generate ideas about a problem is to brainstorm. To explore a topic for your proposal, use a graphic organizer like Table 6.2 to write responses to the following statements and questions:

For example, perhaps you’re considering a career in information technology, and you’re taking an IT class. You might be interested in exploring the problem of data breaches. A data breach is a real-world problem with possible solutions, so it passes the first test of being an actual problem with possible solutions. Your responses to the questions above might look something like those in Table 6.3 :

Narrowing and Focusing

Many problems for a proposal can be too broad to tackle in a single paper. For example, the sample above reveals that data breaches are indeed a problem but that several aspects can be explored. If you tried to cover all the aspects, you would be left writing general paragraphs with little specific information. The topic needs to be narrowed and focused.

The data breaches example above could be narrowed to the following problems—and possibly even more. Note that the questions start to zero in on possible solutions, too. In your own writing, as you brainstorm, try placing subtopics you discover into their own categories and asking more questions, as shown in Table 6.4 .

Sample Proposal Topics

The following broad topics are potentially suitable as a start for a proposal. Choose one of these or one of your own, and ask the exploring questions. Then look at your responses, and ask focusing questions. Continue to focus until you have a specific problem that you can discuss in sufficient depth and offer a concrete solution or solutions.

Health fields: cost of medical and dental care for uninsured people, management of chronic conditions and diseases, infection control, vaccinations, access to mental health care, drug use and addiction, sports injuries, workplace safety
Education: gaps in academic achievement, curriculum, recruitment and retention of staff and/or students, buildings and grounds, graduation rates, cocurricular activities
Environment: forest management and fires, hurricanes and other extreme storms, water and air pollution, sustainable development, invasive species, waste management, recycling and composting, community gardening
Engineering and computer science: robotics, vehicles and transportation, digital divide, online privacy, misinformation and misbehavior on social media, video games
Business and manufacturing: quality improvement, process improvement, cost control, communication, social media, pay equity, fundraising, sourcing of materials, net-zero energy processes, workplace safety
Policy and politics: public institutions, such as public schools, libraries, transportation systems, and parks; taxes, fees, and services; donations to political campaigns; healthcare, such as Medicare and Medicaid; social security; unemployment insurance; services for active military and veterans; immigration policy
Society and culture: social media and free speech; inequality in housing, employment, education, and more; cancel culture; bullying; wealth and poverty; support for the arts; athletes and sports; disparities related to race, sex, gender identity and expression, age, and/or ability

Gathering Information

Proposals are rooted in information and evidence; therefore, most proposal assignments require you to conduct research. Depending on your assignment, you may need to do formal research, an activity that involves finding sources and evaluating them for reliability, reading them carefully and taking notes, and citing all words you quote and ideas you borrow. See Research Process: Accessing and Recording Information and Annotated Bibliography: Gathering, Evaluating, and Documenting Sources for detailed instruction on conducting research. If you are proposing a solution to a problem in your local community or on your campus, you may need to conduct primary research as well, such as a survey or interviews with people who live or work there.

Whether you conduct in-depth research or do background reading, keep track of the ideas that come to you and the information you learn. You can write or dictate notes using an app on your phone or computer, or you can jot notes in a journal if you prefer pen and paper. Then, when you are ready to begin to organize what you have learned, you will have a record of your thoughts and information. Always track the source of the information you gather, whether from your reading or a person you interviewed, so that you can return to that source if you need more information and can credit the source in your paper.

Kinds of Evidence

You will use evidence to demonstrate that the problem is real and worthy of being solved and that your recommended solution is workable. Choose evidence for your proposal that is rooted in facts. In addition, choose evidence that best supports the angle you take on your topic and meets your instructor’s requirements. Cite all evidence you use from a source. Consider the following kinds of evidence and examples of each:

Definition : an explanation of a key word, idea, or concept.

The Personal Data Notification & Protection Act of 2017 defines a security breach as “a compromise of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of, or the loss of, computerized data that results in… (i) the unauthorized acquisition of sensitive personally identifiable information; or (ii) access to sensitive personally identifiable information that is for an unauthorized purpose, or in excess of authorization.”

Example : an illustration of an idea or concept.

Every month, university staff members receive a fake phishing email from the IT department. The goal is to train employees of the university to be critical readers of every email they receive.

Expert opinion : a statement by a professional whose opinion is respected in the field.

In The Sixth Extinction , science writer Elizabeth Kolbert observes that humans are making the choice about “which evolutionary pathways will remain and open and which will be forever closed” (268).

Fact : information that is true and can be proven correct or accurate. Statements of fact are built on evidence and data.

In March and April of 2020, 43 states in the United States issued orders directing residents to stay home except for essential activities.

Interview : a person-to-person, phone, or remote conversation that involves an interviewer posing questions to another person or group of people.

During an interview, I asked about parents’ decisions to vaccinate their children. One pediatrician said, “The majority of parents see the benefits of immunizations for their children and for public health. For those who don’t, I talk to them and try to understand why they feel the way they do.”

Quotation : the exact words of an author or speaker.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, SpaceX was required to conduct a “comprehensive review of the company’s safety culture, operational decision-making, and process discipline,” in addition to investigating the crash of its prototype spacecraft (Chang).

Statistics : numerical fact or item of data.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 40 million tons of food waste were generated in 2017, comprising 15.2% of all trash sent to landfills (DeSilver).

Survey : a structured interview in which respondents are all asked the same questions and their answers are tabulated and interpreted. Surveys reveal attitudes, beliefs, or habits of the general public or segments of the population.

In a survey of adults conducted in July 2020, 64 percent of respondents said that social media have a mostly negative effect on American society (Auxier).

Visuals and other media : graphs, figures, tables, photographs, diagrams, charts, maps, videos, audio recordings, etc.

Thesis and Organization

Drafting a thesis.

When you have a solid grasp of the problem and solution, try drafting a thesis . A thesis is the main idea that you will convey in your proposal and to which all the paragraphs in the paper should relate. In a proposal, you will likely express this main idea in a thesis statement of one or two sentences toward the end of the introduction.

For example, in the thesis statement Shawn Krukowski wrote for his proposal on climate change, he identifies the problem and previews the solutions he presents:

student sample text What is needed to slow climate change is unified action in two key areas—mitigation and adaptation—spurred by government leadership in the United States and a global commitment to addressing the problem immediately. end student sample text

Here is another example that identifies a problem and multiple solutions:

student sample text The number of women employed in the IT field is decreasing every year, a trend that can be changed with a multifaceted approach that includes initiatives in middle schools, high schools, and colleges; active recruitment; mentoring programs; and flexible work arrangements. end student sample text

After you draft a thesis statement, ask these questions and revise it as needed:

Is it engaging? A thesis for a proposal should pique readers’ interest in the problem and possible solutions.
Is it precise and specific? If you are interested in curbing the spread of invasive plant species, for example, your thesis should indicate which environment the plant or plants are invading and that you are proposing ways to stop the spread.

Organizing Your Ideas

A proposal has a recognizable shape, starting with an introduction, followed by discussions of the problem, possible solutions, potential objections to the solutions, and a conclusion with a recommendation. A graphic organizer like Table 6.5 can help you organize your ideas and evidence.

Drafting a Proposal

With a tentative thesis, an organization plan, and evidence, you are ready to begin drafting your proposal. For this assignment, you will discuss a problem, present possible solutions, address objections to the solutions, and conclude with a recommendation.

Introduction

You may choose to write the introduction first, last, or midway through the drafting process. Whenever you choose to write it, use it to draw readers in. Make the proposal topic clear, and be concise. End the introduction with your thesis statement.

Opening a proposal with an overview of your topic is a reliable strategy, as shown in the following student-written example on women working in IT. The thesis statement, which appeared earlier in this section, is underlined:

student sample text People who work in the information technology (IT) field often start their careers fixing computers and other electronic devices for others. Through experience and education, an IT worker’s career path can branch out to specialize in everything from programming new software to setting up and maintaining networks. The IT field is growing because of the constant development of technology, and the demand for employees also is growing. underline Yet the number of women employed in the IT field is decreasing every year, a trend that can be changed with a multifaceted approach that includes initiatives in middle schools, high schools, and colleges; active recruitment; mentoring programs; and flexible work arrangements end underline . end student sample text

Body Paragraphs: Problem, Solutions, Objections

The body paragraphs of your proposal should present the problem, the solution or solutions, and potential objections to the proposed solution(s). As you write these paragraphs, consider using the point , evidence , and analysis pattern:

The point is the central idea of the paragraph, usually given in a topic sentence stated in your own words at or toward beginning of the paragraph.
With the evidence you provide, you develop the paragraph and support the point given in the topic sentence. Include details, examples, quotations, paraphrases, and summaries from sources. In your sentences and paragraphs, synthesize the evidence you give by showing the connections between sources. See Position Argument: Practicing the Art of Rhetoric and Argumentative Research: Enhancing the Art of Rhetoric with Evidence for more information on quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing, and synthesizing.
The analysis comes at the end of the paragraph. In your own words, draw a conclusion about the evidence you have provided and relate it to the topic sentence.

The paragraphs that follow show the point-evidence-analysis pattern in practice.

Body Paragraphs: Problem

Follow the introduction with a discussion of the problem. Using paragraph structure, define the problem and discuss it, drawing on evidence from your sources. This paragraph (or paragraphs) should answer these questions: What is the problem? Why is this a problem? The following example, from the proposal on women working in IT, answers the first question:

student sample text The information technology (IT) field is continuously expanding, with many more positions available than workers to fill them. In fact, the pool of IT professionals was so small that in 2001, Congress raised the visa limit in an effort to fill the gap with employees from overseas (Varma, 2002). And yet the number of women represented in the occupation is decreasing. From 1990 to 2020, the percentage of women in IT declined from 31 percent to 25 percent, even though women make up 47 percent of all employed adults in the United States. According to White (2021), only 19 percent of women pursue a computer science major in college, compared to 27 percent in 1997. Of those women who graduated with a computer science degree, 38 percent are working in the field compared to 56 percent of men, a statistic that indicates women are not staying in the field. Although gender diversity supposedly is valued in the workplace, the underrepresentation of women in IT is clearly a problem. end student sample text

The writer then goes on to answer the second question: Why is this a problem? The writer discusses stereotypes, lack of encouragement and role models, workplace culture, pay, and prospects for advancement (not shown here).

Body Paragraphs: Solutions

After presenting and explaining the problem, use specific information from the sources you consulted to present the solution or solutions you have discovered through your research. If you are proposing more than one solution, present them one at a time, using headings as appropriate.

The solutions section will likely be the longest part of your proposal. Below are two paragraphs from the proposal about women working in IT. Note how the first paragraph introduces the solutions and how the second paragraph uses evidence to develop the first proposed solution. Also note the informative boldface headings.

student sample text The following suggestions are ways to encourage women to enter IT and build their careers, with the eventual goal of achieving gender balance in the field. The solutions discussed include encouraging interest in computer technology among girls in middle school and high school, actively recruiting college-age women to study IT, and within the field, mentoring women and expanding workplace flexibility to improve retention. end student sample text

student sample text The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is an organization that encourages girls in middle school and high school to explore their interest in IT. One program, the NCWIT’s Aspirations in Computing, supports women in high school by showing them that they can succeed in technology and introducing them to other students with similar interests. The same program matches middle-school girls with female high-school and college students and awards scholarships for computing and programming competitions. In addition, internships and IT courses in middle school and high school provide opportunities to learn what a career in IT entails, with or without a degree in IT. Opportunities like these give girls and women support and a sense of belonging. end student sample text

The paragraphs that follow (not shown here) continue the discussion of the possible solutions.

Body Paragraphs: Objections

Depending on the problem and solution, consider the objections readers may raise, and explain why your proposal is necessary and worthwhile. For example, the proposal on women in IT does not discuss objections because few people would object to the writer’s proposal. Shawn Krukowski, however, in his proposal on climate change, includes a section on objections to taking action. He focuses the discussion on people who deny that climate change is a problem. Would you do the same? Consider whether this section of Shawn’s proposal might have been stronger had he addressed objections to the solutions he proposed—mitigation and adaptation—instead of objections to the problem.

student sample text Despite scientific evidence, some people and groups deny that climate change is real or, if they admit it exists, insist it is not a valid concern. Those who think climate change is not a problem point to Earth’s millennia-long history of changing climate as evidence that life has always persisted. Most of the change, however, predates human civilization, which has benefited from thousands of years of stable climate. The rapid change since the Industrial Revolution is unprecedented in human history. end student sample text

student sample text Those who deny climate change or its dangers seek primarily to relax or remove pollution standards and regulations in order to protect, or maximize profit from, their industries. To date, their lobbying has been successful. For example, the world’s fossil-fuel industry received $5.3 trillion in 2015 alone, while the U.S. wind-energy industry received $12.3 billion in subsidies between 2000 and 2020 (Green America, 2020). end student sample text

Conclusion and Recommendation

The conclusion and recommendation section of your proposal is the part in which you interpret your findings and make a recommendation or give a call to action. At this point, focus on the solution that will best solve the problem, suggesting or summarizing specific actions.

Below is the recommendation section from the proposal about women in IT. In the full conclusion (not shown here), the writer summarizes the main points of the proposal. In the recommendation paragraph that follows, the writer calls for specific actions:

student sample text Many researchers have studied why few women choose IT as a career and why some decide to leave the field. Although the numbers cannot be improved immediately, the following changes in school and the workplace could recruit and retain more women in IT: end student sample text

Include technology education courses and formal IT programs in middle- and high-school curricula to give girls and young women opportunities to develop an interest at an early age.
Develop internship and mentor programs in high schools and colleges to combat stereotyping and encourage women to enter the field.
Develop and encourage workplace mentor programs, flexible work options, and open communication for professional growth and retention.

student sample text With time and effort, these actions may result in more women seeing themselves in long-term IT careers. end student sample text

References or Works Cited Page

Including any data you gathered through primary research, such as a survey you created and administered, interviews you conducted, or observational notes you took, you must cite the sources you consulted. These sources appear in the text of your proposal and in a bibliography at the end. The paragraphs in the previous section, including Shawn Krukowski’s proposal, use APA documentation style. For more on documenting sources, see Index and Guide to Documentation , MLA Documentation and Format , and APA Documentation and Format .

Abstract or Executive Summary

An abstract (or executive summary) summarizes your proposal. The purpose is to present information briefly and economically so that readers can decide whether they want to read further. Include your main points, but not the evidence.

Although an abstract or executive summary comes first in a proposal, it is advisable to write it after you have completed your proposal and are certain of your main points. The example below is the abstract from the proposal about women in IT.

student sample text The purpose of this proposal is to raise awareness of the small number of women working in the information technology (IT) field, to examine the factors that contribute to discouraging women from entering IT, and to propose ways to draw women into the field and retain them. Although the IT field is growing, the number of women employed within it remains low. Women may be reluctant to pursue a career in IT because of stereotypes, few role models, and lack of encouragement. Women who have already established a career in IT report leaving the field for these reasons, as well as family responsibilities and lack of advancement. There are several potential ways to raise the number of women in IT. Encouraging interest in computer technology among girls in middle school and high school, recruiting college-age women to study IT, mentoring young professional women, and improving workplace flexibility will, over time, break down stereotypes and increase the number of women in the IT field. end student sample text

Peer Review: Getting Feedback from Readers

With a complete draft in hand, you may engage in peer review with your classmates, giving feedback to each other about the strengths and weaknesses of your drafts. For peer review within a class, your instructor may provide a list of questions or a form for you to complete as you work together.

Conferencing in Writing Groups

Other people can provide feedback on your writing beside your classmates. If you have an on-campus writing center, it is well worth your time to make an online or in-person appointment with a tutor at any point in your writing process. You will get valuable comments and improve your ability to review your own writing.

Another way to get fresh eyes on your writing is to ask a friend or family member to read your draft. To get useful feedback, provide a list of questions or a form such as the one shown in Table 6.6 for them to complete as they read.

Revising Your Proposal

A strong college paper is rarely written in a single draft, so build in time to revise your work. Take time with the comments you receive from your readers, and read your own work with a critical eye.

Responding to Reviewers’ Feedback

When you receive feedback from readers—whether from your instructor, your classmates, a writing tutor, or someone else—read each comment carefully to understand what the reader is communicating. Do your best not to become defensive, and be open to suggestions for improvement. Remind yourself that your readers are trying to help. As someone who hasn’t thought about your proposal as much as you have, a new reader can often see strengths and weaknesses that you cannot. Analyze each response, and decide whether acting on a suggestion will make your writing better. Remember that you remain the author, and you make the final call on your writing.

As you read, keep track of the comments your readers make. Pay special attention to strengths and weaknesses that more than one reader identifies. Use that information to improve later assignments as well as your proposal.

Revising on Your Own

The following revising strategies can help you read your draft critically and carefully:

Read your draft aloud. Read the entire text from the beginning slowly and carefully, marking spots that need revision. Reading in this way allows you to see areas that need clarification, explanation, or development that you may have missed when you wrote the first draft. You can also have someone read your draft aloud to you.
Make a paragraph outline. The most common unit of thought in writing is the paragraph, a group of sentences set off from other groups because they focus on a single idea. Writing a paragraph outline creates a map of your whole paper that can help you determine whether the organization is effective or needs changing. Number each paragraph and write a phrase describing its topic or focus. Check that each paragraph has a topic sentence that states the main idea of the paragraph.
Test your evidence. Check whether each piece of evidence is factual and supports the main idea of the paragraph. Check that each piece of evidence is introduced, woven into your sentences, and cited.
Listen for your voice. In most college papers, your language should sound like a real person. If your instructor requires a formal style for the assignment, the language should be objective and in third-person point of view .
Let go if you need to. View change as good. Learn to let go of words, sentences, paragraphs, and maybe even your entire first draft. Sometimes the best way to revise is to start fresh. The knowledge you have built in writing a first draft will serve you well if you need to start over.
Create a new file for each revision. Each time you revise a draft, save the new version with a new file name so that you don’t lose your previous work. That way, you can return to an earlier version of your draft if you are not happy with the revision.
Edit and proofread. When you are satisfied with the overall shape of your paper, reread it once again to check for sentence-level errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and source citations.

Taking It Public: Publishing or Presenting Your Proposal

Publishing is a final step in the writing process. You may want to consider publishing your full proposal in your campus newspaper (or rewriting it as a letter to the editor) if your topic is related to your school. Or you may want to present it to an organization or committee on campus that can help you make your solution a reality. If your topic is related to the community in which you live, consider submitting your proposal to the local newspaper or presenting it at a city council meeting. (Note that if you decide to present your proposal orally, you’ll need to figure out in advance the procedure for speaking or getting on a meeting agenda.) If your topic is more general and involves substantial research, consider submitting your proposal to one of these journals that publish undergraduate research work in all fields:

American Journal of Undergraduate Research
Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research
PURSUE Undergraduate Research Journal

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction

Authors: Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Maria Jerskey, featuring Toby Fulwiler
Publisher/website: OpenStax
Book title: Writing Guide with Handbook
Publication date: Dec 21, 2021
Location: Houston, Texas
Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction
Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/6-5-writing-process-creating-a-proposal

© Dec 19, 2023 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

More from M-W
To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of tentative

(Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of tentative (Entry 2 of 2)

Did you know?

A " Tentative " Explanation

Tentative is from the Latin tentare (“to attempt”), and its original meaning was “attempted, provisional, experimental.” It is easy to see how this emphasis on trial and error led to the word’s current sense “not fully worked out or developed” (as in "a tentative date," "tentative plans," "a tentative job offer"). The “hesitant, uncertain” sense that is also common nowadays (as in “a tentative knock on the door”) extends the idea of an unripe attempt to the uncertain emotional state of the person making the attempt.

conditional
contingent (on or upon)
subject (to)

Examples of tentative in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tentative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

borrowed from Medieval Latin tentātīvus "as a trial, experimental, provisional," from Latin temptātus, tentātus, past participle of temptāre, tentāre "to feel, test, examine" + īvus -ive — more at tempt

derivative of tentative entry 1

1825, in the meaning defined at sense 1

1893, in the meaning defined above

Articles Related to tentative

The Words of the Week - Sept. 29

Dictionary lookups from the Republican debates, the picket lines, and the armed services

Dictionary Entries Near tentative

tentatively

Cite this Entry

“Tentative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tentative. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of tentative, more from merriam-webster on tentative.

Nglish: Translation of tentative for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of tentative for Arabic Speakers

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

More commonly misspelled words, commonly misspelled words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), absent letters that are heard anyway, how to use accents and diacritical marks, popular in wordplay, the words of the week - may 24, flower etymologies for your spring garden, 9 superb owl words, 'gaslighting,' 'woke,' 'democracy,' and other top lookups, 10 words for lesser-known games and sports, games & quizzes.

Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.

IMAGES

Tentative Thesis
Tentative Thesis: Example, Definition, Step-By-Step Guide
PPT
25 Thesis Statement Examples (2024)
100+ Tentative Thesis Statement Examples, How to Write, Tips
How To Write A Thesis Statement (with Useful Steps and Tips) • 7ESL

VIDEO

Revolution Paper Tentative Thesis Statements
WW2 Project Tentative Thesis Statements
Berkin Thesis Statement
SCI-Arc Unscripted: UG Thesis 2023
What is a thesis Statement
Manet Thesis

COMMENTS

Tentative Thesis: Example, Definition, Step-By-Step Guide
The tentative thesis statement summarizes the paper's main points and says the essay's necessity to the readers. The tentative claim is paramount to the essay, and without it, the paper will appear uncontrolled and inadequate. It's like a plane that is about to land on a runway without lights and a radar.
Developing a Tentative Thesis
Developing a Tentative Thesis. Developing a Tentative Thesis. The thesis statement of an essay is to your argument paper what the topic sentence is to the paragraph: a guide, a control--a single promise. It indicates the subject, the approach, and the limitations of your topic. It also suggests your position, your attitude, and a commitment to ...
How to Write a Tentative Thesis: Guide for Effective Writing
A tentative thesis is a preliminary statement outlining your central argument or claim about your chosen topic. It's a dynamic entity, evolving as your research progresses, guiding your exploration and analysis. Unlike its final counterpart, the tentative thesis allows flexibility and revision, allowing you to refine your focus and delve ...
What is a thesis
A working thesis, often referred to as a preliminary or tentative thesis, is an initial version of your thesis statement. It serves as a draft or a starting point that guides your research in its early stages. ... Thesis. Thesis Statement. Definition. An extensive document presenting the author's research and findings, typically for a degree or ...
Tentative Thesis Guide (With Examples)
A tentative thesis is a strong provisional idea that keeps the writer's attention on the paper. It reveals the author's strategy, clarifies the subject, and emphasizes the key concepts that will be explored throughout the piece. A tentative thesis describes what you will be arguing in your paper.
How to Write a Thesis Statement
Step 2: Write your initial answer. After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process. The internet has had more of a positive than a negative effect on education.
Developing a Thesis Statement
A thesis statement . . . Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic. Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper. Is focused and specific enough to be "proven" within the boundaries of your paper. Is generally located near the end ...
Developing a Thesis Statement
Exercise A: Choose a topic, brainstorm for a few minutes, and come up with a basic list of questions. Then, write a preliminary or open thesis. Stage II: Tentative Thesis or Hypothesis. A tentative thesis or hypothesis is more specific than the preliminary or open thesis, and it is particularly important for a research paper.
Developing a Tentative Thesis
The thesis statement is your promise to the reader and to yourself. For today's assignment, please focus a tentative thesis by first deciding on a specific audience and a specific purpose. Your specific audience: Your specific purpose: Your tentative thesis: Writing@CSU is the home of Colorado State University's open-access learning environment ...
Academic Guides: Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements
The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper.
PDF How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement
Formulate a Tentative Thesis Statement Coming up with a good thesis statement can seem like a very perplexing task in the early stages of the writing process, particularly if you're asked to submit a research proposal that requires a tentative thesis statement. Remember that a tentative thesis statement is not something set in stone; rather ...
PDF Tutorial #26: Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
is a complete sentence that expresses an opinion or an idea about a topic that can be supported or more fully developed in the body of the essay. summarizes the whole essay in one sentence and promises or reflects the essay's main purpose or "so what". provides the structure or unifying framework for the scope, focus, and direction of the ...
How to Write a Thesis Statement: Examples & Tips
Here are some basic guidelines for writing a thesis statement: Present your point of view in two sentences. Clearly indicate the logical progression of your research. Always take a case-by-case approach. Based on your research, you may also opt for a 3-part thesis statement. Clearly dictate your assertion on the topic.
Creating a Thesis Statement, Thesis Statement Tips
Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement. 1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing: An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.; An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.; An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies ...
W-2b Coming Up with a Tentative Thesis
Coming Up with a Tentative Thesis. A THESIS is a statement that indicates your main point, identifying your topic and the CLAIM you are making about it. Here are some steps for developing a tentative thesis statement: State your topic as a question. You may have a topic, such as "gasoline prices." But that doesn't make a statement.
Tentative Thesis
One can also define a tentative thesis as the pilot of the research paper whose main argument is solely the responsibility of you, the writer. The writer should, therefore, articulate it in an organized manner that is analyzed and reviewed befitting the related topic.
3.5: Effective Thesis Statements
A thesis statement tells a reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. Such a statement is also called an "argument," a "main idea," or a "controlling idea.". A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is ...
Thesis Statements
The following steps will help you throughout the process of developing your thesis statement:: Read the assignment thoroughly. Make sure you are clear about the expectations. Do preliminary, general research: collect and organize information about your topic. Form a tentative thesis. The following questions may help you focus your research into ...
6.5 Writing Process: Creating a Proposal
Definition: an explanation of a key word, ... With a tentative thesis, an organization plan, and evidence, you are ready to begin drafting your proposal. For this assignment, you will discuss a problem, present possible solutions, address objections to the solutions, and conclude with a recommendation. ...
How to Write a Strong Hypothesis
Developing a hypothesis (with example) Step 1. Ask a question. Writing a hypothesis begins with a research question that you want to answer. The question should be focused, specific, and researchable within the constraints of your project. Example: Research question.
Thesis Generator
a definition; an interesting fact; a question that will be answered in your paper; some background information on your topic; The idea is to begin broadly and gradually bring the reader closer to the main idea of the paper. At the end of the introduction, you will state your thesis statement.
Tentative Definition & Meaning
The meaning of TENTATIVE is not fully worked out or developed. How to use tentative in a sentence. A 'Tentative' Explanation

Essentials of How To Write a Tentative Thesis in 2023

What is a Tentative Thesis?

How To Write a Tentative Thesis: Outline

Parts of a Tentative Thesis

Writing Tips For A Top-Notch Tentative Thesis

Tentative Thesis Statement Samples

Tentative Thesis Writing From Profs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Developing a Tentative Thesis

How to Write a Tentative Thesis: A Comprehensive Guide

Table of Contents

How To Write A Tentative Thesis: Building Blocks

Topic Selection: The Foundation of Your Research

Subject Immersion: Delving Deeper into Your Chosen Topic

Drafting the Thesis Statement: Crafting Clarity from Complexity

Write a Draft of the Thesis Statement: A Working Blueprint

Write the Body: Constructing a Compelling Argument

Write the Conclusion: Reinforcing Significance and Insights

How Long is a Tentative Thesis Statement?

What are the characteristics of a strong tentative thesis statement?

Argumentability:

Actionable:

What is a tentative thesis example?

Example 2:

How does a tentative thesis differ from a final thesis?

Tentative thesis:

Final thesis:

Final thesis:

1. How specific should my tentative thesis be?

2. What questions should I ask myself to develop a good tentative thesis?

3. When should I write my tentative thesis?

4. What if my tentative thesis changes during my research?

Conclusion: Final Words

Why Wait? Get Our Help Now!

Tentative Thesis Guide

What Is a Tentative Thesis?

Tentative Thesis Statement Examples

Example 4:

How to Write a Tentative Thesis

Choose a topic

Discuss the subject

Write a draft of the thesis statement

Write the body

Write the conclusion

Important Tentative Thesis Parts

Tentative Thesis Writing Help

Frequently Asked Questions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

What is a thesis statement?

Identify a topic

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Sample assignment 1

Sample assignment 2

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Derive a main point from topic

Look for patterns in your evidence

Purpose statement

Derive purpose statement from topic

Compose a draft thesis statement

Question-to-Assertion

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Refine and polish the thesis statement

Sample Assignment

Complete the final thesis statement

Writing Process and Structure

Getting Started with Your Paper

Creating an Argument

Working with Sources

Drafting Your Paper

Revising Your Paper

Finishing Your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Developing a Tentative Thesis

Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements

Being Specific

Making a Unique Argument

Creating a Debate

Choosing the Right Words

Leaving Room for Discussion

Thesis Mad Libs