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Writing Effective Thesis Statements

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A good thesis statement can be the difference between making an argument about something, and simply re-stating what someone else has already said. In your thesis statement, you want to make a claim that you will continue to develop throughout the paper. It should represent your own ideas–perhaps in response to something someone else has said–but ultimately, it is your argument. As such, a good thesis statement should have 3 main traits. A good thesis:

• Can be developed with evidence throughout your paper. In other words, you should be able to say it in 1-2 sentences, but that shouldn’t be all that there is to say on the topic.
• Is argumentative, not in a negative sense, but in that it can be supported and may have counter-arguments. Test this by asking “Could I argue the reverse of this?”
• Should explain what, why, and how. What are you arguing? Why are you arguing that? And how will you show it? Think of the “what” as your basic position, the “why” as your reasoning, and the “how” as your evidence (theories, sources, etc.)

In all, the thesis is the backbone of your paper. In the rest of your paper, something in each paragraph should directly relate back to the paper. If you get lost in the writing process, you’ll want to be able to come back to your thesis and say, “this is what I’m arguing.” And remember, thesis statements can evolve with the paper. Once you’ve got your draft written, read through and make sure that what you’re saying in your paper matches up with what your thesis statement says you’re going to be saying.

H ere are a few helpful links to get you started:

• https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

The Purdue OWL (Purdue University) is a great source for writing, and this page goes into detail on the different types of thesis statements.

• http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements/

Here’s another great source from the University of North Carolina with some tips and examples of strong thesis statements.

It can be useful to play around with and see examples, but DO NOT use it to create your actual thesis, as this may be considered plagiarism!

Best of luck with your writing endeavors!

–Your friends at the PLU Writing Center

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5.1: Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement

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• Athena Kashyap & Erika Dyquisto
• City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? You probably had trouble following his train of thought as he jumped around from point to point, either being too brief in places that needed further explanation or providing too many details on a meaningless element. Maybe he told the end of the story first, then moved to the beginning and later added details to the middle. His ideas were probably scattered, and the story did not flow very well. When the story was over, you probably had many questions.

Just as a personal anecdote can be a disorganized mess, an essay can fall into the same trap of being out of order and confusing. That is why writers need a thesis statement to provide a specific focus for their essay and to organize what they are about to discuss in the body.

Just like a topic sentence summarizes a single paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes an entire essay. It tells the reader the point you want to make in your essay, while the essay itself supports that point. It is like a signpost that signals the essay’s destination. You should form your thesis before you begin to organize an essay, but you may find that it needs revision as the essay develops.

Elements of a Thesis Statement

For every essay you write, you must focus on a central idea. This idea stems from a topic you have chosen or been assigned or from a question your teacher has asked. It is not enough merely to discuss a general topic or simply answer a question with a yes or no. You have to form a specific opinion, and then articulate that into a controlling idea—the main idea upon which you build your thesis.

Remember that a thesis is not the topic itself, but rather your interpretation of the question or subject. For whatever topic your professor gives you, you must ask yourself, “What do I want to say about it?” Asking and then answering this question is vital to forming a thesis that is precise, forceful and confident.

A thesis is one sentence long and appears toward the end of your introduction. It is specific and focuses on one to three points of a single idea—points that are able to be demonstrated in the body. It forecasts the content of the essay and suggests how you will organize your information. Remember that a thesis statement does not summarize an issue but rather dissects it.

A Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement contains the following qualities.

• Specificity. A thesis statement must concentrate on a specific area of a general topic. As you may recall, the creation of a thesis statement begins when you choose a broad subject and then narrow down its parts until you pinpoint a specific aspect of that topic. For example, health care is a broad topic, but a proper thesis statement would focus on a specific area of that topic, such as options for individuals without health care coverage.
• Precision. A strong thesis statement must be precise enough to allow for a coherent argument and to remain focused on the topic. If the specific topic is options for individuals without health care coverage, then your precise thesis statement must make an exact claim about it, such as that limited options exist for those who are uninsured by their employers. You must further pinpoint what you are going to discuss regarding these limited effects, such as whom they affect and what the cause is.
• Ability to be argued. A thesis statement must present a relevant and specific argument. A factual statement often is not considered arguable. Be sure your thesis statement contains a point of view that can be supported with evidence.
• Ability to be demonstrated. For any claim you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide reasons and examples for your opinion. You can rely on personal observations in order to do this, or you can consult outside sources to demonstrate that what you assert is valid. A worthy argument is backed by examples and details.
• Forcefulness. A thesis statement that is forceful shows readers that you are, in fact, making an argument. The tone is assertive and takes a stance that others might oppose.
• Confidence. In addition to using force in your thesis statement, you must also use confidence in your claim. Phrases such as I feel or I believe actually weaken the readers’ sense of your confidence because these phrases imply that you are the only person who feels the way you do. In other words, your stance has insufficient backing. Taking an authoritative stance on the matter persuades your readers to have faith in your argument and open their minds to what you have to say.

Even in a personal essay that allows the use of first person, your thesis should not contain phrases such as in my opinion or I believe . These statements reduce your credibility and weaken your argument. Your opinion is more convincing when you use a firm attitude.

On a separate sheet of paper, write a thesis statement for each of the following topics. Remember to make each statement specific, precise, demonstrable, forceful and confident.

• Texting while driving
• The legal drinking age in the United States
• Steroid use among professional athletes

Examples of Appropriate Thesis Statements

Each of the following thesis statements meets several of the following requirements:

• Specificity
• Ability to be argued
• Ability to be demonstrated
• Forcefulness
• The societal and personal struggles of Troy Maxon in the play Fences symbolize the challenge of black males who lived through segregation and integration in the United States.
• Closing all American borders for a period of five years is one solution that will tackle illegal immigration.
• Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet spoils the outcome for the audience and weakens the plot.
• J. D. Salinger’s character in Catcher in the Rye , Holden Caulfield, is a confused rebel who voices his disgust with phonies, yet in an effort to protect himself, he acts like a phony on many occasions.
• Compared to an absolute divorce, no-fault divorce is less expensive, promotes fairer settlements, and reflects a more realistic view of the causes for marital breakdown.
• Exposing children from an early age to the dangers of drug abuse is a sure method of preventing future drug addicts.
• In today’s crumbling job market, a high school diploma is not significant enough education to land a stable, lucrative job.

Five Ways of Looking at a Thesis

1. a thesis creates an argument that builds from one point to the next, giving the paper a direction that the audience can follow as the paper develops..

This point often separates the best theses from the pack. A good thesis can prevent the two weakest ways of organizing a critical paper: the pile of information and the plot summary with comments. A paper that presents a pile of information will frequently introduce new paragraphs with transitions that simply indicate the addition of more stuff. (“Another character who exhibits these traits is X,” for instance.) Consider these examples:

A: The Rules and Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey both tell women how to act.

B: By looking at The Rules , a modern conduct book for women, we can see how Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is itself like a conduct book, questioning the rules for social success in her society and offering a new model.

Example A would almost inevitably lead to a paper organized as a pile of information. A plot summary with comments follows the chronological development of a text while picking out the same element of every segment; a transition in such a paper might read, “In the next scene, the color blue also figures prominently.” Both of these approaches constitute too much of a good thing. Papers must compile evidence, of course, and following the chronology of a text can sometimes help a reader keep track of a paper’s argument.

The best papers, however, will develop according to a more complex logic articulated in a strong thesis. Example B above would lead a paper to organize its evidence according to the paper’s own logic.

2. A thesis fits comfortably into the Magic Thesis Sentence (MTS).

The MTS: By looking at _____, we can see _____, which most readers don’t see; it is important to look at this aspect of the text because _____.

Try it out with the examples from the first point:

A: By telling the story of Wesley and Buttercup’s triumph over evil, The Princess Bride affirms the power of true love.

B: Although the main plot of The Princess Bride rests on the natural power of true love, an examination of the way that fighting sticks–baseball bats, tree branches, and swords–link the frame story to the romance plot suggests that the narrator’s grandson is being trained in true love, that love is not natural but socialized.

Notice that the MTS adds a new dimension to point number one above. The first part of the MTS asks you to find something strange (“which most readers don’t see”), and the second part asks you to think about the importance of the strangeness. Thesis A would not work at all in the MTS; one could not reasonably state that “most readers [or viewers] don’t see” that film’s affirmation of true love, and the statement does not even attempt to explain the importance of its claim. Thesis B, on the other hand, gives us a way to complete the MTS, as in “By looking at the way fighting sticks link the plot and frame of The Princess Bride , we can see the way the narrator’s grandson is trained in true love, which most people don’t see; it is important to look at this aspect of the text because unlike the rest of the film, the fighting sticks suggest that love is not natural but socialized.” One does not need to write out the MTS in such a neat one-sentence form, of course, but thinking through the structure of the MTS can help refine thesis ideas.

3. A thesis says something about the text(s) exclusively .

If a thesis could describe many works equally well, it needs to be more specific. Let’s return to our examples from above:

Try substituting other works:

A: By telling the story of Darcy and Elizabeth’s triumph over evil, Pride and Prejudice affirms the power of true love.

Sure, that makes sense. Bad sign.

B: Although the main plot of Pride and Prejudice rests on the natural power of true love, an examination of the way that fighting sticks–baseball bats, tree branches, and swords–link the frame story to the romance plot suggests that the grandson is being trained in true love, that it is not natural but socialized.

Um, nope. Even if you have never read Pride and Prejudice , you can probably guess that such a precise thesis could hardly apply to other works. Good sign. The point here is that the thesis needs to be specific enough that its meaning relates to the specific work(s) you are writing about -- be it fiction or nonfiction.

4. A thesis makes a lot of information irrelevant.

If the thesis is specific enough, it will make a point that focuses on only a small part of the text be analyzed or a particular aspect of a larger topic. A writer should ultimately apply that point to the work as a whole, but a thesis will call attention to specific parts of it. Let’s look at those examples again. (This is the last time, I promise.)

One way of spotting the problem with Example A is to note that a simple plot summary would support its point. That is not of true example B, which tells the reader exactly what moments the paper will be discussed and why. The thesis is focused and concentrated.

5. Remember to Address the Work as a Whole: The “So What?”

As you complete your analysis, remember to think about what the effect this will have on the world of academia.

• Does your thesis introduce your topic in a clear way?
• Does the introduction mention what you will be addressing? Social constructs, gender issues, etc.

Writing a Thesis Statement

One legitimate question readers always ask about a piece of writing is “What is the big idea?” (You may even ask this question when you are the reader, critically reading an assignment or another document.) Every nonfiction writing task—from the short essay to the ten-page term paper to the lengthy senior thesis—needs a big idea, or a controlling idea, as the spine for the work. The controlling idea is the main idea that you want to present and develop.

For a longer piece of writing, the main idea should be broader than the main idea for a shorter piece of writing. Be sure to frame a main idea that is appropriate for the length of the assignment. Ask yourself, “How many pages will it take for me to explain and explore this main idea in detail?” Be reasonable with your estimate. Then expand or trim it to fit the required length.

Developing Thesis Statements from Topics

The big idea, or controlling idea, you want to present in an essay is expressed in a thesis statement. A thesis statement is often one sentence long, and it states your point of view. The thesis statement is not the topic of the piece of writing but rather what you have to say about that topic and what is important to tell readers.

Table 5.1 “Topics and Thesis Statements” compares topics and thesis statements.

Table 5.1 Topics and Thesis Statements

The first thesis statement you write will be a preliminary thesis statement, or a working thesis statement. You will need it when you begin to outline your assignment as a way to organize it. As you continue to develop the arrangement, you can limit your working thesis statement if it is too broad or expand it if it proves too narrow for what you want to say.

Using the topic you selected in Section 4.6 “ Prewriting Strategies ”, develop a working thesis statement that states your controlling idea for the piece of writing you are doing. On a sheet of paper, write your working thesis statement.

You will make several attempts before you devise a working thesis statement that you think is effective. Each draft of the thesis statement will bring you closer to the wording that expresses your meaning exactly. Sometimes, this refinement of the thesis statement happens after your write your first draft of the paper.

Guidelines for Drafting a Thesis Statement

It helps to understand why readers value the arguable thesis. What larger purpose does it serve? Readers will bring a set of expectations to an essay. If writers can anticipate the expectations of their readers, the better they will be able to persuade the audience to find the arguments convincing, interesting, and relevant.

Academic readers (and readers more generally) read to learn something new. They want to see the writer challenge commonplaces—either everyday assumptions about the object of study or truisms in the scholarly literature. In other words, academic readers want to be surprised so that their thinking shifts or at least becomes more complex by the time they finish reading an essay. Good essays problematize what we think we know and offer an alternative explanation in its place. They leave their reader with a fresh perspective on a problem.

We all bring important past experiences and beliefs to our interpretations of texts, objects, and problems. Writers can harness these observational powers to engage critically with what they are studying. The key is to be alert to what strikes you as strange, problematic, paradoxical, or puzzling about your topic. If writers can articulate this and a claim in response, they are well on their way to formulating an arguable thesis in the introduction.

How do I set up a “problem” and an arguable thesis in response?

All good writing has a purpose or motive for existing. The thesis is the writer’s surprising response to this problem or motive. This is why it seldom makes sense to start a writing project by articulating the thesis. The first step is to articulate the question or problem your paper addresses.

Here are some possible ways to introduce a conceptual problem in your paper’s introduction.

1. Challenge a commonplace interpretation (or your own first impressions).

How are readers likely to interpret this source or issue? What might intelligent readers think at first glance? (Or, if you’ve been given secondary sources or have been asked to conduct research to locate secondary sources, what do other writers or scholars assume is true or important about your primary source or issue?)

What does this commonplace interpretation leave out, overlook, or under-emphasize?

2. Help the reader see the complexity of your topic.

Identify and describe for the reader a paradox, puzzle, or contradiction in a primary source(s).

What larger questions does this paradox or contradiction raise for readers?

3. If research is part of the assignment, piggyback off another scholar’s research.

4. If research is part of the assignment, identify a gap in another scholar’s or a group of scholars’ research.

Summarize another scholar’s argument about your topic, primary source, or case study and explain to the reader why this claim is interesting. Or, summarize how scholars in the field tend to approach the topic.

Next, explain what important aspect this scholarly representation misses or distorts. Introduce the particular approach to the topic and its value.

5. If research is part of the assignment, bring in a new lens for investigating the case study or problem.

Summarize how a scholar or group of scholars has approached the topic.

Introduce a theoretical source (possibly from another discipline) and explain how it helps to address this issue from a new and productive angle.

Tip : your introductory paragraph will probably look like this:

Testing Your Thesis

Test a thesis statement’s arguability by asking the following questions:

1) Does the thesis only or mostly summarize a source?

If so, try some of the exercises above to articulate the paper’s conceptual problem or question.

2) Is the thesis arguable – can it be supported by evidence, and is it surprising and contentious?

If not, return to the sources and practice the exercises above.

3) Is the thesis about the primary source, or is it about the world?

If it’s about the world, revise it so that it focuses on primary source(s). Remember to include solid evidence to support the thesis.

"THREE-STORY THESIS STATEMENTS" BY AMY GUPTIL

How do you produce a good, strong thesis? And how do you know when you’ve gotten there? Many instructors and writers find useful a metaphor based on this passage by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.: 3

There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors who have no aim beyond their facts are one-story men. Two-story men compare, reason, generalize using the labor of fact collectors as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict—their best illumination comes from above the skylight.

One-story theses state inarguable facts. Two-story theses bring in an arguable (interpretive or analytical) point. Three-story theses nest that point within its larger, compelling implications. 4

The biggest benefit of the three-story metaphor is that it describes a process for building a thesis. To build the first story, you first have to get familiar with the complex, relevant facts surrounding the problem or question. You have to be able to describe the situation thoroughly and accurately. Then, with that first story built, you can layer on the second story by formulating the insightful, arguable point that animates the analysis. That’s often the most effortful part: brainstorming, elaborating and comparing alternative ideas, finalizing your point. With that specified, you can frame up the third story by articulating why the point you make matters beyond its particular topic or case.

Thesis: that’s the word that pops at me whenever I write an essay. Seeing this word in the prompt scared me and made me think to myself, “Oh great, what are they really looking for?” or “How am I going to make a thesis for a college paper?” When rehearing that I would be focusing on theses again in a class, I said to myself, “Here we go again!” But after learning about the three story thesis, I never had a problem with writing another thesis. In fact, I look forward to being asked on a paper to create a thesis.

Timothée Pizarro

For example, imagine you have been assigned a paper about the impact of online learning in higher education. You would first construct an account of the origins and multiple forms of online learning and assess research findings about its use and effectiveness. If you’ve done that well, you’ll probably come up with a well considered opinion that wouldn’t be obvious to readers who haven’t looked at the issue in depth. Maybe you’ll want to argue that online learning is a threat to the academic community. Or perhaps you’ll want to make the case that online learning opens up pathways to college degrees that traditional campus-based learning does not. In the course of developing your central, argumentative point, you’ll come to recognize its larger context; in this example, you may claim that online learning can serve to better integrate higher education with the rest of society, as online learners bring their educational and career experiences together. To outline this example:

• First story : Online learning is becoming more prevalent and takes many different forms.
• Second story : While most observers see it as a transformation of higher education, online learning is better thought of an extension of higher education in that it reaches learners who aren’t disposed to participate in traditional campus-based education.
• Third story : Online learning appears to be a promising way to better integrate higher education with other institutions in society, as online learners integrate their educational experiences with the other realms of their life, promoting the freer flow of ideas between the academy and the rest of society.

Here’s another example of a three-story thesis: 5

• First story : Edith Wharton did not consider herself a modernist writer, and she didn’t write like her modernist contemporaries.
• Second story : However, in her work we can see her grappling with both the questions and literary forms that fascinated modernist writers of her era. While not an avowed modernist, she did engage with modernist themes and questions.
• Third story : Thus, it is more revealing to think of modernism as a conversation rather than a category or practice.

Here’s one more example:

• First story : Scientists disagree about the likely impact in the U.S. of the light brown apple moth (LBAM) , an agricultural pest native to Australia.
• Second story : Research findings to date suggest that the decision to spray pheromones over the skies of several southern Californian counties to combat the LBAM was poorly thought out.
• Third story : Together, the scientific ambiguities and the controversial response strengthen the claim that industrial-style approaches to pest management are inherently unsustainable.

A thesis statement that stops at the first story isn’t usually considered a thesis. A two-story thesis is usually considered competent, though some two-story theses are more intriguing and ambitious than others. A thoughtfully crafted and well informed three-story thesis puts the author on a smooth path toward an excellent paper.

The concept of a three-story thesis framework was the most helpful piece of information I gained from the writing component of DCC 100. The first time I utilized it in a college paper, my professor included “good thesis” and “excellent introduction” in her notes and graded it significantly higher than my previous papers. You can expect similar results if you dig deeper to form three-story theses. More importantly, doing so will make the actual writing of your paper more straightforward as well. Arguing something specific makes the structure of your paper much easier to design.

Peter Farrell

Effective Thesis Statements

As mentioned before, a thesis statement is the controlling idea of your essay. It is the main idea that all of the other sentences in the essay relate to. After gathering information about your topic, you need to figure out what you want to say about it.

An effective thesis statement has two major characteristics.

1. An effective thesis statement makes a point about a topic. For this reason, it must do more than state a fact or announce what you plan to write about.

Statement of fact: The military recruits students in high schools.

Announcement: In this essay, I would like to discuss what’s wrong with military recruitment in high schools.

List thesis: We should not allow the military to recruit in high schools because recruiters violate privacy, manipulate naïve young people, and target low-income youth.

Effective thesis: We should end the abusive and discriminatory practice of military recruitment in high schools.

A statement of fact is not an effective thesis statement because it does not take a position, giving you nothing to develop in your essay. Likewise, an announcement of what you plan to write about in your essay does not take a position on the issue, leaving you with nothing to develop. A good thesis statement makes a claim that is arguable.

2. The most effective thesis statements do not list your main points but unite your main points into a larger, central idea. The list thesis above looks strong, but notice how the effective thesis connects the three points with the words “abusive” and “discriminatory.” Now we know how the three points relate to each other; they are more than just a list.

To turn three or four “reasons” or topic sentences into a thesis, consider what they have in common and what your overall point is.

You can find thesis statements in many places, such as in the news; in the opinions of friends, coworkers or teachers; and even in songs you hear on the radio. Become aware of thesis statements in everyday life by paying attention to people’s opinions and their reasons for those opinions. Pay attention to your own everyday thesis statements as well, as these can become material for future essays.

Now that you have read about the contents of a good thesis statement and have seen examples, take a look at the pitfalls to avoid when composing your own thesis:

Weak thesis statement: My paper will explain why imagination is more important than knowledge.

Weak thesis statement: Religious radicals across America are trying to legislate their Puritanical beliefs by banning required high school books.

Weak thesis statement: Advertising companies use sex to sell their products.

Weak thesis statement: The life of Abraham Lincoln was long and challenging.

Read the following thesis statements. On a separate piece of paper, identify each as weak or strong. For those that are weak, list the reasons why. Then revise the weak statements so that they conform to the requirements of a strong thesis.

• The subject of this paper is my experience with ferrets as pets.
• The government must expand its funding for research on renewable energy resources in order to prepare for the impending end of oil.
• Edgar Allan Poe was a poet who lived in Baltimore during the nineteenth century.
• In this essay, I will give you lots of reasons why slot machines should not be legalized in Baltimore.
• Despite his promises during his campaign, President Kennedy took few executive measures to support civil rights legislation.
• Because many children’s toys have potential safety hazards that could lead to injury, it is clear that not all children’s toys are safe.
• My experience with young children has taught me that I want to be a disciplinary parent because I believe that a child without discipline can be a parent’s worst nightmare.

Writing at Work

Often in your career, you will need to ask your manager for something through an e-mail. Just as a thesis statement organizes an essay, it can also organize your e-mail request. While your e-mail will be shorter than an essay, using a thesis statement in your first paragraph quickly lets your manager know what you are asking for, why it is necessary, and what the benefits are. In short body paragraphs, you can provide the essential information needed to expand upon your request.

Thesis Statement Revision

Your thesis will probably change as you write, so you will need to modify it to reflect exactly what you have discussed in your essay. Remember from Chapter 4 that your thesis statement begins as a working thesis statement, an indefinite statement that you make about your topic early in the writing process for the purpose of planning and guiding your writing.

Working thesis statements often become stronger as you gather information and form new opinions and reasons for those opinions. Revision helps you strengthen your thesis so that it matches what you have expressed in the body of the paper.

The best way to revise your thesis statement is to ask questions about it and then examine the answers to those questions. By challenging your own ideas and forming definite reasons for those ideas, you grow closer to a more precise point of view, which you can then incorporate into your thesis statement.

Ways to Revise Your Thesis

You can cut down on irrelevant aspects and revise your thesis by taking the following steps:

1. Pinpoint and replace all nonspecific words, such as people , everything , society , or life , with more precise words in order to reduce any vagueness.

Working thesis: Young people have to work hard to succeed in life.

Revised thesis: Recent college graduates must have discipline and persistence in order to find and maintain a stable job in which they can use and be appreciated for their talents.

The revised thesis makes a more specific statement about success and what it means to work hard. The original includes too broad a range of people and does not define exactly what success entails. By replacing those general words like people and work hard , the writer can better focus their research and gain more direction in their writing.

2. Clarify ideas that need explanation by asking yourself questions that narrow your thesis.

Working thesis: The welfare system is a joke.

Revised thesis: The welfare system keeps a socioeconomic class from gaining employment by alluring members of that class with unearned income instead of programs to improve their education and skill sets.

A joke means many things to many people. Readers bring all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives to the reading process and would need clarification for a word so vague. This expression may also be too informal for the selected audience. By asking questions, the writer can devise a more precise and appropriate explanation for joke . The writer should ask himself or herself questions similar to the 5WH questions. (See Chapter 4.6 " Prewriting Strategies " for more information on the 5WH questions.) By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more accurately defines his or her stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay.

3. Replace any linking verbs with action verbs. Linking verbs are forms of the verb to be , a verb that simply states that a situation exists.

Working thesis: Kansas City schoolteachers are not paid enough.

Revised thesis: Kansas City cannot afford to pay its educators, resulting in job cuts and resignations in a district that sorely needs highly qualified and dedicated teachers.

The linking verb in this working thesis statement is the word are . Linking verbs often make thesis statements weak because they do not express action. Rather, they connect words and phrases to the second half of the sentence. Readers might wonder, “Why are they not paid enough?” But this statement does not compel them to ask many more questions. The writer should ask himself or herself questions in order to replace the linking verb with an action verb, thus forming a stronger thesis statement, one that takes a more definitive stance on the issue:

• Who is not paying the teachers enough?
• What is considered “enough”?
• What is the problem?
• What are the results

In an earlier section you determined your purpose for writing and your audience. You then completed a free writing exercise about an event you recently experienced and chose a general topic to write about. Using that general topic, you then narrowed it down by answering the 5WH questions. After you answered these questions, you chose one of the three methods of prewriting and gathered possible supporting points for your working thesis statement.

Now, on a separate sheet of paper, write down your working thesis statement. Identify any weaknesses in this sentence and revise the statement to reflect the elements of a strong thesis statement. Make sure it is specific, precise, arguable, demonstrable, forceful, and confident.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

In your career you may have to write a project proposal that focuses on a particular problem in your company, such as reinforcing the tardiness policy. The proposal would aim to fix the problem; using a thesis statement would clearly state the boundaries of the problem and tell the goals of the project. After writing the proposal, you may find that the thesis needs revision to reflect exactly what is expressed in the body. Using the techniques from this chapter would apply to revising that thesis.

Purdue OWL: Thesis Statements . Authored by: OWL Purdue. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license.

Contributors

• Adapted from Writing for Success . Provided by: The Saylor Foundation. License: CC-NC-SA 3.0 .
• Adapted from " Five Ways of Looking at a Thesis. " Authored by: Erik Simpson. Provided by: LumenLearning. License: CC BY: Attribution
• Adapted from Formulating a Thesis . Authored by: Andrea Scott. Provided by: Princeton University. Project: WritingCommons. License: CC BY-NC-ND:
• Adapted from Writing in College . Authored by Amy Guptill. License: CC-NC-SA 4.0

This page most recently updated on June 8, 2020.

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Answered By: Matt Stevons Last Updated: Sep 03, 2020     Views: 80

One reason strong thesis statements are an essential element of both writing and research is that the better your thesis statement is, the more focused your research questions will be.  Focused research questions will allow you to develop effective keywords and search strategies.  Watch the video below from Credo InfoLit for tips on writing a thesis statement.

For additional help, visit the PG Writing Center for assistance with any writing questions.  

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Writing an Effective Thesis Statement

Writing an Effective Thesis Statement Podcast

Writing an effective thesis statement transcript.

Greetings everyone. This is Kurtis Clements with another effective writing podcast. In this episode, I am going to discuss how to write an effective thesis statement. One issue to keep in mind when you write is that your words need to stand on their own. It is your responsibility to express your thoughts in a way that others can understand. Think of it this way: You will not be around to explain to readers what you meant by a certain remark or to offer another example to illustrate a fuzzy point. Indeed, the words in your composition will have to communicate meaning without your presence. What you do not want to have happen is for your audience to reach the end of a piece of your written communication and say, “So what? What’s the point?”

The “so what” of a piece of writing is the specific point the piece makes, what the writing says about its subject. The “so what” is what the writing adds up to. It is the meaning found in the writing. The “so what” of an informative essay may be Boston has a lot to offer young children. The “so what” of a business memo may be profits have exceeded expectations.

No matter the type of composition, the piece of writing must communicate meaning, not to the writer, but, rather, to an audience. The meaning found in a piece of writing, the “so what,” is the most important aspect of any piece of writing, for what good would a piece of writing be if it did not add up to something, if it did not say something to an audience? When you are working on a composition, you will need to think about what you are trying to say so that you are in a position to make sure that what you are trying to communicate is, in fact, communicated.

I know what you’re thinking: What’s all this have to do with a thesis statement? The answer: everything! Let me explain.

Every composition needs to make a clear point about its topic—otherwise, what purpose would the writing serve? One way to ensure that readers will follow along in the development of an essay is by including a written out thesis statement (more on this in just a moment). The word thesis comes from a Greek word that means “proposition” or “position.” In an essay, the thesis establishes the writer’s position, the main idea of the paper, what the writer claims to be true or important about the topic. A thesis helps readers understand the direction the essay is heading and it connects body paragraphs to a controlling idea so that the essay comes together as a unified whole.

Most thesis statements are expressed in a single declarative sentence, but depending on a number of factors such as the scope and complexity of the topic or the writer’s approach in discussing it, the thesis may require more than one sentence, but this is the exception rather than the rule. In most academic writing, the thesis will appear near or at the end of the introduction and announce to readers exactly what the body paragraphs that follow will discuss. In some writing, especially personal writing, a written-out thesis may not be necessary, but regardless the focus of the paper still needs to be clear. So, whether the thesis is written out verbatim or not, the thesis of the paper—what it will discuss—still needs to be clear.

Constructing a thesis statement will take time; in fact, like writing itself, developing a thesis is a process, so you will need to be patient and be willing to revise as necessary. A good thesis comes about the more you explore your topic whether that exploration is the result of exploratory writing like freewriting or research or long walks in which you think and think and think.

As you explore your thinking, your ideas will get clearer and clearer. Again, a thesis statement evolves over time. Begin with a working thesis—your tentative ideas about a topic—and be willing to modify the statement depending on what you discover about your topic and how your thinking changes over time. Indeed, many writers find themselves in jams because they are unwilling to deviate from their original thesis and are bent on trying to support ideas that are unrealistic, perhaps even impossible.

Still worse, some writers try to force the content to fit the idea expressed in the thesis. This won’t work. In fact, some writers approach their work so that the thesis emerges out of the writing. That’s right! Some writers don’t start with a thesis—working or otherwise—and, instead, explore their thinking in writing as a way to discover what it is they have to say about a topic. The fabulous Donald Murray, a journalist and famous writer about the process of writing, worked this way. And other writers work this way, too. And of course, many writers do not work this way and the truth is the actual process you use to develop a thesis does not matter so long as the end result is successful.

As you approach drafting a thesis, make sure you keep your purpose for writing in mind. Will you be informing? Persuading? Entertaining? Complaining? Whatever the case, you will want that purpose to be apparent from the construction of the thesis.

One good way to come up with ideas that you can use to construct a working thesis is to explore your thoughts. What do you already know about the topic? Use freewriting (or some other exploratory writing method such as brainstorming) to capture what you already know and think about the topic. Roll up your sleeves and spend 10, 15, or more minutes just writing. Write about what interests you about the topic and what you might like to know. Explore freely what is bouncing around inside your head and do not be afraid to follow your thinking wherever it takes you. Writing is an act of discovery, and you might stumble upon an interesting angle to pursue if you give yourself permission to explore. After you’ve written for a period of time, look over your writing and see if any dominant idea emerges or if some of the writing suggests a direction worth thinking about more. In a perfect world, the freewriting will produce enough of your ideas that you can almost see the beginning of a thesis.

Another good approach to producing a thesis is to conduct some research. Some assignments may not benefit from this tip, but many—even those that don’t specifically require research—will. To this end, peruse the library whether you do so physically or virtually. Poke and read around about your topic, following the discussion here and there depending on what interests you. Take some notes as you see fit.

You could also ask questions about what you wonder or would like to know about your topic. Do big-box stores such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart have an impact on local economies? What are the benefits of a vegan lifestyle? How costly are green energy sources? What steps should individuals take to safeguard against identity fraud? Avoid yes/no type questions and research accordingly. A good research question can lend itself to the development of a working thesis in that the “answer” can serve as a starting point.

So what are the characteristics of an effective thesis statement?

An effective thesis statement establishes one major idea. If a thesis introduces more than one idea, the paper will not have a tight focus. Most papers you will write will be relatively short and do not have room to discuss more than one major idea. Pay particular attention to your thesis statement if it includes the word “and” as this connecting word often joins new ideas. Note how the following thesis has more than one main idea: Healthcare reform must be addressed because so many Americans are uninsured or without adequate coverage, and politicians must work together to ensure new legislation is passed. In this example, the word “and” establishes an additional main idea and so the thesis lacks a clearly defined focus. To improve upon the thesis, the thesis would need to be streamlined and focus on one main idea. For example, a better thesis might be Politicians must work together to reform healthcare because too many Americans are without sufficient coverage.

An effective thesis statement is limited in scope. The thesis should limit the extent of the discussion to something manageable given the assignment—neither too broad nor too narrow. The thesis should establish a focus that is realistic and suitable for a substantive discussion of the main idea. Taking a stand on capital punishment, for example, is not realistic for a short research paper let alone an entire book—the topic is too broad. However, limiting the focus by narrowing the scope may work. You could argue that capital punishment does not reduce the crime rate or that lethal injection is the most humane form of capital punishment. In this way, the focus is something that realistically could be addressed in the paper.

An effective thesis statement clearly states the writer’s position. The thesis should state precisely and specifically what the paper will discuss. After reading the thesis, readers should know exactly what to expect. Avoid language that is too general, abstract, or otherwise confusing. If your thesis does not clearly establish your main idea, readers may have a difficult time following the development of the body paragraphs that follow. Here is an example of a thesis statement that is vague: Television violence is an issue that many face. Based on this thesis, do you understand what the writer is going to explore in the paper? Sure, television violence, but beyond that general subject, do you have any clear sense of what the writer will be exploring? Not at all! This thesis lacks the specificity it needs to orient readers appropriately so that they know what to expect in the discussion.

An effective thesis statement requires supporting evidence. The thesis expresses an idea that moves beyond a statement of fact and requires supporting content to “prove” the main idea. For example, a thesis that proclaims Barack Obama is the first African-American to be elected president of the United States would not be very good as it states a widely known fact. A better thesis might proclaim this: Barack Obama’s election as president of the United States marked a seminal moment in American politics. The revised thesis moves beyond simply stating a fact and, instead, presents a main idea that would require evidence to support.

There are two basic approaches to composing a thesis—forecasting the main points by embedding them in the thesis (an approach commonly referred to as the three-point thesis) or not including the main points in the thesis. Your approach will depend on the topic you are addressing as well as any particular requirements of the assignment.

A three-point thesis states the main idea of the essay and includes three key points as support. Take a look at the following thesis: Banning cigarette smoking in public places is an effective intervention to improve the public’s health by helping to reduce the dangers of second-hand smoke on non-smokers, encouraging current smokers to quit, and reducing healthcare costs. In this example, the main idea—the position the writer takes relative to the topic—is Banning cigarette smoking in public places is an effective intervention to improve the public’s health. This part of the thesis states what the writer claims to be true about the topic. How will the writer support this view? In this case, the thesis includes three telegraphed key points—by helping to reduce the dangers of second-hand smoke on non-smokers, encouraging current smokers to quit, and reducing healthcare costs.

The three-point thesis is the blueprint of the essay in that it not only establishes the main idea, but it also fleshes out the key points to that readers can anticipate a basic structure of the essay. Readers would expect each forecasted point to be discussed in the order presented—that is, the first section will discuss the first key point, the next section the second, and so on.

Another approach to composing a thesis is to state the main idea minus the key points. Using the example above, the thesis would read: Banning cigarette smoking in public places is an effective intervention to improve the public’s health. With this approach, the key points are not included in the thesis, yet the focus and direction are clear. Readers may not know the exact key points, but they understand the writer’s position on the topic and can anticipate the likely discussion that will follow. In this case, since the main idea states the view that banning smoking in public is an effective intervention to improve public health, it is logical to expect key points that address how this is so.

Please keep in mind that writing a good thesis is a process and a process requires time. While some folks might be able to come up with a humdinger of a thesis from the get-go that is not the norm. To this end, give yourself time to explore your topic and don’t be impatient. Draft a working thesis and revise as necessary. I hope you find this podcast helpful.

Thanks, everyone. Happy writing!

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Save OWL resources will help you develop and sophisticated which arguments in your writing.

The thesis statement conversely main claim must be debatable

A argumentative or persuasive piece of composition must begin the a debatable thesis or claim. Within other words, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably have different opinions on. If your thesis your bit which is generally agreed upon or accepted more fact then on is no basis to try to persuade people. Developing A Thesis

Example about a non-debatable thesis statement:

This thesis statement is no debatable. First, the term contamination implies which something is badly alternatively negativ in some way. Furthermore, all studies agree that pollution is a problem; they simply disagree on the impact it willingly have conversely the scope of the question. No on could reasonably reason that pollution is unambiguously right.

Case of an disputeable thesis statement:

Which is any example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree with a. Some people might think that this is how ours should spend the nation's money. Others might feel that we supposed be spending more money on education. Still others could argue that corporations, does the government, should be paying to limit pollution. A health graduate statement acknowledges ensure there a always another side to the dispute. Like, inclusions an opposing viewpoint (a counterargument) to your opinion.

Another example of a debatable thesis statement:

In this demo where is also room for disagreement between intelligent individuals. Some citizens might think focusing on recycling programs fairly than private automobiles is the most effective mission. Thesis Engine | UAGC Writing Center

One thesis needs up be narrow

Although the scope of your paper might seem overwhelming by the startup, common this narrower the thesis the more effective your argument wishes be. Your thesis or claim must be supported by evidence. The broader your claim is, the moreover evidence you will need up induce readers the your position are right. How to Write one Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Past

Example of a theses that is too broad:

There are several reasons get statement is too broad to argue. First, about belongs included in one category "drugs"? Is the novelist talking about illegitimate drug apply, recreational drug use (which might include alcohol and cigarettes), or all uses out medication in general? Minute, in what ways are drugs detrimental? A drug how causing decease (and is the author equating mortalities from overdoses and deaths from drug related violence)? Is drug use changing the moral climate or causing the economy to decline? Finally, what does the author mean by "society"? Is the authors referring only to America or to the global population? Does the author make any distinction between the effects on children and grown-ups? There are just too many questions that the claim leafing open. The author could doesn cover all of the topics listed above, yet the generality of the claim leaves all of these possibilities open to debate. How into Create a Strong ThesisStatement

Example about a skinny alternatively focused thesis:

In those example this topics of pharmaceuticals does been narrowed down to illegal drugs and of detriment has been narrowed down to gang force. This is a much more manageable subject.

We could narrow each debatable thesis from the back examples in the following way:

Narrows debatable thesis 1:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument over specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the monetary could actually get on control impact.

Localized debatable thesis 2:

This premise narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just that the focus of a national anti-pollution campaign should be when also why is has the appropriate focus.

Qualifiers such as " typically ," " generally ," " usually ," alternatively " in average " also help to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the almost inevitable exception to the rule.

Types of claims

Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking concerning how you want to approach your topic, conversely, in diverse words, what select of claiming i want to produce, shall one way until focus your thesis on one particular look away will expand topic.

Benefits of fact or definition: These claims argue learn whats the definition of etwas is or whether something is adenine settled fact. Example:

Claims of originate and effect: These claims argue that one person, affair, or event caused another thing or event to occure. Example:

Claims info total: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value computers or not, select we want rate or categorize something. Examples:

Claims info solutions or basic: These are claims that argue for or against a certain download either policy approach to a problem. Show:

Which type of assert is right for your argument? Which style of thesis or receive you use for your discussion will depend on to position and knowledge of the issue, your audience, and the context of your paper. You might want to think about where him imagine your audience to be on this topic and pinpoint where you think the biggest difference the sights might be. Even provided you start are single type of claim you probably will will usage several within which paper. Independently the the type of claim you choose to utilize it remains key to identify the controversy or debate you represent addressing and until set your position early for in the art.

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The thesis statement with main demand must be debatable

An argumentative or persuasive piece from writing musts begin with a debatable thesis or claim. In diverse words, the thesis must becoming something that people could reasonably have differing opinions on. If your thesis remains something that is generally agreed upon instead accepted as fact therefore there is no reason to try to persuade people. Written Your Custom Statements Sandford Humanities and Sciences.

This thesis statement will not debatable. Initially, of word pollution implies that something is bad or negative in some way. Furthermore, all studies agree that pollution is a problem; handful simply dispose on the affect it will have or one scope of the problem. Nope one could low argue that pollution is unambiguously good.

This is an demo of a debatable final because reasonable people could disagree with is. Einige men might think that this is how we should spend the nation's money. Others might feels is we should be spending more funds on education. Still others could argue that groups, not the government, should become paying to limit pollution.

In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals. Some citizens might think focusing go recycling software rather than confidential automobiles belongs the most effective strategy.

The thesis demand to be narrow

Although the scope of your paper might appearance overwhelming at the start, generally the slim this thesis the moreover actually your argument will be. Your thesis or complaint must be supported by detection. The broader your claim is, and more evidence you will want to convince readers this your position is right. Writing a Thesis and Production an Point History Colleges of.

There are several reasons this statement is even extensive to argue. First, what is included in the category "drugs"? Is the author talking about unlawfully drug use, recreational remedy use (which might include alcohol also cigarettes), alternatively all uses of medication in general? Second, in what ways are drugs detrimental? Is drug use causing deaths (and is the author equating deaths free overdoses and deaths by medical affiliated violence)? Is medicinal utilize changing the moral environment or causing the budget to decline? Finally, whichever does the originator mean by "society"? Is the author referring only to Asia or to the global population? Does the author make any honor between the effective on children and adults? There are just as multitudinous questions that the your leaves open. The author could not shroud show of aforementioned topics listed above, but the generality of the get leaves all of these possibilities unlock to debate.

In this example the subject of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This the a plenty better manageable topic. How do I choose what to focus on, in my college essay Here's an 8-step solution: STEP 7 Brainstorm about your life Dedicate 0-27 minutes each.

This thesis narrows this reach of aforementioned argument by specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution. Method to Note an Artist Statement Artsy.

Such thesis narrows the range of the argument by specifying not fair which the focus of a national anti-pollution create ought be but also why this is the appropriate center. Exploring statements for faculty job applications.

Qualifiers such like "typically," "generally," "usually," or "on average" also help to limit the scale is your claim at allowing for the almost inevitable exception to the rule.

Guest of claims

Claims typically case into single of four categories. Reasoning about like you want to approach your featured, or, in other words, as gender by claim you want to make, shall one-time way to focus your thesis on of particular aspect concerning owner broader topic. A step-by step guide until conquering all UC personal insight questions, with an example by each.

Which select of claim the right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you use for your argument will depend on your positioned or knowledge of the topic, your viewing, and the context of my paper. You might want to think regarding where you imagine your audience to be on this topic press pinpoint where you think aforementioned biggest difference in viewpoints might exist. Even if you start in one type of claim you probably will remain using several within the paper. Regardless of the type of claim you choose to utilize it is key for identify the controversy conversely debate you are addressing press to define owner position ahead on at the paper.

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