thesis statement

Examples of thesis statement in the following topics:

• Turning Your Claim Into a Thesis Statement

  • These four elements go into making a strong thesis statement.
  • The thesis statement, or problem statement, is central to your argument.
  • Obviously, not all thesis statements read exactly like the formula above.
  • Thesis statements do not need impressive rhetoric or copious detail.
  • Compose a clear and concise thesis statement at the beginning of your writing process

• Introduction to the Thesis Statement

  • A strong thesis statement is specific, focused, and holds tension between ideas.
  • And it all began with his provocative statement: his thesis.
  • There is more than one way to write a thesis statement for an academic paper.
  • Once you have a thesis statement, you'll want to gather evidence both for and against the statement.
  • Make a list of the strongest arguments for and against your thesis statement.

• Introduction and Thesis

  • In academic writing, the introduction and thesis statement form the foundation of your paper.
  • A thesis statement is a brief summary of your paper's purpose and central claim.
  • The statement without a thesis: A statement of a fact, opinion, or topic is not a thesis.
  • Push the thesis statement beyond the level of a topic statement, and make an argument.
  • The vague thesis: If your thesis statement is too general, it will not provide a "road map" for readers.

• Generating Further Questions

  • A thesis statement, by making a claim or challenging one, is bound to generate further questions.
  • Thesis statement: The utopian vision presented in Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward has made the novel popular with politically progressive groups since the late 19th century.
  • A thesis statement implicitly answers a multitude of unasked questions.
  • As your writing progresses, you should analyze your thesis statement and think about what questions it answers.
  • Your thesis statement stages the overall claim of your paper.

• Topic Sentences

  • When you created your outline, you wrote your thesis statement and then all the claims you are using to support it.
  • Each paragraph will begin by making a claim (your topic sentence) that connects back to your thesis.
  • Concluding sentence: gives the paragraph closure by relating the claim back to the topic sentence and thesis statement.
  • Topic sentences should always connect back to and support your thesis statement.
  • The topic may relate to your thesis statement, but you'll need to be more specific here.

• Approaches to Your Concluding Paragraph

  • The conclusion, while not adding new information to the argument, can inspire readers to believe the paper's thesis.
  • The concluding paragraph (or, rarely, paragraphs) summarizes the argument, showing how it supports the thesis.
  • Its purpose is to leave readers with a strong sense of the argument, thereby encouraging them to adopt the thesis as their own.
  • It can be effective to begin the conclusion with the thesis statement, after a transition stem, such as, "It's now quite clear that ... ," or "As we have seen, the preponderance of evidence shows us that ..."
  • You needn't necessarily repeat the thesis statement word for word, but its essence should be the same as it was written in the introduction.

• Approaches to Your Introductory Paragraph

  • A common interpretation of the funnel structure is to start very broad and sift down to the thesis, but if you start too broad, you will lose your audience in the first line.
  • Leading them from your claims to your thesis, which is generally at the bottom of the "funnel," is also a subtle act of persuasion, whispering, "Once I've proven all of these points, you'll see that [my thesis] must be true."
  • What you want to do here is simply draw a line from your opening to your thesis statement, using your claims.
  • Together, they create the thesis.
  • In this paragraph, the example in the opening takes us through the claims, getting us closer to the thesis.

• Approaches to Your Body Paragraphs

  • Like your thesis, each topic sentence is an arguable statement, not a fact.
  • If you're having difficulty formulating a topic sentence, you can write the following stem: "One reason I believe my thesis statement is true is this:" and then complete the sentence.
  • One reason I believe my thesis statement is true is this: The imagery in the opening lines of [Frost's poem] "Home Burial" immediately evokes the tension between husband and wife.
  • Check to see whether the statement sums up one of your claims.
  • The evidence can both prove the problem statement and begin to reveal the thesis-related solution.

• Step 4: Drafting

  • Your thesis will condense a series of claims into one or two sentences.
  • Your paper's opening lets the reader know what the topic is and, usually, leads him or her to your thesis statement.  
  • Don't limit yourself to pedantic facts that plod toward the thesis statement.
  • You make it interesting by making strong statements.
  • Can you find the thesis?

• Deciphering an Argument You're Reading

  • Every text should contain a thesis, or main point, that an author is demonstrating as a text moves forward.
  • ", which means that the author is preparing to introduce the thesis.
  • Either way, it is important to discover the author's thesis, as the main body of an argument, however long or divided, should ideally be continually moving toward proving the thesis in the reader's mind.
  • How does the author's thesis relate to this quote?
  • Judge which statements in a source are the thoughts of the author and which are ideas from other sources in order to cite sources accurately