Writing a Thesis Statement



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Writing a Thesis Statement

Thesis Statement--What is it?

The thesis statement is a clear, brief sentence that tells the position you will defend in your paper. It is an answer to a question you raise in your paper or an idea you seek to defend. It does not announce a topic.

A thesis statement should be very clear as it announces your topic and your point, and limited in scope, so that writing your essay is a managed task. Most often, thesis statements will be either argumentative or explanatory in nature. Either way, you are convincing your reader to think as you do about your topic.

It is focused and specific enough to be proven within the boundaries of the paper.

DO: “ X has made a significant impact on the teenage population due to

its…”

DON’T: It does not announce a topic: “In this paper I will discuss X” or

“Martin Luther King Jr. took a stand against racism.”

Tips for Writing a Thesis Statement

1) Should be written as a fact, not a question.

2) Review your research and ask: What am I claiming?

What are the reasons I have to support it?

What order do I present the reasons?

3) Avoid hard- to-define words in your thesis statement. Use key words that are specific, accurate, and indicate the range of your research, the angle of your argument, and the organization of your supporting information.

-Empty, nonspecific words such as interesting, bad, good, wonderful, cool, etc. should NOT be used. These words carry little meaning and are hard to define. Your words should show a sharper focus.

4) Must be supported with specific evidence.

Examples

• This thesis or central idea shows that… Motown was seen as a form of empowerment to African-American in the 1960s because it was a company owned by a black man, the majority of its employees were black, and the music it produced sent a message of hope and social justice to the African American community during a time of riots, revolution, and readjustment of the American dream.

• The first one or two paragraphs (or points) after the introduction deal with…How a black man by the name of Barry Gordy came to develop Motown Records and how his musical stars, as well as non-musical employees, were for the most part African American.

• The third paragraph (or point) after the introduction deals with …The message in Motown’s music was one of hope and social justice.

• All paragraphs will have the common thread of… The 1960s were a time of riots, revolution, and readjustment of the American dream, especially in the eyes of Americans of color.

To Deepen your Thesis

• To add a reason: include a reason-clause beginning with because, or if, or a phrase beginning with by or in order to.

Ex. Because of their emphasis on the broad impact of individual

decisions, environmentalists exhibit values consistent with the American tradition of civic mindedness.

• To acknowledge an alternative point-of-view or reason, or to limit the scope of your claim, add a concession-clause beginning with although, while, or even though, or a phrase beginning with despite or regardless of.

Ex. Although Emma and Levin define spirituality differently, their

Self-centered perspectives confine them to a state of permanent disillusionment.

Common Problems

An effective thesis is more than a title, a statement of fact, or an announcement of your subject. It is neither too broad nor too narrow.

Title: Motown Records: Riots, Revolutions, and Readjustment of the American Dream

Claim/Statement of Fact: Motown in the 1960s was seen as an entity of empowerment during the times of the Civil Rights Movement in America.

Thesis too broad: Motown songs were full of the messages of civil rights.

Thesis too narrow: Motown musicians supported the Civil Rights Movement.

Better thesis statement: Motown was seen as a form of empowerment to African-Americans in the 1960s because it was a company owned by a black man, the majority of its employees were black, and the music it produced sent a message of hope and social justice to the African-American community during a time of riots, revolution, and readjustment of the American dream.

Where does it go?

Your thesis statement appears as the last sentences in your introductory paragraph so readers will have a clear idea of what to expect. In longer papers, the thesis can be expressed as several sentences or an entire paragraph.

What a good thesis statement does

• Suggests that there is information about which readers know little

• Asserts that there is a problem/makes a claim

• Offers a solution to the problem/provides evidence to support the claim

• Makes a statement of cause and effect

• Predicts consequences

Goal:

To convince your reader your claim is true based on reasons/evidence you presented.

Testing your thesis statement:

Run your thesis statement through the test to determine if it needs revision. Ask the following questions about your thesis statement:

✓ Does it make a point and accurately reflect the claim and topic?

✓ Does it pull together the main ideas without trying to individually name them? (If your research paper is on Motown music, but your thesis statement is on music in general, you haven’t narrowed the focus enough)

✓ Is it specific to the topic, not vague or abstract?

Thesis Tips

• Don’t confuse topic and thesis. A topic is the subject you are exploring, but does not show anything about your theories or conclusions.

• Don’t make the theme the end of your thesis statement.

Ex: If racism is your theme: “Martin Luther King Jr. took a stand against racism.”

Do use the theme as something that caused something else to happen.

Ex: If racism is your theme: “Because Martin Luther King Jr. took a stand against racism, he became the media’s spokesperson for the United States civil rights movement and helped the movement gain popular support and ultimate success.”

• In one sentence, you explain why your subject is important, how it relates to the theme, and what your essay will prove.

• After your thesis, the rest of your essay should support, explain, discuss, and prove your thesis.

• A concise thesis statement should appear at the beginning of your process paper.

Developing Your Thesis

Moving from Topic to Argument

A thesis is a promise to your readers that you are about to discuss a specific topic and convince them to believe what you’re stating about something. In other words, the thesis statement is the backbone of your claim. The true thesis of your paper may actually change as you write, and that’s OK. Often, you will discover the argument guiding your observations as you work, and will then be able to go back and revise the original thesis to better fit your argument.

A thesis is not a topic, but it builds from one. First, look at the following statement, which has a topic, but no thesis components:

Flannery O’Connor uses local color in her story “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

Now, note how that contrasts with a statement that has both a topic and the beginnings of a thesis statement:

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor’s use of local color reveals that racism still exists in the post-World War II South.

Though the writer is working toward a thesis, she is still only making an observation, albeit an interesting one. A true thesis goes even deeper.

Look at how the next example takes what is already a good observation and makes it much more specific:

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor’s use of local color reveals that tension exists between the grandmother, who represents the racist South, and the generation of her son Bailey, who represents the South in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. Interestingly, the youngest generation – the grandchildren John Wesley and June Star – does not continue the Civil Rights Movement, but takes up with the grandmother’s racist viewpoint. In terms of history, then, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” suggests that progress in equal rights will not move steadily forward, but will be set back again and again, as new generations forget the lessons of the previous generation.

As you can see, the first example only offers an observation; however, in the third example, the author has taken the next step to form an opinion based on that observation.

Key Phrases You May See in Successful Thesis Statements:

• reveals that

• suggests

• points to

• can be traced to

• means that

• represents

• symbolizes

• can be interpreted as

• leads readers to believe that

• challenges readers to

• can be taken a step further to

• is directly connected to

• can be argued to

• relies upon

• is rooted in

• allows readers to discover

• contradicts

• challenges

• is ironic because

• makes readers understand that

Presenting Evidence: The (Often) Forgotten Piece of the Thesis Puzzle

In addition to promising the reader a topic and an argument, a successful thesis usually does one more thing: it also lets the reader know what steps it will take to prove that argument.  

Compare:

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor’s use of local color reveals that racism still exists in the post-World War II South.

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor’s use of local color reveals that tension exists between the grandmother, who represents the racist South, and the generation of her son Bailey, who represents the South in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement.  Interestingly, the youngest generation – the grandchildren John Wesley and June Star – does not continue the Civil Rights Movement, but takes up with the grandmother’s racist viewpoint.  In terms of history, then, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” suggests that progress in equal rights will not move steadily forward, but will be set back again and again, as new generations forget the lessons of the previous generation. [thesis statement] To understand the way local color functions in the story, it is necessary to look at setting, character description, and dialogue. [essay map]

The reader will expect to hear about how setting, character description, and dialogue support the writer’s thesis—and will probably expect to hear about each one in that order. By providing an overview of the types of evidence you will use to prove your point, you have “mapped out” the structure of the essay.

After indicating the kinds of evidence you will use to prove your thesis, you have pretty much written a complete introduction.  All that’s missing now is an attention-getter and, if needed, a transition to the first paragraph!

Crafting the Thesis Statement

A good thesis is restricted, almost bite-sized.

| The world is a terrible mess. |vs. |Trade barriers contribute to |

| | |international tensions. |

| Old age has many difficulties. |vs. |The worst part of being old is the |

| | |loneliness. |

| Crime must be stopped. |vs. | Our courts should hand out tougher |

| | |sentences. |

A good thesis is concise.

|Arizona's new health program is |vs. |Arizona's new health program has several|

|excellent, but it has several drawbacks,| |drawbacks. |

|and it should be run only on an | | |

|experimental basis for two or three | | |

|years. | | |

A good thesis is specific, not vague.

|Hemingway's war stories are really good.|vs. |Hemingway's war stories helped to create|

| | |a new prose style. |

A thesis is not a title.

|The Decline of Baseball |vs. |In recent years, baseball has |

| | |experienced a significant decline in |

| | |popularity. |

|Inflation and Old Age |vs. |Continuing inflation makes it almost |

| | |impossible to plan intelligently for |

| | |one's retirement. |

A thesis is not an announcement of the subject.

|My subject is the incompetence of |vs. |Professor Doolittle is incompetent at |

|Professor Doolittle. | |teaching and researching. |

|I want to share some thoughts with you |vs. |Our space program is a waste of money. |

|about our space program | | |

 A thesis is not a statement of absolute fact.

|The capital of California is Sacramento.|vs. |Sacramento is a great place to live. |

|Jane Austen is the author of Pride and |vs. |Pride and Prejudice is boring. |

|Prejudice. | | |

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