What is a Thesis Statement



What is a Thesis Statement?

It is a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. It answers the question raised in your essay, uses specific language, makes an assertion on clearly stated support, and narrows the topic.

Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement?

• to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two

• to better organize and develop your argument

• to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument

1. Weak:

The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same and some different.

Better:

While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions.

Even better:

While both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their own right to self-government.

2. Weak:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

Better:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave "civilized" society and go back to nature.

3. Weak:

My family is an extended family.

Better:

While most American families would view consanguine marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family.

4. Very weak:

Sugar consumption is bad.

Weak:

Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children is good.

Better:

More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children.

Even better:

Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

5. Weak:

World hunger has many causes and effects.

Much better:

Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.

Three examples of a focused thesis on the topic of drugs:

1 ) Illegal drug use is detrimental because it encourages gang violence.

• In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This is a much more manageable topic.

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

2) At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on helping upgrade business to clean technologies, researching renewable energy sources, and planting more trees in order to control or eliminate pollution.

• This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution.

3) America's anti-pollution efforts should focus on privately owned cars because it would allow most citizens to contribute to national efforts and care about the outcome.

• This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus of a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate focus. Qualifiers such as "typically," "generally," "usually," or "on average" also help to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the almost inevitable exception to the rule.

More Examples

Expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent studying, attending class, and socializing with peers.

Argumentative thesis statement:

High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness.

Claims of cause and effect:

1 ) The popularity of SUVs in America has caused pollution to increase.

• These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur.

2) Gun laws are the cause of much violent crime in America, and they need to be changed to make it easier for Americans to purchase handguns, carry them as concealed weapons, and better protect themselves.

3) Gun laws are the cause of much violent crime in America, and the best way to resolve the problem is to change the laws so that owning an illegal firearm carries a very stiff prison sentence for first time offenders.

• 2 and 3 are both about gun laws causing violent crime in America, but they take different approaches to the solution—one is about facilitating gun ownership for protection and the other is about stiffening laws in order to prevent potential offenders from owning one.

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