How to write a thesis statement for a essay

How to write a thesis statement for a essay

How to Write a Thesis Statement,What is a thesis statement?

WebA 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 WebHow to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One. 1. A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand. Remember that your thesis needs to show your WebOct 6,  · How To Write A Thesis Statement For A Descriptive Essay October 6, Umer Table of Contents 1 Opening Remarks 2 Descriptive Essay Writing 3 A WebSep 16,  · How to write a thesis statement in 3 steps 1 Brainstorm the best topic for your essay. You can’t write a thesis statement until you know what your paper is WebDec 29,  · A thesis statement provides the foundation for your entire research paper or essay. This statement is the central assertion that you want to express in your essay. A ... read more

You can simply scan the thesis statements of several papers to see which match your topic and could be worthwhile sources to cite. The thesis statement is located at the beginning of a paper, in the opening paragraph, making it an essential way to start an essay. A thesis statement is often confused with a topic sentence , the first sentence in a paragraph, because they both introduce the central idea of what follows. You can think of thesis statements as the topic sentence of your entire paper. Thesis statements are a necessary part of paper and essay writing , but different formats have different rules and best practices.

Below, we break down how to write a thesis statement for the most common types of papers. Expository and argumentative essays are some of the most common types of academic papers. You want to take a stand right in the opening so that your readers understand what your paper is trying to show. Moreover, thesis statements for these essays should be specific, with some minor details to hint at the rest of the paper. If your paper dives into different subtopics or categories, try to fit them into the thesis statement if you can. Thesis statement examples. Similar to argumentative essays, persuasive essays follow many of the same guidelines for their thesis statements: decisive language, specific details, and mentions of subtopics.

However, the main difference is that, while the thesis statements for argumentative and expository essays state facts, the thesis statements for persuasive essays state clear opinions. Still, the format is the same, and the opinions are often treated like facts, including conclusive language and citing evidence to support your claims. Usually, the thesis statement will appear at the end of the first paragraph of your paper. An expository essay "exposes" the reader to a new topic; it informs the reader with details, descriptions, or explanations of a subject. If you are writing an expository essay , your thesis statement should explain to the reader what she will learn in your essay.

For example:. These statements provide a statement of fact about the topic not just opinion but leave the door open for you to elaborate with plenty of details. In an expository essay, you don't need to develop an argument or prove anything; you only need to understand your topic and present it in a logical manner. A good thesis statement in an expository essay always leaves the reader wanting more details. Before creating a thesis statement, it's important to ask a few basic questions, which will help you determine the kind of essay or paper you plan to create:.

In every thesis statement , you will give the reader a preview of your paper's content, but the message will differ a little depending on the essay type. If you have been instructed to take a stance on one side of a controversial issue, you will need to write an argument essay. Your thesis statement should express the stance you are taking and may give the reader a preview or a hint of your evidence. The thesis of an argument essay could look something like the following:. These thesis statements are effective because they offer opinions that can be supported by evidence. If you are writing an argument essay, you can craft your own thesis around the structure of the statements above.

In an analytical essay assignment, you will be expected to break down a topic, process, or object in order to observe and analyze your subject piece by piece. There is no end to this practice in sight soon. The approach to coming up with a solid thesis statement depends on the assignment and its writing approach. Is because of the reasons you should have a thesis statement in your essay:. To get your thesis statement to accomplish these goals, it is best to approach the process of formulating one based on the circumstances of the assignment and approach toward the topic. When a topic is assigned to a student to write a descriptive essay, it can always be stripped down to a single question, problem, or point, based on its reach and scope. Whether a topic or title is asking to do this, you can easily turn it into a question to answer it in a much better way.

For instance, if you need to write a descriptive essay on a stranger you helped in a market, it is best to turn it into a question, or a couple, and then answer them one by one and then distill it into a single one. You can easily do this by describing the traits and attributes of the person and then settling down on one or two that can easily define or make him alive for the readers. This thesis statement comes at the end of the introduction to foreshadow the contents of the main body for the readers. When a topic is assigned to you by the instructor, it is often easier to connect the dots and get to a question that can be answered in a thesis statement. When that is not the case, it is up to the writers to formulate a question and then come up with an answer. There are four important pointers you should keep in mind.

One, get a good number of people to disagree with what you are proposing. Second, choose a subject that can be reasonably dealt with given the scale and scope of the assignment. Third, formulate a single cohesive idea to tie it all. Fourth, propound your claims or findings in the conclusion. The workflow toward that goal starts with brainstorming an idea, then narrowing it down using specific language and focusing the narrative until it becomes concise enough to forward an exertion. Once you check all the boxes, you can cover the thesis statement masterfully. Just like any other form of writing, it is easy to do it, but hard to do it the best way. A thesis statement is easy to formulate but you need solid backing and support to create a lasting thesis statement that can stand the test of peers and critics.

The purpose of writing a descriptive essay is to show the readers what that subject is, be it a person, a thing, a place, or an event. This requires going through both subjective and objective details that can make it come alive on paper. Since a thesis is the distilled version of the whole narrative, it should reflect, and even assert, the subjective truth from the findings. Students should keep in mind that merely stating the problem or the issue is not a thesis statement. Merely suggesting the solution to the problem is not a thesis. They need to assert the claims and make others think it harder and even provoke them to turn it down or challenge it based on academic grounds. Discussion, inherently speaking, is a two-way process.

It means a party makes a claim that is either accepted and added to by the second party, is challenged and leads to other claims, and so on. This follows the same steps of the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis where society grows based on ideas. Sometimes, the rationale behind connecting dots with a thesis is to challenge widely-held beliefs. For instance, if you are writing a descriptive essay on a person who is universally believed to be a monster, you can unearth facts and forward the claim that he was indeed mentally ill and did what he did because of his maladies. Many students make the mistake of formulating multiple ideas or stances in a single thesis. They shortlist findings based on their inclination toward the subject and base the statement on those ideas.

There is no denying that this process is indeed formidable, but it is not the right one. Since the purpose of writing a descriptive essay is to highlight the vices and virtues of the subject under consideration, readers should have empirical takeaways when they depart from the essay. They should be able to pinpoint the central idea or the theme of the essay that was immortalized by the thesis statement. It can also be said that the primary idea in the thesis is the thread that binds the whole narrative together. When a writer sets out to write a descriptive essay, he needs to balance certain things so that the finished product can hold on its own. Apart from preliminary research and outlining, there are not many things that can keep the writer from swaying away from the main topic, except the thesis statement.

We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement. In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores. Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic. Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. Brainstorm the topic. You find that you are interested in the amount of sugar Americans consume.

Instead, it simply indicates a general subject. Narrow the topic. Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far more sugar than is healthy. This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school children. Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who should do it. Take a position on the topic. After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.

More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children. This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are vague. Use specific language. You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices , so you write:. Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion. Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:.

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. Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights. Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate. Here are two thesis statements:. This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague. Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.

Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:. This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. While most American families would view consanguineal 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. This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view. A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.

Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. For example:. Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write:. Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support. This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because , since , so , although , unless , and however.

A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:. This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this:. Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable. This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger. Home Writing Guides How to Write a Thesis Statement.

How to Write a Thesis Statement. How to Write a Thesis Statement What is a Thesis Statement? Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement? How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement? How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. You start out with a thesis statement like this: Sugar consumption. You change your thesis to look like this: Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children. You revise your thesis statement to look like this: More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children.

You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices , so you write: Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this: 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. A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand.

Here are two thesis statements: There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement. This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements: My family is an extended family. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea. For example: Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.

One way to revise the thesis would be to write: Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support. A strong thesis statement is specific. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say: World hunger has many causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this: Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable. Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Writing Tutorial Services Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education.

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How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement,Quick Links

WebHow to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One. 1. A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand. Remember that your thesis needs to show your WebOct 6,  · How To Write A Thesis Statement For A Descriptive Essay October 6, Umer Table of Contents 1 Opening Remarks 2 Descriptive Essay Writing 3 A WebSep 16,  · How to write a thesis statement in 3 steps 1 Brainstorm the best topic for your essay. You can’t write a thesis statement until you know what your paper is WebOften, students find it hard to write an essay. Not everyone knows that one of the best ways to start an essay is know what you want to write about, and that WebA 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 WebDec 29,  · A thesis statement provides the foundation for your entire research paper or essay. This statement is the central assertion that you want to express in your essay. A ... read more

Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel. Third, formulate a single cohesive idea to tie it all. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:. However, you can consult an expert or a teacher, as each teacher may have different rules for essays. If you are writing an argument essay, you can craft your own thesis around the structure of the statements above.

Although it revolves around a single subject, the structure of a descriptive essay is well-defined, with three sections. A good thesis statement in an expository essay always leaves the reader wanting more details. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information. Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. related articles How Long Does It Take To Write An Essay Of Words. If your paper how to write a thesis statement for a essay into different subtopics or categories, try to fit them into the thesis statement if you can.