THESIS WRITING STATEMENTS
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. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. For
example, if your assignment is, Write a report to the local school board explaining the
potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class, turn the request into a
question like, What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade
class? After youve chosen the question your essay will answer, compose one or two
complete sentences answering that question.
Q: What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?
A: The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .
OR
A: Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to improve . . .
The answer to the question is the thesis statement for the essay.
How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned.
Even if your assignment doesnt ask a specific question, your thesis statement still
needs to answer a question about the issue youd like to explore. In this situation, your
job is to figure out what question youd like to write about.
A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:
take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree
deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment
express one main idea
assert your conclusions about a subject
Lets see how to generate a thesis statement for a social policy paper.
Brainstorm the topic.Lets say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by
changes in the dietary habits of Americans. You find that you are interested in the
amount of sugar Americans consume.
You start out with a thesis statement like this:
Sugar consumption.
This fragment isnt a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject.
Furthermore, your reader doesnt know what you want to say about sugar consumption.
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.
You change your thesis to look like this:
Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.
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. You should note that this fragment is not a thesis statement
because your reader doesnt know your conclusions on the topic.
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.
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.
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.
This statement is specific, but it isnt a thesis. 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.
******note statement (+)(b/c) rationale with support details or examples.********
Notice how the answers thesis the question, What should be done to reduce sugar
consumption by children, and who should do it? When you started thinking about the
paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you became more
involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect
your new insights.
How 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 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:
There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea
Supplement.
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.
This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.
2. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion.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:
My family is an extended family.
This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. Your reader wont be
able to tell the point of the statement, and will probably stop reading.
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 widelyaccepted 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.
3. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea.
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.
This is a weak thesis statement because the reader cant decide whether the paper is
about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. 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.
4. A strong thesis statement is specific.
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:
World hunger has many causes and effects.
This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger cant be
discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. 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.
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