Thesis of an essay

Thesis of an essay

Can a Thesis Statement Be a Quote?,Table of contents

WebA 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 WebDeveloping A Thesis First, analyze your primary sources.. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the Once you have a working WebTips for Writing Your Thesis Statement 1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing: An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the WebWriting an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present WebFeb 4,  · A good thesis isn’t just a statement of fact, but a claim that requires evidence and explanation. The goal is to clearly convey your own position in a debate or your ... read more

But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea. Table of contents What is a thesis statement? Placement of the thesis statement Step 1: Start with a question Step 2: Write your initial answer Step 3: Develop your answer Step 4: Refine your thesis statement Types of thesis statements Frequently asked questions about thesis statements. A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why. The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction. Example of an essay introduction The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education.

The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers. You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process. You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own.

What would you like to find out or decide about your topic? After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process. Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed. Argumentative thesis statement The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information. Expository thesis statement The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic. Everything else you write should relate to this key idea. The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:. Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say. Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :. The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction. McCombes, S. Have a language expert improve your writing. Proofreading Services. Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes.

You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be. An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no. Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble.

It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"? A 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 your essay. Steps in Constructing a Thesis. First, analyze your primary sources. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis.

Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis. Once you have a working thesis, write it down. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have. Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.

A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter page essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb. Anticipate the counterarguments. Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay.

Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument. This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

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. Wells Library E. Bloomington, IN Twitter Facebook Instagram.

How to Write an Essay Introduction | 4 Steps & Examples,Should I express my opinion as a quote in the thesis statement of an essay?

WebFeb 4,  · A good thesis isn’t just a statement of fact, but a claim that requires evidence and explanation. The goal is to clearly convey your own position in a debate or your WebWriting an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present WebDeveloping A Thesis First, analyze your primary sources.. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the Once you have a working WebA 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 WebWhile quotes can be used to support your argument in the body of the essay, the thesis statement should be a clear, concise, and well-crafted sentence that states your position WebTips for Writing Your Thesis Statement 1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing: An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the ... read more

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction. You start out with a thesis statement like this: Sugar consumption. Everything else you write should relate to this key idea. Knowing about essay structure and the writing process is one thing, but can you demonstrate an understanding of language style? New York: Pearson. Citation Generator.

Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College Accessibility Digital Accessibility Report Copyright Infringement. Grammarly helps catch common mistakes with thesis of an essay structure—like run-on sentences, sentence fragments, passive voice, and more. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. It dictates the information readers need to know and the order in which they need to receive it, thesis of an essay. I have introduced the topic with necessary background information.