Thesis Statements

A thesis statement is…

…a statement that express the main point of your paper in the form of an assertion.

…a sentence in which you state a claim (attitude/opinion) about your subject.

A thesis statement is not…

…a sentence stating your topic.

            …a statement of fact or truth.  (A thesis statement should be debatable!)

A good thesis statement…

…holds your paper together.  Every paragraph of your paper should explain a part of your thesis.

            …states your true opinion about a subject that interests you.

            …is one that you will be able to support with evidence.

To write a thesis statement, follow these steps:

1)      Pick a subject that you can have an opinion about.

“Trees of the rainforest” is not a very good subject.

“The destruction of rainforest trees” is a better subject.

            2)  Discover what opinion you can have about your subject; take a stance!

                        “I think that the destruction of rainforest trees is unacceptable!”

3)      List reasons/facts that support your opinion.

a.       Rainforest trees keep our air clean.

b.      Rainforest trees are beautiful.

c.       Rainforest trees are homes to many different species of animals.

d.      Rainforest trees are some of the oldest living trees on our planet.

4)      Put the pieces together to form the assertion that you will prove throughout your paper. 

“The destruction of rainforest trees is unacceptable as it causes many problems for our planet.”

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Central Idea or Thesis Statement

Every essay must be built around a sentence that we call a thesis statement or central idea.  The thesis is actually a brief statement of the main point you want to make in your paper.

1)      Each essay must have only one thesis statement.

2)      All other ideas must be closely tied to the thesis statement by answering “How” or “Why” or “What” to the thesis.

3)      Generally, the thesis is expressed as a sentence in the introductory paragraph of your essay in order to tell the reader what the paper is about.  (Note: A thesis also tells you where you are going and prevents you from putting in irrelevant ideas.)

4)      The thesis statement must be limited in scope to fit your knowledge and the space you have to develop the idea.

“Minnesota must clean up the pollution in its rivers.” This thesis statement is too broad to be thoroughly developed in a three page essay. 

The statement, “The pollution in my favorite fishing lake could be cleaned up in a matter of weeks if people would only decided to do so” limits the thesis to a topic that can be adequately addressed in three pages.

Likewise, sports is a very broad topic that should be limited to a smaller idea.  “Deer hunting is an expensive sport” might be an acceptable thesis.

5)      A statement of fact does not make a suitable thesis statement because it does not        

make an arguable assertion. Your thesis must make an assertion that you need to support and defend.

The thesis “We saw Carlsbad Caverns” leads nowhere. By saying, “We found the Carlsbad Caverns weird and fantastic” you can proceed to tell how and why the caverns were weird and fantastic.

                                  Paragraphs

Usually, the body of your paper will be made of several paragraphs, each presenting one main sub-point that helps to prove or to explain your thesis statement.  Each paragraph usually begins with a topic sentence—a statement that tells the reader what point you plan to explain in that paragraph.  Thus, the topic sentence controls what you put in the paragraph just as the thesis controls the contents of the entire paper.  Remember that each topic sentence must say something directly related to the thesis.  The sentences within the paragraph must all explain, clarify or illustrate the topic sentence.