Thesis statement

The best place in an essay for the thesis statement is generally... 

Choose topics and develop tentative thesis statements for the other three brainstorming exercises you completed in Lessons 3 and 4. 

In this lesson, you ll learn how to create a rough draft from your brainstorming notes. You ll also find out how to craft a strong thesis statement. 

Keep your thesis statement and assignment in front of you at all times. This will keep you focused on what... 

A good thesis statement makes a strong, clear assertion that conveys your attitude about the subject. 

A good thesis statement strikes the right balance between too broad and too narrow. It needs to be focused enough to encompass just enough material to cover within the spatial confines of the essay, and narrow enough to include enough material that can be supported by evidence. 

A thesis statement is not simply an announcement of the subject matter. You need to tell readers what you are going to say about your subject. 

Thesis statement The Great Depression was caused neither by the stock market crash of 1929 nor the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act. 

A thesis statement is not simply a question or list of questions. You still need to tell your reader what idea you are going to develop in your essay (the answer to one or more of your questions). 

Question Thesis statement Why did Kafka choose to turn Gregor into a giant beetle Gregor s transformation into a giant beetle is a powerful symbol representing his industrious nature and his role in his family both before and after his transformation. 

A thesis statement is not simply a statement of fact. It must be an assertion that conveys your ideas about the subject. ... 

Thesis statement Both the Perrault and Grimm Brothers versions of Little Red Riding Hood reveal the authors negative attitudes toward women. 

While there is no rule that states exactly where you should place your thesis statement, because it helps your reader by identifying your purpose, it should appear within the first or second paragraph of your essay. You want your reader to know before they read too much what idea you will develop. Think of it this way Imagine someone you don t know calls you on the phone. After she introduces herself, you expect that she ll tell you why she s calling. What does she want If she doesn t tell you, you could become annoyed, suspicious, and even angry. You deserve the courtesy of an explanation, and so does your reader. That explanation is your thesis statement. 

While you should have a good working thesis statement to lead you through your draft, it s important to remember that even that statement is a draft. It s your preliminary version, and as you write, you may find you need to revise it. Be flexible. It makes more sense to revise it based on what you ve written (if the writing works) than to revise a decent draft to fit your thesis. 

Revise and improve the following weak thesis statements. 

Drafts are rough versions of your essay—a chance to get ideas on paper so you can shape them into an effective essay. To get started, draft a thesis statement that makes a strong assertion about your subject. Be sure it s focused and avoid simply making an announcement, asking a question or stating a fact. 

Read a couple of essays and look for their thesis statements. How do the authors convey their main idea Where is the thesis statement located ... 

Topic sentences are like mini thesis statements. Just as your thesis statement expressed the main idea of your essay, topic sentences express the main idea of each paragraph. Like a thesis, the main idea must ... 

You are writing an essay on the subject of censorship on the Internet. Take a stance on this issue and write a brief thesis statement on a separate sheet of paper or on your computer. Then, come up with three supporting points. Next, play devil s advocate and list three points the opposition might make. Finally, write a brief paragraph in which you acknowledge one of those points. 

Clearly state the main point of the essay. Your readers should know from the beginning what idea you will be developing throughout the essay. A clear thesis statement is a key component of an effective introduction. (See Lesson 9 for a review of thesis statements.) In the previous example, the last sentence expresses the main idea of the essay—the question, and its relevance today. 

Choosing the latter, she revised her thesis once more and created the following thesis statement ... 

Once you ve identified the controlling idea of each paragraph, check to see that each idea is sufficiently developed. Topic sentences, like thesis statements, make assertions about your subject. And those assertions need support. Look carefully at any paragraph that consists of only one or two sentences. Chances are, they re seriously underdeveloped. The only time you should have a one-sentence paragraph is when you intentionally decide to emphasize the idea in that sentence. 

Set a timer for five minutes. Draft a thesis statement and create an outline for the following sample SAT essay prompt ... 

The time you spend planning for and preparing to take an essay exam can mean the difference between a great score and a poor one. Do your homework by researching your exam Understand how it s scored, what type of prompt(s) you ll encounter, what the directions say, and even how much space you ll be given to write in. Learn how to respond quickly to a prompt by practicing Come up with a thesis statement and outline in just five minutes or less. 

Gather a couple of sample prompts online or from other books about your exam (see the Additional Resources section for a list of books and online resources). Set the timer for five minutes and practice writing thesis statements and outlines. The more you practice, the easier it will be to plan your essay on exam day. 

PRETE 26. A thesis statement should always be clear 30. Similar to having strong opinions, a... 

Sit down, resist the temptation to open a book or browse the Internet, and ask yourself these 5 W s. All good thesis statements contain these 5 W s, and good pieces of writing usually answer the 5 W s within the first paragraph, sometimes within the very first sentence. 

You can also put important information from a book or an article into your own words. This is called paraphrasing, and it simply means that you are summarizing an author s thoughts and ideas. A good way to assess or evaluate what kinds of information you can paraphrase on your note cards is to remember the 5 W s that you used when you wrote your thesis statement. Any information or statement that addresses the fundamental questions, who, what, where, when, and why is usually important and critical. For example, let s revisit the topic of President John F. Kennedy in the excerpt that follows. The task is to decide what is important and how to record and/or paraphrase the necessary facts. Let s look at different ways that you might put the information into your own words or how you can quote it directly. As you practice, remember that you are always striving to be accurate and precise as you paraphrase. 

THESIS STATEMENT = President Kennedy s assassination was not the result of a conspiracy or specific plot, but the work of a lone, angry assailant. 

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