How to make a thesis statement for an essay

How to make a thesis statement for an essay

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 2. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion. 3. A strong thesis statement expresses Tips 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 issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience. An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 3 Steps & Examples

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft. Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying.

Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life, how to make a thesis statement for an essay. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing.

After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft.

The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement.

When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information. A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment.

Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts such as surprising contrasts or similaritiesand think about the significance of these relationships.

Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way. Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming.

Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :. You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:. Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters. This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children, how to make a thesis statement for an essay. Now you write:.

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore. This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content.

Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation. We consulted these works while writing this handout. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback. Anson, Chris M. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers6th ed. New York: Longman. Lunsford, Andrea A. The St. Ramage, John D. Bean, and June Johnson. New York: Pearson. Ruszkiewicz, John J. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writershow to make a thesis statement for an essay, 9th ed. How to make a thesis statement for an essay Pearson Education.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4. You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of How to make a thesis statement for an essay Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Creating a Thesis Statement, Thesis Statement Tips // Purdue Writing Lab

After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper Tips 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 issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience. An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience Jan 11,  · Coming up with a thesis. Step 1: Start with a question. You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to Step 2: Write your initial answer. Step 3: Develop your answer. Reviews: 2