A Guide to Writing an Effective
Thesis Statement
Mr. Smith-Hunterdon Central Regional High School
You are about to embark on the most challenging, yet most important issue
standing between you and the successful completion of your research paper. This
guide/exercise will help explain what a good thesis entails and how it is created. If
after this exercise you still have questions about how to write a thesis statement you
must make time during tutorial to meet with me about this important issue!
What is a thesis statement?
It is a sentence in your paper that states the topic and the focus of your paper. While it is
usually one sentence, it can sometimes be two sentences.
A thesis statement reveals the “focus” you are making about the topic.
A thesis statement is a very specific statement -- it should cover only what you
want to discuss in your paper, and be supported with specific evidence. It should
never be a question.
Generally, a thesis statement appears at the end of the first paragraph of an essay,
so that readers will have a clear idea of what to expect as they read.
You can think of your thesis as a map or a guide both for yourself and your
audience, so it might be helpful to draw a chart or picture of your ideas and how
they're connected to help you get started. (This will take shape in the outline)
When developing a thesis statement, you must understand that a thesis is not a fact (facts
are easy to prove). A thesis statement is an opinion/argument, developed by you, which
presents a debatable fact that you will support.
Why do you need a thesis statement?
For the writer the thesis statement:
Serves as a planning tool.
Helps the writer determine the paper's real focus and clarify the relationship
between ideas.
Serves as an organizational and developmental guideline. Your paper should be
written to support your statement.
Anticipates questions about the topic and provides the unifying thread between
pieces of information.
For the reader, the thesis statement:
Serves as a "map" to follow through the paper.
Prepares the reader to read.
Keeps the reader focused on the argument
Helps the reader spot the main ideas.
Engages the reader in the argument.
Offers enough detail for your reader to grasp your argument.
What does a strong thesis statement include?
1. A strong position/argument by you-Your thesis statement should express confidence in
your ideas, which are usually about debatable issues. Convince your reader that you
know what you are talking about.
2. A specific topic with your key arguments-After reading your thesis statement, the
reader should know what arguments you will be making in your paper. You will often
have several key arguments to state in your thesis statement but they must all be about the
same topic.
Can a thesis statement change?
YES! A thesis statement is like any other part of your essay in that it can be revised as
often as needed. It may be revised to improve clarity, wording, grammar, or to refocus
your paper if your ideas change.
How can I develop a thesis statement?
Step 1: Brainstorm the topic:
Let’s say that your topic focuses on how to prevent terrorism. You may find that you are
interested in the role of the U.S. government. You start out with a topic sentence like this:
Prevention of terrorism by the U.S. government.
This fragment is not a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicated a general subject.
Furthermore, your reader does not know what you want to say about the prevention of
terrorism.
Step 2: Narrow the topic:
Your readings about the topic have led you to the conclusion that the government has the
responsibility and resources to fight terrorism. You think that the government should use
those resources to take aggressive steps to prevent terrorism.
You change your thesis to look like this:
U.S. government needs to take aggressive action to prevent terrorism.
This fragment not only announces the subject, but it focuses on one main idea: the U.S.
government taking action to prevent terrorism.
Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because
while most people will agree that steps need to be taken by the government to prevent
terrorism, not everyone will agree on what those steps should be. You should note that
this fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader does not know your
conclusions on the topic.
Step 3: 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 to effectively prevent terrorism, the government must be able
to monitor communications of suspected terrorists.
You revise your thesis to look like this:
The U.S. government should be able to monitor the communications of suspected
terrorists to prevent terrorism.
This statement asserts your position, but you are unclear as to why communications
should be monitored.
Step 4: Use specific language.
You need to explain why communication should be monitored:
Intelligence experts claim that valuable information that can be used to prevent
terror attacks can be gained with more monitoring of communications of suspects.
This statement tells the reader that intelligence expert’s feel that increased monitoring of
communications will help prevent terrorism.
However, while this statement is specific, it is not a thesis. It merely reports the opinion
of why communications should be monitored. You now need to specify who should be
under surveillance and what types of surveillance should be used.
By tapping telephone lines and monitoring emails of suspected terrorists, the U.S.
government can more effectively fight terrorism.
You are telling the reader that in cases where there are reasons to believe someone is a
terrorist, the U.S. government should be able to monitor their telephone conversations
and their emails. But, monitoring telephone lines and reading emails can be an invasion
of a person’s privacy. By addressing this new issue, you will have to solidify your
argument.
Step 5: Make an assertion.
Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis
statement one more time to look like this:
In order for the government of the United States to effectively prevent terrorist
attacks, intelligence experts believe that the monitoring of telephone
conversations and emails of suspected terrorists must be used, and therefore, it is
necessary that they should have the ability to temporarily suspend a suspected
individual’s right to privacy in order to protect the nation as a whole.
Notice how the thesis answers the question, “What can be done to help prevent
terrorism?”
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 become more specific.
You thesis changed to reflect your new insights. This process will continue as long as you
discover new sources of information.
ID the thesis statement
Read each statement below and judge whether it is a thesis statement according to
the definition I have given you. Create a bulleted list of reasons why you believe it is
a thesis statement or not.
#1- Barn owls' nests should not be eliminated from barns because barn owls help farmers
by eliminating insect and rodent pests.
Notes:
#2-"The ability to purchase television advertising is essential for any candidate's bid for
election to the Senate because television reaches millions of people and thus has the
ability to dramatically increase name recognition."
Notes:
#3-The organizational structure of the United Nations, namely consensus voting in the
Security Council, makes it incapable of preventing war between major powers."
Notes:
#4-"A candidate’s ability to afford television advertising can have an impact on the
outcome of Congressional elections."
Notes:
#5- "The United Nations was established to promote diplomacy between major powers."
Notes:
#6-"Congressional elections are simply the result of who has the most money."
Notes:
#7- "The United Nations is incapable of preventing war"
Notes:
#8-Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in
movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the
forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our
culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people
experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.
Notes: