Writing a Thesis Statement

							EDUC 1302 Handout


Writing a Thesis Statement

These are some general tips for thesis writing that apply for most disciplines in the
university (essays, research papers, etc.):

A good thesis statement:

    states an idea, opinion, argument, or issue that you intend to develop fully,
     defend, or explore with evidence.

    has an argumentative or informational edge, but does not state the obvious.

    is clear.

    can be defended by reason rather than emotion.

    highlights the main idea, scope and purpose of the paper

    gives the reader reasonable expectation of what your position is on the topic


Do not confuse the topic with the thesis.

Thesis statements fall somewhere within your introduction paragraph, usually in the
last 1 or 2 sentences. They are not the general or blanket statements often seen at the
beginning of weak introductions (e.g., “All college students must study.”).

Thesis statements do not have to be single sentences. Longer papers may require two to
three sentence thesis statements.


Here is a list of URLs with examples of thesis statements. Visit each to view the
characteristics of good and bad thesis statements.

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/thesistatement.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/thesis.html
http://smccd.net/accounts/helton/howtothesis.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_thesis.html
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/thesis.html#Strategies