how do you write a thesis statement for an analysis essay
Think of it as a loving mother steering her children away from danger. Essay writers run the risk of getting off track and wandering into thickly wooded forests of needless tangents. (This is also why a well-planned outline is essential.) However, a solid thesis statement will help keep you in check. Refer back to it and ask have you wandered off topic?
Always Be Specific
“Solo European travel requires independence which, in the end, bolsters personal confidence.” This is much more specific and targeted. Now, you can hone in your research on solo travel through Europe, the need for independence, and its positive effect on personal confidence.
Social media has really changed how people relate to one another. We don’t have to see people face-to face anymore. We can work long hours or live far apart and still keep up with the life events, celebrations, trials, and tribulations of friends and family. With a couple swipes of the finger on a tablet, I can find out who your friends are, where you go to school, who you work for, and what music you listen to. I can even find out what world city you should live in or what type of animal best describes your personality from the quizzes you post! Through our profiles—the photos, comments, and stories we post—we get to decide how the world sees us. It’s a lot of fun! But sadly, opening our lives to the world can also cause us big, big trouble.
From “Employers Violate Civil Liberties Over Online Videos and Posts” by Lionel Burnett; Opinion Section, New York Weekly Post
A thesis statement provides the foundation for your entire research paper or essay. This statement is the central assertion that you want to express in your essay. A successful thesis statement is one that is made up of one or two sentences clearly laying out your central idea and expressing an informed, reasoned answer to your research question.
In an analytical essay assignment, you will be expected to break down a topic, process, or object in order to observe and analyze your subject piece by piece. Examples of a thesis statement for an analytical essay include:
Instructors in different academic areas seem to enjoy assigning analytical essays. Whether you are writing one for your history class, science class, or literature class, the papers should include the same key features. One of the most important features is the thesis statement which is designed to guide the entire paper. Without a strong thesis statement, the reader will be unsure of what you are actually trying to prove through your analysis.
- If you are unsure about what your thesis statement should include you can follow this link. There are plenty of websites, like this one that will show what a strong analytical thesis should look like. Once you get to a website to check out ideas for the thesis, it is important to know what to look for in a good sentence. The first thing to see is the structure of the sentence, whether it starts with a phrase or clause, and where the main subject and verb are. It is also helpful to see if the sentence includes any lists, because those will determine what the other paragraphs contain. Then, look at the pronouns used. Most of them should include first- or second-person pronouns, if they include any pronouns at all.
- If you prefer to write the thesis statement without using a template or example, there are other methods to write them successfully. Since an analytical essay will look critically at a topic to prove a point, you can start your thesis with the words, “I think.” Then, once you have the sentence finishes, you simply remove those two words. You should have a complete sentence that clearly explains what you are going to prove. This technique works for people who have difficulty crafting a sentence in any other way. For example, you could write “I think professional athletes should be financially sanctioned if they use performance enhancing drugs.” It is easy to see what the sentence will be once the first two words are removed.
- Another method that works well is to consider three things you plan to use to prove your point. Once you have the three things, you can build them into a sentence. If you use the same sentence about athletes, you can add three things to it. The sentence would read, “Professional athletes should be financially sanctioned if they use performance enhancing drugs because they give them an unfair advantage, cheat their entire team, and break the rules of their contracts.” When you have three things included in the sentence, it gives the reader a clear idea of what you are going to prove in your analysis.
C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series is one of the richest works of the 20 th century because it offers an escape from reality, teaches readers to have faith even when they don’t understand, and contains a host of vibrant characters.
Length: A thesis statement can be short or long, depending on how many points it mentions. Typically, however, it is only one concise sentence. It does contain at least two clauses, usually an independent clause (the opinion) and a dependent clause (the reasons). You probably should aim for a single sentence that is at least two lines, or about 30 to 40 words long.
References:
http://content.nroc.org/DevelopmentalEnglish/unit09/Foundations/creating-a-thesis-and-an-outline-for-a-critical-analysis-essay.html
http://www.thoughtco.com/thesis-statement-examples-and-instruction-1857566
http://www.seeconference2013.net/constructing-a-thesis-statement-for-an-analytical-essay/
http://www.easybib.com/guides/how-to-write-a-strong-thesis-statement/
http://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/composition/thesis.htm