how to start a thesis sentence
- Original: “Society is. ” [who is this “society” and what exactly is it doing?]
- Revised: “Men and women will learn how to. ” “writers can generate. ” “television addicts may chip away at. ” “American educators must decide. ” “taxpayers and legislators alike can help fix. “
- Original: “the media”
- Revised: “the new breed of television reporters,” “advertisers,” “hard-hitting print journalists,” “horror flicks,” “TV movies of the week,” “sitcoms,” “national public radio,” “Top 40 bop-til-you-drop. “
- Original: “is, are, was, to be” or “to do, to make”
- Revised: any great action verb you can concoct: “to generate,” “to demolish,” “to batter,” “to revolt,” “to discover,” “to flip,” “to signify,” “to endure. “
Every paper you write should have a main point, a main idea, or central message. The argument(s) you make in your paper should reflect this main idea. The sentence that captures your position on this main idea is what we call a thesis statement.
The first style uses a list of two or more points . This style of thesis is perfect for a brief essay that contains only two or three body paragraphs. This basic five-paragraph essay is typical of middle and high school assignments.
Strength: Finally, for a persuasive thesis to be strong, it needs to be arguable. This means that the statement is not obvious, and it is not something that everyone agrees is true.
As you can see in the thesis statement examples below, you must be very specific, summarizing points that are about to be made in your paper, and supported by specific evidence. Generally, your thesis statement can be the last line of the first paragraph in your research paper or essay.
For example, saying “European travel is a good way to spend your summer,” is not specific enough. Why is European travel good? Further examine the heart of your topic and focus on very specific areas of European travel that you can realistically cover and support with solid evidence.
If the goal of your paper is to persuade your reader of a claim, your thesis statement should take a clear, specific position and introduce the reasoning you’ll use to argue for it.
- The Brexit referendum result was driven by political frustration.
- The Brexit referendum result was driven by working-class frustration with the political elite, caused by austerity policies that have eroded public services and fragmented communities; the referendum offered an alternative to the status quo.
An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim. “While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline” is an effective thesis sentence that “telegraphs,” so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, “Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim.”
This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a “soft-on-crime” image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you’ll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.
References:
http://www.easybib.com/guides/how-to-write-a-strong-thesis-statement/
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/thesis-statement-examples.html
http://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/thesis-statement/
http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/developing-thesis
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/thesis-statement-examples.html