writing a thesis
Do not expect to come up with a fully formulated thesis statement before you have finished writing the paper. The thesis will inevitably change as you revise and develop your ideas—and that is ok! Start with a tentative thesis and revise as your paper develops.
The thesis statement should do more than merely announce the topic; it must reveal what position you will take in relation to that topic, how you plan to analyze/evaluate the subject or the issue. In short, instead of merely stating a general fact or resorting to a simplistic pro/con statement, you must decide what it is you have to say.
- The UK has always been hostile to the EU.
- The history of the UK’s relationship to the EU is complicated; from the beginning, Britain has been reluctant to fully integrate into Europe, both economically and culturally, but the politics of EU membership has changed throughout the past 50 years.
Date published January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes. Date updated: January 10, 2020
A thesis is never a question. Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question (“Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?”) is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.
Some Caveats and Some Examples
This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.
Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.
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
Bad: High levels of alcohol consumption are bad for you.
– This is too broad. What are the specific detriments of alcohol consumption that you would like to discuss?
Good: High levels of alcohol consumption have detrimental effects on your personal health, such as weight gain, heart disease, and liver complications.
– Notice we got very specific in our reasons why. In your thesis statement, you don’t need to state every single detriment you’re going to lay out (in fact, you shouldn’t as it will risk becoming a run-on sentence) but you can point to the main areas you will explore.
References:
http://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/thesis-statement/
http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/developing-thesis
http://wts.indiana.edu/writing-guides/how-to-write-a-thesis-statement.html
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/thesis-statement-examples.html
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/thesis/