How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement | EasyBib

Position: A thesis statement always belongs at the beginning of an essay. This is because it is a sentence that tells the reader what the writer is going to discuss. Teachers will have different preferences for the precise location of the thesis, but a good rule of thumb is in the introduction paragraph, within the last two or three sentences.

How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement

A thesis can be found in many places—a debate speech, a lawyer’s closing argument, even an advertisement. But the most common place for a thesis statement (and probably why you’re reading this article) is in an essay.

Whether you’re writing an argumentative paper, an informative essay, or a compare/contrast statement, you need a thesis. Without a thesis, your argument falls flat and your information is unfocused. Since a thesis is so important, it’s probably a good idea to look at some tips on how to put together a strong one.

What is a “thesis statement” anyway?

You may have heard of something called a “thesis.” It’s what seniors commonly refer to as their final paper before graduation. That’s not what we’re talking about here. That type of thesis is a long, well-written paper that takes years to piece together.

Instead, we’re talking about a single sentence that ties together the main idea of any argument. In the context of student essays, it’s a statement that summarizes your topic and declares your position on it. This sentence can tell a reader whether your essay is something they want to read.

2 Categories of Thesis Statements: Informative and Persuasive

Just as there are different types of essays, there are different types of thesis statements. The thesis should match the essay.

For example, with an informative essay, you should compose an informative thesis (rather than argumentative). You want to declare your intentions in this essay and guide the reader to the conclusion that you reach.

To make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you must procure the ingredients, find a knife, and spread the condiments.

This thesis showed the reader the topic (a type of sandwich) and the direction the essay will take (describing how the sandwich is made).

Most other types of essays, whether compare/contrast, argumentative, or narrative, have thesis statements that take a position and argue it. In other words, unless your purpose is simply to inform, your thesis is considered persuasive. A persuasive thesis usually contains an opinion and the reason why your opinion is true.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are the best type of sandwich because they are versatile, easy to make, and taste good.

In this persuasive thesis statement, you see that I state my opinion (the best type of sandwich), which means I have chosen a stance. Next, I explain that my opinion is correct with several key reasons. This persuasive type of thesis can be used in any essay that contains the writer’s opinion, including, as I mentioned above, compare/contrast essays, narrative essays, and so on.

2 Styles of Thesis Statements

Just as there are two different types of thesis statements (informative and persuasive), there are two basic styles you can use.

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.

C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series is one of the richest works of the 20th 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.

In the above persuasive thesis, you can see my opinion about Narnia followed by three clear reasons. This thesis is perfect for setting up a tidy five-paragraph essay.

In college, five paragraph essays become few and far between as essay length gets longer. Can you imagine having only five paragraphs in a six-page paper? For a longer essay, you need a thesis statement that is more versatile. Instead of listing two or three distinct points, a thesis can list one overarching point that all body paragraphs tie into.

Good vs. evil is the main theme of Lewis’s Narnia series, as is made clear through the struggles the main characters face in each book.

In this thesis, I have made a claim about the theme in Narnia followed by my reasoning. The broader scope of this thesis allows me to write about each of the series’ seven novels. I am no longer limited in how many body paragraphs I can logically use.

Formula for a Strong Argumentative Thesis

One thing I find that is helpful for students is having a clear template. While students rarely end up with a thesis that follows this exact wording, the following template creates a good starting point:

___________ is true because of ___________, ___________, and ___________.

Conversely, the formula for a thesis with only one point might follow this template:

___________________ is true because of _____________________.

Students usually end up using different terminology than simply “because,” but having a template is always helpful to get the creative juices flowing.

The Qualities of a Solid Thesis Statement

When composing a thesis, you must consider not only the format, but other qualities like length, position in the essay, and how strong the argument is.

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.

Position: A thesis statement always belongs at the beginning of an essay. This is because it is a sentence that tells the reader what the writer is going to discuss. Teachers will have different preferences for the precise location of the thesis, but a good rule of thumb is in the introduction paragraph, within the last two or three sentences.

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.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are easy to make because it just takes three ingredients.

Most people would agree that PB&

Example of a stronger thesis:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are fun to eat because they always slide around.

This is more arguable because there are plenty of folks who might think a PB&

Composing a thesis statement does take a bit more thought than many other parts of an essay. However, because a thesis statement can contain an entire argument in just a few words, it is worth taking the extra time to compose this sentence. It can direct your research and your argument so that your essay is tight, focused, and makes readers think.

You may have heard of something called a “thesis.” It’s what seniors commonly refer to as their final paper before graduation. That’s not what we’re talking about here. That type of thesis is a long, well-written paper that takes years to piece together. The reason that knowing what type of paper you’re writing is important is because this forms the basis for your argument, and subsequently, your thesis statement. For example, in a research paper, you may be asked to take a neutral position on your topic and provide more general information about it. So when you go to write a good thesis statement for that research paper, it will need to be written with a neutral perspective and a more overview-based tone. In contrast, when writing an argumentative essay, your thesis statement will need to clearly outline the position you’ll be arguing and the evidence that makes you believe that position.

Why is a Strong Thesis Statement so Important?

A good thesis statement guides the rest of your paper, and it helps you when you’re writing the rest of the content. It lets the reader know what the topic of your paper will be, what your argument is, and what you’re going to talk about. Essentially, you’re setting up the entire paper.

Once you set up a solid thesis statement, you’ll know exactly what you need to research and what type of credible sources you’ll need to find. You can use your thesis statement like an outline, letting you know which information should go where in your essay for best flow.

When you have a weak thesis statement, your readers won’t be able to respond to your arguments and the whole point of your paper may not be clear to them. For example, a weak thesis statement may include something generic, such as “Abraham Lincoln was a good leader in U.S. history.” A revised thesis would be, “Abraham Lincoln was a good leader in U.S. history because he ended slavery, improved the economy, and strengthened the federal government.”

So, now that you know how important a good thesis statement is, it’s time to get started on yours.

If you look at any of your grading rubric materials throughout the duration of your university or college education, you’ll likely see that the thesis statement always accounts for a large percentage of your overall mark. Your professor is looking specifically to see how you use a good thesis to set the tone and message of the paper, because this is an important way to structure and organize your work. Without that structure, you just have an essay that doesn’t get a point across, and that is probably hard to read. At this stage, the research process begins in earnest. The thesis statement serves as a guide and a starting point for the research process. Researchers can use e xisting research literature to gather the information they need to support their statement or argument.

Steps to Developing a Thesis Statement

Developing a thesis statement is a process that should not be taken lightly, as it is often the result of a lengthy thinking process (Gafarova, 2018). Before the thesis message is formulated, extensive research must be done and evidence supporting the argument or analysis must be collected.

The steps to developing a thesis statement are outlined below:

1. Start with a research question.

A common starting point for developing a thesis statement is with the research question. Once you determine what your research question is, you can start doing more targeted research to help with constructing a thesis statement.

For instance, using one of the thesis statement examples earlier stated, a research question would be, &ldquo

2. Construct a statement that directly addresses the research question.

Once the research question has been identified, preliminary research on the topic can begin. The research should help you construct a tentative thesis statement. At this stage, researchers will most likely have only a simple thesis statement. This rough draft of the thesis statement can serve as a tool for planning and guiding the research and writing process (Developing a Thesis Statement, n.d.).

If your writing is expected to take a position on the issue addressed in your research question, the tentative thesis statement should expressly indicate your stand as well. For instance, based on the example stated above, a working argumentative thesis statement would be:

&ldquo

3. Support your statement with evidence and reasoning.

At this stage, the research process begins in earnest. The thesis statement serves as a guide and a starting point for the research process. Researchers can use e xisting research literature to gather the information they need to support their statement or argument.

Throughout the research process, as they discover supporting evidence and facts for their thesis, researchers can also further develop and refine their tentative thesis statement. The final thesis statement should include the key points of your argument, along with your conclusion, if needed.

Based on the example above, the final version of the thesis statement would be:

&ldquo

4. Anticipate counterarguments.

This step can prove to be useful if you&rsquo

The exercise of coming up with counterarguments to your thesis statement also helps you determine the validity of your thesis statement. If your thesis statement doesn&rsquo To further illustrate what strong thesis statements are like, the table below lists down examples of weak thesis statements versus strong thesis statements. The objective of an informational essay is to inform your audience about a specific topic. Sometimes, your essay will be in response to a specific question. Other times, you will be given a subject to write about more generally.

Informational essay thesis statements

The objective of an informational essay is to inform your audience about a specific topic. Sometimes, your essay will be in response to a specific question. Other times, you will be given a subject to write about more generally.

In an informational essay, you are not arguing for one side of an argument, you are just providing information.

Essays that are responding to a question

Often, you will be provided with a question to respond to in informational essay form. For example:

• Who is your hero and why?
• How do scientists research the effects of zero gravity on plants?
• What are the three branches of government, and what do each of them do?

If you are given a question or prompt, use it as a starting point for your thesis statement. Remember, the goal of a thesis statement in an informational essay is to state your topic.

You can use some of the same vocabulary and structure from the questions to create a thesis statement. Drop the question words (like who, what, when, where, and why). Then, use the keywords in the question or prompt to start your thesis statement. Be sure to include because if the question asks “

Check out the following example using the first prompt:

Original question: Who is your hero and why?
Drop the question words: Who is your hero and why?
Answer the question using the key words: My hero is Amelia Earhart, because she was very brave, did things many women of her time did not do, and was a hard worker.

If we were to write the rest of the essay based on this thesis statement, the outline would look something like this:

Introduction: My hero is Amelia Earhart, because she was very brave, did things many women of her time did not do, and was a hard worker.
Body paragraph 1: Details about how Amelia Earhart was brave
Body paragraph 2: Details about how she did things many women of her time did not do
Body paragraph 3: Details about how she was a hard worker
Conclusion: It is clear that Amelia Earhart was a brave woman who accomplished many things that women of her time did not do, and always worked hard. These are the reasons why she is my hero.

These general guidelines work for other thesis statements, with some minor differences.

Essays that are responding to a statement or given subject

If you aren’

Some examples of prompts that are not questions are:

• Write about your favorite sports team.
• Describe how a motor works.
• Pick a famous scientist and write about their life.
• Compare and contrast the themes of a poem and a short story.

For these, we recommend using one of the following sentence starters to write your thesis with:

As an example of how to use these sentence starters, we’

• In this essay, I will describe the history and cultural importance of the Pittsburgh Steelers, my favorite sports team.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers are my favorite because they have had a lasting impact on the history and culture of the city.
• Through my research, I learned that the Pittsburgh Steelers have had a lot of influence on the history and culture of Pittsburgh.

Any one of these thesis statements (or all three!) could be used for an informational essay about the Pittsburgh Steelers football team and their impact on the history and culture of Pittsburgh.

If you are given a question or prompt, use it as a starting point for your thesis statement. Remember, the goal of a thesis statement in an informational essay is to state your topic. In your thesis you should provide an interpretation of a subject, not the subject itself.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

Pick a primary question to answer and come up with a clear, concise response to it in a thesis statement. All essays should have a thesis statement because it is the basic element of nearly any type of paper—apart from perhaps creative writing.

Students commonly spend a lot of time formulating rough ideas without knowing what a thesis statement should include. When writing any type of academic paper, it is important to have an organized system to complete the task promptly.

Here are some tips for formulating a good thesis statement:

• Brainstorming is a must! Work along with your peers, family members, or tutors to come up with a list of brilliant ideas and choose a topic based on them. This will help to create a claim. After selecting the topic, try narrowing down the idea to develop a catchy, concise, and clear statement.
• Formulate a research question. Here you will need to come up with a research question that you will answer. For example: What are the main factors that lead people to depression and how can it be avoided?
• Find an answer and take a position. After you have asked the question, you need to answer it and show your opinion. For example, The main factors that lead to depression are emotional and physical distress, and depression.
• Narrow and focus. We can’t stress this enough: a well-written paper should not be filled with general information. A writer’s goal is to prove a unique point about their topic. Make sure it is reflected in the thesis.
• Support your answer with reasoning and evidence. It will help you discover more evidence and sources which can, in turn, help you with further steps for writing your essay.
• Use bold language. Avoid passive voice to sound more confident. Apps like Hemingwayapp will help to avoid wordiness and other things that make reading difficult.
• Trump the counterargument. Not everyone is going to agree with the points that you make or your argument as a whole. To combat this effectively, find the strongest opposing points to your thesis Example:While Judaism and Christianity are Abrahamic religions sprung from the same cultural hearth, they are different by their implementation of traditions, their realizations of religious cannons, and their perceptions of Jesus Christ. A thesis statement captures the main idea of a paper in one or two sentences. Your thesis statement points the reader to your interpretation of the subject under discussion and is important to the research question .

  Examples of good and bad thesis statements

  A good thesis statement is specific, clear, original, and includes a comment on how you are positioning yourself with respect to the issue at hand. You must consistently avoid vague wording. Moreover, you should avoid stating the obvious, like “The point I want to make in my paper…”.

  The following checklist will help you meet the afore-mentioned requirements for writing a good thesis statement.

  REQUIREMENT	EXPLANATION	EXAMPLES
  Thesis statement must be specific	The thesis statement should be narrow and focused instead of talking about very general and superficial things. Check your thesis statement for loose connections by coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, for etc.) and add a subordinating conjunction if need be to show a relationship between two sentences (e.g., because, since, although etc.).	Original thesis statement example (too broad): There are serious objections to today’s horror movies. Revised thesis statements (3 suggestions): 1) Because modern cinematic techniques have allowed filmmakers to get more graphic, horror flicks have desensitised young American viewers to violence. 2) The pornographic violence in “bloodbath” slasher movies degrades both men and women. 3) Today’s slasher movies fail to deliver the emotional catharsis that 1930s horror films did.
  Thesis statement must be clear	You must make sure that the reader understands what you mean. Words like interesting, negative, difficult, and exciting are too vague and should be avoided, just as abstract constructs like culture, society, and values. Make sure to define terms you use, as you cannot expect the reader to share your understanding of abstract concepts if you do not explain them.	Original thesis statement example (not clear enough): Although the timber wolf is a timid and gentle animal, it is being systematically exterminated. [If it’s so timid and gentle, why is it being exterminated?] Revised thesis statement: Although the timber wolf is actually a timid and gentle animal, it is being systematically exterminated because people wrongfully believe it to be a fierce and cold-blooded killer.
  Thesis statement should include comment on your position on the issue	Your personal stance on the subject must be made apparent to the reader, as well as how you are planning to evaluate and analyse the topic. Just announcing the topic is not enough. You should avoid making universal pro/con claims that are oversimplifications. Moreover, you should specify your reasoning and go beyond reporting facts (why bother if it has been proven already?).	Original thesis statement example (just announcing the topic): In this paper, I will discuss the relationship between fairy tales and early childhood. Revised thesis statement: Not just empty stories for kids, fairy tales shed light on the psychology of young children.

  Original thesis statement example (too universal, oversimplified): We must save the whales.
  Revised thesis statement: Because our planet’s health may depend upon biological diversity, we should save the whales.

  Original thesis statement example (reasoning not justified): Socialism is the best form of government for Kenya.
  Revised thesis statement: If the government takes over industry in Kenya, then industry will become more efficient.

  Some more examples follow on how word choice ensures that your thesis statement is to the point and does not contain generic/formula words:
  Original: “Society is. ” [Who is this “society” and what exactly is it doing?]
  Revised: “Men and women will learn how to. ”, “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”, “TV movies of the week”, “sitcoms”, “national public radio”.

  Thinking about specific aspects of the topic that you can use to build up your argument might take a while, but it is worth spending some time to come up with a well-written thesis statement.