What is exactly a “thesis statement?”
The term “thesis” is important for graduating seniors and to grad school students. Often you will see graduating students writing thesis before graduation. Although sometimes senior students refer it as their final paper and the term is more popular among graduate students. But that is not we will discuss here. We will be talking about how to write a thesis statement, irrespective of the stage of school you are in.
Thesis is basically a long, well-written paper that takes a long time to bring together. Thesis statement is different from that. The statement is the summary or the main idea of the entire argument written in the thesis. This one sentence can tell you whether the reader wants to read the entire argument or not.
Thesis statements can be of two different categories:
“Thesis Statements” are of two types. The thesis statement should meet the text of the essay.
The first type of thesis statement is called as informative thesis statement. This simple means that the thesis statement is not argumentative, it is just letting you know a bunch of information that has been collected in a logical way. Through the series of information, the conclusion will be reached.
Let’s discuss an example of the thesis stamen of this type:
To make a turkey cheese sandwich, you must have all the required ingredients including bread, cheese and turkey slices. This type of statement will not try to compare, contrast anything but simple will describe how to make the sandwich with all pertinent information. That is how the conclusion will be reached, the purpose is simply informing the reader.
The second type of thesis statement is known as persuasive thesis statement. In this kind, typically the text will tend to have an opinion and reasoning in the text while reaching to conclusion.
For example, in case of the turkey cheese sandwich, the text will try to argue not only how to make the sandwich but also why this kind of sandwich is the best type and tastes good. And the argument will also try to justify why this opinion is right with proper reasoning including comparison and contrast within the essay.
Knowing the types is very important, if you are trying to learn how to write a thesis statement so that you can form the language of the essay in the right format.
How do you know that your thesis statement is strong?
There are certain qualities in your thesis statement that will tell you if the statement is strong or not. The position of the statement, length and the strength of the argument is very important.
- Position of the thesis statement in the essay:
The expectation could be different but in general the thesis statement is generally described in the introductory paragraphs. It should be placed in such a way so that one can understand the idea of the entire essay by reading the statement sentence or sentences.
- Length of the thesis statement:
The statement should not be very long or short either. All the points should be nicely summarized in one or couple of sentences. But remember the statement should have an independent clause (The main opinion) and a dependent clause (the reasons for the opinion). The rule of thumb is it should not be more than 40-50 words.
- Strength of thesis statement:
This is especially true if you are writing a persuasive thesis. The strength of such thesis lies in how much you have made your arguable logically. Not necessarily you will write something that everyone will agree upon, hence making your argument strong is necessary.
These points will always be the most problematic for you, if you don’t plan properly. Focus more on these steps when you start writing and you are learning how to write a thesis statement.
How to formulate a strong argumentative thesis:
Students always like to have template for writing thesis statements. Let’s discuss a clear but simple statement. For making a strong argument you can follow the following template:
________________ is true, a cause of _________________
Or may be
_______________ and ______________.
These can be your initial starting point. The phrase “a cause of” can easily help you form your argument with all creativity implied. Hence these templates will certainly help you if you are trying to learn how to write a thesis statement.
Now let’s discuss some actual examples of thesis statements of both types as discussed above.
Example of an informative thesis statement:
“Air pollution is not good for environment” — This is not a debatable topic at all. For example, the word pollution indices a negative sense and every study will agree to the fact that pollution is not good and is a problem. Hence, nobody will even try to argue that pollution is good for the environment.
Example of a persuasive thesis statement:
“At least 20 percent of the federal budget should be allocated for controlling air pollution”.
This one is not informative thesis statement but persuasive. Although still pollution is still a negative sense, but many people can disagree with this certain percentage. Some might feel we need more money for limiting pollution whereas some might feel we need less money. Even people might argue that government should not be spending any money on controlling pollution.
Where to go for help in writing:
First, you can contact the writing center in your university. Other than that, there are tons of online help available for formulating your thesis statement. You can also hire somebody to help you make your thesis statement right. These are best help to help you to learn how to write a thesis statement.
Why would you come to universityhomeworkhelp.com?
This is one of the ideal place to learn how to write a thesis statement. This is because universityhomeworkhelp.com offers great rates especially for students. We have help available 24×7 through chat and phone. We also offer tutoring service to help you in your writing. All our tutors are perfectly experienced and trained.