Help writing a thesis statement

Help writing a thesis statement

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion Remember that the thesis statement is a kind of "mapping tool" that helps you organize your ideas, and it helps your reader follow your argument. After the topic sentence, include any evidence in this body paragraph, such as a quotation, statistic, or data point, that supports this first point. Explain what the evidence means. Show the reader how this entire paragraph connects back to the thesis statement. A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes: take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment express one main idea assert your conclusions about a subject

Thesis Statements – The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement. In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores, help writing a thesis statement.

Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic. Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, help writing a thesis statement, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. Brainstorm the topic. You find that you are interested in the amount help writing a thesis statement sugar Americans consume. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject.

Narrow the topic. Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far more sugar than is healthy. This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school children. Furthermore, help writing a thesis statement, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who should do it.

Take a position on the topic. After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say help writing a thesis statement this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.

More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children. This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are help writing a thesis statement. Use specific language.

You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choicesso you write:. Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion. Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:. Because half of all American elementary school children help writing a thesis statement nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights. Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate.

Here are two thesis statements:. This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague. Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers. Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion.

If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:. This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family. This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view.

A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point. Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper.

For example:. Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear.

One way to revise the thesis would be to write:. Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.

This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like becausesincehelp writing a thesis statement, soalthoughunlessand however.

A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:. This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons, help writing a thesis statement. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects.

A revised thesis might look like this:. Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable. 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.

Home Writing Help writing a thesis statement How to Write a Thesis Statement, help writing a thesis statement. How to Write a Thesis Statement. How to Write a Thesis Statement What is a Thesis Statement? Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement? How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement?

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from help writing a thesis statement Weak One How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question.

You start out with a thesis statement like this: Sugar consumption. You change your thesis to look like this: Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children. You revise your thesis statement to look like this: More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children. You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choicesso you write: Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar.

You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this: Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand. Here are two thesis statements: There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement. This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's help writing a thesis statement. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion.

If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, help writing a thesis statement, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements: My family is an extended family. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea. For example: Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.

One way to revise the thesis would be to write: Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support. A strong thesis statement is specific. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say: World hunger has many causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this: Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.

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How to write a thesis for beginners

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Thesis Statement Help: PRO Tips, 15% OFF Writer Service

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft. Introduction. Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of Remember that the thesis statement is a kind of "mapping tool" that helps you organize your ideas, and it helps your reader follow your argument. After the topic sentence, include any evidence in this body paragraph, such as a quotation, statistic, or data point, that supports this first point. Explain what the evidence means. Show the reader how this entire paragraph connects back to the thesis statement.