A thesis statement (TS) is a guide map to your entire paper.
It provides a mini-summary of the paper’s content.
It allows the reader to know in advance how the paper is organized.
It lets the reader know why he/she should care. (The “So What?”)
Express Yourself
The thesis statement expresses the main ideas of your paper and previews the answer to the question or questions posed by your paper.
What Can A TS Do For You?
Helps you start drafting.
Helps keep you focused.
Helps to narrow your subject to a single, central idea.
Serves as a point of reference if changes occur.
Two Main Parts
A Thesis Statement generally consists of two main parts
Your topic, and then the analysis, explanation, or assertion, that you’re making about the topic.
Topic
Assertion
Two Main Parts
Topic
Analysis
Explanation
Assertion
Part 1
Part 2
To Do List
Make a concise assertion about your topic.
Limit the statement to only one idea.
Make the assertion specific and significant.
To Do List
At least imply your purpose.
Unify the statement so that the parts relate to each other.
A Thesis Statement Gone Wrong
A Thesis Statement Gone Wrong
This new product brought in over $30,000 last year.
This is a statement of fact without an assertion.
What’s the significance of the product’s success. (The “So What?”)
A Thesis Statement Gone Wrong
Before: This new product brought in over $30,000 last year.
After: This product succeeded because of its innovative marketing campaign, including widespread press coverage, in-store entertainment, and a consumer newsletter.
General Examples of Award Winning Thesis Statements
General Examples
Show that essay’s purpose is to explain.
Show essay’s organization.
Show that essay’s purpose is to persuade.
Purpose to Explain
The following examples of thesis statements announce that the essays’ purposes are mainly to explain about their subjects.
Pecking Order in an Office
Two months working in a large government agency taught me that an office’s pecking order should be respected.
In an analytical paper, you are breaking down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluating the issue or idea, and presenting this breakdown and evaluation to your reader.
Analysis Essay
An analytical thesis statement will explain:
What you are analyzing.
The parts of your analysis.
The order in which you will be presenting your analysis.
Analysis Questions
What did I analyze?
What did I discover in my analysis?
How can I categorize my discoveries?
In what order should I present my discoveries?
Analysis-Example
An analysis of barn owl flight behavior reveals two kinds of flight patterns: patterns related to hunting prey and patterns related to courtship.
Analysis-Example
A reader could expect that the paper will provide an explanation of the analysis of barn owl flight behavior, and then an explanation of the two kinds of flight patterns.
Three Specific Types of Thesis Statements
Expository (Explanatory)
Illustrative essays
Explicative essays
Descriptive essays
Explanation Essay
In an expository paper, you are explaining something to your reader.
Explanation Essay
An expository (explanatory) thesis statement will tell your audience:
What you are going to explain to them.
The categories your are using to organize your explanation.
The order in which you will be presenting your categories.
Explanation Questions
What am I trying to explain?
How can I categorize my explanation into different parts?
In what order should I present the different parts of my explanation?
Explanation-Example
The lifestyles of barn owls include hunting for insects and animals, building nests, and raising their young.
Explanation-Example
A reader could expect that the paper will explain how owls hunt for insects and animals, build nests, and raise their young.
Three Specific Types of Thesis Statements
Argumentative
Persuasive essays
Argumentative essays
Cause/Effect essays
Argumentation Essay
In an argumentative paper, you are making a claim about a topic and justifying this claim with reasons and evidence.
Argumentation Essay
This claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation.
Argumentation Essay
This claim must be one that someone could possibly disagree with because the goal of the paper is to convince the reader that your claim is true based on your presentation of your reasons and evidence.
Argumentation Questions
What is my claim or assertion?
What are the reasons I have to support my claim or assertion?
In what order should I present my reasons?
Argumentation—Example
Barn owls’ nests should not be eliminated from barns because barn owls help farmers by eliminating insect and rodent pests.
Argumentation—Example
A reader could expect that the paper will present an argument and evidence that farmers should not get rid of barn owls when they find them nesting in their barns.
Review Checklist
Checklist Questions
Does the statement make a concise assertion about your topic?
Is the assertion limited to only one idea?
Is the assertion specific and significant?
Checklist Questions
Does the statement at least imply your purpose?
Is the statement unified so that the parts relate to each other?
Works Cited
Works Cited
Most of the information provided in these slides was plucked (either word-for-word or paraphrased) from Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab.
Visit the website for more information:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print
Works Cited
Most of the information provided in these slides was plucked (either word-for-word or paraphrased) from The Little Brown Handbook, 8th ed. Instructor’s Annotated Edition.
Author’s: H. Ramsey Fowler, Jane E. Aaron, and Janice Okoomian
