Learn How to Write a Thesis Statement With Examples,How to Write a Thesis Statement
WebHow to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One. 1. A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand. Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions WebDeveloping A Thesis. Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the WebFeb 4, · A good thesis isn’t just a statement of fact, but a claim that requires evidence and explanation. The goal is to clearly convey your own position in a debate or your WebStructuring your essay according to a reader's logic means examining your thesis and anticipating what a reader needs to know, and in what sequence, in order to grasp and WebArmed with your research, brainstorming sessions, and your thesis statement, the next step is to write an outline. In the outline, you’ll want to put your thesis statement at the ... read more
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You Might Be Interested In. thesis statement. previous post. next post. Related Guides. How to Write a Summative Essay Definition, How to write an ethics essay, topics, outline, Enduring Issues Essay. Writing a Commentary Essay. How To Write a Film Analysis Essay With Background information essay. dialogue essay. formal essay vs informal essay. short story essay. discussion essay. How to shorten an essay. How To Write a Photo Essay — Examples Proper heading for essay. analysis paper. Attention grabbers for essays. Essay Draft: How To Write a Draft Essay. How To Polish an Essay For a Better 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 because , since , so , although , unless , and 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. 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 Guides How to Write 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 a 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.
Although you might gesture at this question in your introduction, the fullest answer to it properly belongs at your essay's end. If you leave it out, your readers will experience your essay as unfinished—or, worse, as pointless or insular. Mapping an Essay. Structuring your essay according to a reader's logic means examining your thesis and anticipating what a reader needs to know, and in what sequence, in order to grasp and be convinced by your argument as it unfolds. The easiest way to do this is to map the essay's ideas via a written narrative. Such an account will give you a preliminary record of your ideas, and will allow you to remind yourself at every turn of the reader's needs in understanding your idea. Essay maps ask you to predict where your reader will expect background information, counterargument, close analysis of a primary source, or a turn to secondary source material.
Essay maps are not concerned with paragraphs so much as with sections of an essay. They anticipate the major argumentative moves you expect your essay to make. Try making your map like this:. Your map should naturally take you through some preliminary answers to the basic questions of what, how, and why. It is not a contract, though—the order in which the ideas appear is not a rigid one. Essay maps are flexible; they evolve with your ideas. Signs of Trouble. A common structural flaw in college essays is the "walk-through" also labeled "summary" or "description". Walk-through essays follow the structure of their sources rather than establishing their own. Such essays generally have a descriptive thesis rather than an argumentative one.
Be wary of paragraph openers that lead off with "time" words "first," "next," "after," "then" or "listing" words "also," "another," "in addition". Although they don't always signal trouble, these paragraph openers often indicate that an essay's thesis and structure need work: they suggest that the essay simply reproduces the chronology of the source text in the case of time words: first this happens, then that, and afterwards another thing. or simply lists example after example "In addition, the use of color indicates another way that the painting differentiates between good and evil".
Copyright , Elizabeth Abrams, for the Writing Center at Harvard University. Skip to main content. Main Menu Utility Menu Search.
Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present their ideas in the order that makes most sense to a reader. Successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader's logic. The focus of such an essay predicts its structure. It dictates the information readers need to know and the order in which they need to receive it. Thus your essay's structure is necessarily unique to the main claim you're making. Although there are guidelines for constructing certain classic essay types e. Answering Questions: The Parts of an Essay. A typical essay contains many different kinds of information, often located in specialized parts or sections. Even short essays perform several different operations: introducing the argument, analyzing data, raising counterarguments, concluding.
Introductions and conclusions have fixed places, but other parts don't. Counterargument, for example, may appear within a paragraph, as a free-standing section, as part of the beginning, or before the ending. Background material historical context or biographical information, a summary of relevant theory or criticism, the definition of a key term often appears at the beginning of the essay, between the introduction and the first analytical section, but might also appear near the beginning of the specific section to which it's relevant. It's helpful to think of the different essay sections as answering a series of questions your reader might ask when encountering your thesis. Readers should have questions. If they don't, your thesis is most likely simply an observation of fact, not an arguable claim.
To answer the question you must examine your evidence, thus demonstrating the truth of your claim. This "what" or "demonstration" section comes early in the essay, often directly after the introduction. Since you're essentially reporting what you've observed, this is the part you might have most to say about when you first start writing. But be forewarned: it shouldn't take up much more than a third often much less of your finished essay. If it does, the essay will lack balance and may read as mere summary or description. The corresponding question is "how": How does the thesis stand up to the challenge of a counterargument? How does the introduction of new material—a new way of looking at the evidence, another set of sources—affect the claims you're making?
Typically, an essay will include at least one "how" section. Call it "complication" since you're responding to a reader's complicating questions. This section usually comes after the "what," but keep in mind that an essay may complicate its argument several times depending on its length, and that counterargument alone may appear just about anywhere in an essay. This question addresses the larger implications of your thesis. It allows your readers to understand your essay within a larger context. In answering "why", your essay explains its own significance.
Although you might gesture at this question in your introduction, the fullest answer to it properly belongs at your essay's end. If you leave it out, your readers will experience your essay as unfinished—or, worse, as pointless or insular. Mapping an Essay. Structuring your essay according to a reader's logic means examining your thesis and anticipating what a reader needs to know, and in what sequence, in order to grasp and be convinced by your argument as it unfolds. The easiest way to do this is to map the essay's ideas via a written narrative. Such an account will give you a preliminary record of your ideas, and will allow you to remind yourself at every turn of the reader's needs in understanding your idea.
Essay maps ask you to predict where your reader will expect background information, counterargument, close analysis of a primary source, or a turn to secondary source material. Essay maps are not concerned with paragraphs so much as with sections of an essay. They anticipate the major argumentative moves you expect your essay to make. Try making your map like this:. Your map should naturally take you through some preliminary answers to the basic questions of what, how, and why. It is not a contract, though—the order in which the ideas appear is not a rigid one. Essay maps are flexible; they evolve with your ideas. Signs of Trouble. A common structural flaw in college essays is the "walk-through" also labeled "summary" or "description".
Walk-through essays follow the structure of their sources rather than establishing their own. Such essays generally have a descriptive thesis rather than an argumentative one. Be wary of paragraph openers that lead off with "time" words "first," "next," "after," "then" or "listing" words "also," "another," "in addition". Although they don't always signal trouble, these paragraph openers often indicate that an essay's thesis and structure need work: they suggest that the essay simply reproduces the chronology of the source text in the case of time words: first this happens, then that, and afterwards another thing. or simply lists example after example "In addition, the use of color indicates another way that the painting differentiates between good and evil". Copyright , Elizabeth Abrams, for the Writing Center at Harvard University.
Skip to main content. Main Menu Utility Menu Search. Harvard College Writing Program HARVARD. FAQ Schedule an appointment Writing Resources Writing Resources Writing Advice: The Barker Underground Blog Meet the tutors! Contact Us Drop-in Hours. Answering Questions: The Parts of an Essay A typical essay contains many different kinds of information, often located in specialized parts or sections. Mapping an Essay Structuring your essay according to a reader's logic means examining your thesis and anticipating what a reader needs to know, and in what sequence, in order to grasp and be convinced by your argument as it unfolds. Try making your map like this: State your thesis in a sentence or two, then write another sentence saying why it's important to make that claim.
Indicate, in other words, what a reader might learn by exploring the claim with you. Here you're anticipating your answer to the "why" question that you'll eventually flesh out in your conclusion. Begin your next sentence like this: "To be convinced by my claim, the first thing a reader needs to know is. This will start you off on answering the "what" question. Alternately, you may find that the first thing your reader needs to know is some background information. Begin each of the following sentences like this: "The next thing my reader needs to know is.
Continue until you've mapped out your essay. Signs of Trouble A common structural flaw in college essays is the "walk-through" also labeled "summary" or "description". Writing Resources Strategies for Essay Writing How to Read an Assignment How to Do a Close Reading Developing A Thesis Outlining Summary Topic Sentences and Signposting Transitioning: Beware of Velcro How to Write a Comparative Analysis Ending the Essay: Conclusions Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines. Quick Links Schedule an Appointment Drop-in Hours English Grammar and Language Tutor Harvard Guide to Using Sources Writing Advice: The Harvard Writing Tutor Blog Departmental Writing Fellows Videos from the Three Minute Thesis Competition Follow HCWritingCenter. Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College Accessibility Digital Accessibility Report Copyright Infringement.
Essay Structure,What this handout is about
WebArmed with your research, brainstorming sessions, and your thesis statement, the next step is to write an outline. In the outline, you’ll want to put your thesis statement at the WebFeb 4, · A good thesis isn’t just a statement of fact, but a claim that requires evidence and explanation. The goal is to clearly convey your own position in a debate or your WebTips for Writing Your Thesis Statement 1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing: An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates WebA thesis statement: tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader WebStructuring your essay according to a reader's logic means examining your thesis and anticipating what a reader needs to know, and in what sequence, in order to grasp and WebDeveloping A Thesis. Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the ... read more
If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". This sentence introduces the main idea that will be detailed throughout the paragraph. Main Menu Utility Menu Search. My first sentence is engaging and relevant.
How These 5 Incredibly Successful Women of Color Entrepreneurs Got Started. Main Menu Utility Menu Search. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesisearly in the writing process. Shona McCombes Shona has a bachelor's and two master's degrees, so she's an expert at writing a great thesis. A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay.
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