How to Write a Good Thesis Statement

You must describe your results, but you must NOT interpret them. (If good ideas occur to you at this time, save them at the bottom of the page for the discussion section.) Be factual and orderly in this section, but try not to be too dry. A good thesis statement highlights a specific thought or idea.

• Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment.
• Let’s say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans.
• You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view.
• As you collect data, write up the methods section.
• For those that are weak, list the reasons why.

At this point, most of your research/prep work should be done and you should be ready to start your introduction. But often, it is not clear what needs to be included and how to make a good first impression to your reader.

Topic Sentence

There are strict rules about the form of a thesis statement. Here is a worksheet to help you come up with and refine a good thesis statement. In an informational essay, you are not arguing for one side of an argument, you are just providing information. Research.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. BestColleges.com is an advertising-supported site.

Readers should know at first glance, what your thesis topic is. For this reason, a thesis title should be concise, precise and relevant. Too many words can discourage some readers. In the same breath, it good thesis shouldn’t be too short. Thesis titles thrive on specificity, and that requires using more than four words. Before even starting with your first sentence, ask yourself the question who your readers are.

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Become aware of thesis statements in everyday life by paying attention to people’s opinions and their reasons for those opinions. Pay attention to your own everyday thesis statements as well, as these can become material for future essays. Crafting an effective thesis statement is a useful exercise not just in college, but in your everyday life. A thesis statement is a one-sentence declaration of intention — a summation of the main idea your essay will explain at length. An effective thesis statement will make a unique claim or seek to answer an important question. This criterion is important to understand the value and overall significance of your thesis. Will the idea you’re presenting be interesting and captivating to read, and will the audience want to know what you have to say?

• The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel.
• Replace the question with an answer that you can substantiate with good reasons.
• It will typically be in the first couple of paragraphs of the paper so that it can introduce the body paragraphs, which are the supporting evidence for your thesis statement.
• One of the main reasons students struggle with their thesis statements is a lack of technical understanding.
• In the recent Iran scandal, President Reagan once again proved that terrorists and people who support terrorism cannot be trusted.

For example, a study on the effects of social media marketing on the buying process offers a wide range to work with. However, your study might be on specific networks such as Twitter and Instagram. The title https://essayreply.com/citation/how-to-paraphrase/paraphrasing-vs-summarizing/ should, therefore, mention the exact social media sites. Use the area of interest as a rough guide to what the thesis title should be about. Thesis titles are as distinct as the research they describe.

Give the reader a general knowledge of what the paper is about

In this situation, your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about. Before crafting the final title for your academic paper, have a working thesis title. A working title is a loose topic that you need good thesis to help direct your study. It’s easy to lose track of your research when you don’t have a concrete anchor. An exceptional title for a thesis must accomplish several things. It has to reflect the content in the paper.

The more vague your thesis is, the more disorganized and scattered your paper will seem. Hone in on a specific aspect of an idea, rather than using a broad issue as a talking point. Create a succinct thesis by responding to your research question.

Thesis

You must further pinpoint what you are going to discuss regarding these limited effects, such as whom they affect and what the cause is. Just like a topic sentence summarizes a single paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes an entire essay. It tells the reader the point you want to make in your essay, while the essay itself supports that point. It is like a signpost that signals the essay’s destination. You should form your thesis before you begin to organize an essay, but you may find that it needs revision as the essay develops.

Proper essays require a thesis statement to provide a specific focus and suggest how the essay will be organized. For any claim you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide reasons and examples for your opinion. You can rely on personal observations in order to do this, or you can consult outside sources to demonstrate that what you assert is valid. A worthy argument is backed by examples and details.

Provide relevant background

During the beginning of the writing phase, you should have a ‘working title’. This doesn’t have to be the final title and it will probably be altered as you develop your thesis statement, but the working title can help to keep you on the right track. You can also include a subtitle to explain additional content. The basic building blocks of an informational essay also apply when it comes to an argumentative essay. However, an argumentative essay requires that you take a position on an issue or prompt.