What is a thesis statement?
A thesis is the main idea of your paper. Some people say that it “controls” your ideas in your paper. Another way of thinking about it is that it is the “center” of your paper or the “soul.” The rest of your paper should somehow revolve around this thesis.
Why do we need a thesis?
An essay without a thesis is often an essay without a clear central idea. Without a central idea , it is difficult to grade the quality of thinking being done by the writer. In college, instructors and professors are constantly trying to help you improve the quality of your thinking by introducing new information and research, and by helping you practice seeing the world from different perspectives and frameworks, an an essay is your attempt to demonstrate your ability to understand and use all of these things.
A thesis demonstrates an ability to pull of these different ideas together. It shows strong thinking (and writing).
Out in the world, being able to clearly articulate your own ideas will help you explain your point of view to others. If you can write a thesis statement and back it up in an essay, I think there’s a great chance that you will be able explain why someone should see a certain movie not (don’t see Avatar), why people should care about the Barry Bonds trial (some people think that he’s getting unfair treatment compared to his cross-Bay rival, Mark McGuire, and they might be right), or why people should learn how to sing in karaoke bars (demonstrating your willingness to make a fool out of yourself makes people feel more connected to you).
People use thesis statements, covertly and explicitly, so the more you can identify and respond thoughtfully to them, the more you can engage with the ideas and conversations in the world.
How do I write one?
There are many ways to approach thesis statements. Check out the links below for other approaches. I have two ways that I think work:
Thesis Approach #1: Three-Step Thesis Process
Before you begin writing your thesis, you must make sure you’ve read enough materials from class
Basically, I see the development of a thesis in three stages:
- Make an observation of the issue you’re addressing.
- State your opinion about this observation. Often this means agreeing, disagreeing, or both agreeing AND disagreeing.
- Explain the significance to your opinion.
Here’s my worksheet: Three-Step Thesis Process
Thesis Approach #2: Ask a Question
Many essays you have probably written have been responses to questions. For example, a question might be: Should we go to war in Iraq? or Why do people use stereotypes everyday? Questions provoke answers, so it would seem logical that if you know how to write a strong question about an issue, you’ll be able to develop a thesis (and essay) that thoroughly answers that question.
But how do you ask a strong question?
It must make you think. A question that helps you develop an essay must be able to provoke a number of responses. For instance, if you were to ask, “Is the sky cloudy today?” whoever had to answer it would just step outside, take a look around, and the be able to supply an answer. There wouldn’t be much debate. Your question should just make you hunt for the answer online.
There should be room for people to disagree. If there are already people who would naturally fall on different sides of the issue (more than two sides is best), then you’re off to a good start.
[I need to add more here. If you find any useful links on how to use questions to develop thesis statements, please let me know!]
What happens if I can’t do it?
Sometimes after reading a book or gathering all of your information, you still can’t come up with a thesis statement. That’s ok. It’s normal. Maybe you don’t feel a deep connection with the material, or if you haven’t thought about the issues before, you don’t know what you think.
This is when you need to use all of your brainstorming techniques: freewriting, outlining, mind-mapping, cartoon-drawing, etc. Sometimes, if you sit down to just write as if you’re writing an in-class essay for 2-hours, you’ll crank something out that works as a shitty-first draft.
If all of that fails, take a break and come back to it later. See a tutor, visit your instructor’s office hours, talk to a friend. Post your frustration on Facebook. If you have to write this paper, then you’re going to have to garner all of the resources you can to get it done.
