How to Create a Thesis Statement
The Long-Story:
A thesis statement is the position a student takes in a persuasive essay, research paper, FRQ response, or DBQ response.
It is the answer to the specific prompt or question asked. As such, the thesis statement is NOT a fact; it is an informed
INTERPRETATION of the facts. Neither is the thesis statement JUST an opinion. Rather the thesis statement is the
REASONED JUDGEMENT of the student. Most questions in AP US History will allow for a range of possible answers. In
other words, a spectrum exists and students can generally feel free to explore a response along that spectrum—so long
as it can be defended with consistent and credible EVIDENCE. Therefore, students should avoid crafting an extreme
response at either end of the spectrum. Most questions require a response that is not black or white, but instead some
shade of gray. That does not mean, however, that students should attempt to respond in the middle of the spectrum.
Such an attempt usually results in a failure to articulate a CLEAR position. Students always need to carefully weigh all of
the historical evidence and then craft a response that best articulates their INTERPRETATION of the evidence AS WELL
AS their understanding of the historical record. In other words, a student’s response must be well-defended and be
historically ACCURATE/CORRECT.
BAD: George Washington set many important precedents as president. This is a FACTUAL THESIS STATEMENT.
BETTER: The precedents that George Washington set as America’s first President greatly benefited the American
political system. This contains a stronger and clearer stance, BUT what does it lack?
STRONG: The precedents that George Washington set as America’s first President greatly benefited the
American political system in terms of implied term limits, the practice of checks & balances, and his defense of
the Constitution.
WEAK: The Revolutionary War brought about change in American society. Although, it MAY SEEM like a position
was taken, this is actually a FACTUAL THESIS—of course, the War brought about change, most historical events
change things.
STRONG: The Revolutionary War ushered in a slew of wide-ranging and permanent social changes in American
society that included a new constitution, different trade practices, and increased social mobility. This is a clear,
strong, and debatable thesis.
ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A THESIS STATEMENT:
1. Introduce the Topic
a. Students should start the thesis statement with a reference to the topic and timeframe the essay will
address. The reference can range from general to specific depending on how much detail used in the
Introduction Paragraph
2. Declare the Stance
a. Students must take a clear stance (or position) on the topic introduced that addresses the question prompt.
This can be the most difficult and challenging part of any essay, therefore there is a more detailed process
for developing a stance below.
3. Reference the Three Supporting Arguments
a. Students must specifically cite the three supporting arguments that will be used to prove the stance taken
on the topic of the essay
i. Generally, but not always, the three supporting arguments will be the focused topics of the three
Body Paragraphs
HOW TO DEVELOP A STANCE:
Developing a stance can be a difficult task; it requires the most from the student in terms or creativity. One cannot
simply look up in a book one’s own researched opinion. In the interest of finding a procedure or formula for developing
a stance, students should follow these steps:
 STEP 1—Establish the Evidence
o
Students must first organize the evidence that they will be working from—the evidence could be studentdriven research like in a research paper, documents from a DBQ, a student’s notes, etc. Students can
organize the information in any way they think appropriate, but students should consider the question or
exam prompt to determine how they will organize the information.
 If the prompt is a “Compare/Contrast” or an “Assess the Validity of” then organize the evidence
using a comparative T-Chart or Venn Diagram
 If the prompt is a “Analyze,” “Explain,” “Evaluate,” “Assess the Influence of,” or “To What Extent,”
then organize the evidence using an Idea Map
 If the prompt is a “In What Ways” or is based more on historical contextualization, then organize the
evidence using a Timeline
 STEP 2—Find the Pattern
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After the students have established and organized the evidence, they should see a pattern in the
information that directly relates to the question or directive. This pattern can vary from question to
question, but it is important that the pattern found is logical and based on the evidence—this will offer the
students’ stances historical credibility.
 STEP 3—Ask Meaningful Questions
o
When a student has found a pattern, the student should ask one of or a series of questions to derive a
meaningful conclusion from the pattern they see.
 What causes this pattern?
 Cause & Effect Stance
 What will occur because of this pattern? OR What are the next stages of this pattern?
 Cause & Effect Stance
 Is this pattern reflective of the time period?
 Historical Context Stance
 Why is this pattern significant?
 Has this pattern occurred in another time period? If so, what factors produce this pattern? If not,
why is this pattern reflective of the time period?
 Is this pattern consistent throughout the time period or to different populations living at the time?
If so, what factors make it consistent? If not, what factors make it not consistent?
 Is this pattern valid or contradictory?
 This would work well with “Assess the validity” prompts
 Which of the 7 Historical Themes relates to this pattern? Why does it relate?
 STEP 4—Answer the Questions
o
o
After selecting the appropriate question(s) to ask in regards to the pattern a student finds, the student must
then answer the question(s). The answer to the question generally will be the stance the student has
arrived at.
Once the student answers the question(s) and converted that answer into a stance, then the student must
use the evidence established in STEP 2 as the three supporting arguments.
This formula is not guaranteed to work for all question prompts or exam scenarios, however, the AP Exam is a stressful
situation in which students can easily panic or become fatigued; having a procedure to rely on consistently is
EXTREMELY HELPFUL.
REFINING THE THESIS STATEMENT
THE WORKING THESIS STATEMENT
It is important for the students to remember that the thesis statement they develop should start as a Working Thesis
Statement—a rough draft of a thesis statement. Most students will likely need to modify their thesis statements once
they have completed a first draft of their essay, in general, to ensure that the draft and the thesis statement work
together in a cohesive and coherent manner. Honing and tweaking the thesis statement during the revision process is
ultimately more important than having it exact and precise during the drafting process—HOWEVER, students should
avoid completely changing their thesis statements after writing the first draft.
LEVEL OF SPECIFICITY
Suppose that a student is at a conference in Ireland and a peer asks, “Where do you go to school at?” There are a
number of answers the student could provide, the best answer to THIS question in this SPECIFIC situation would be, “I go
to school in the United States.” However, suppose this situation changed and the student is now in a conference in
Washington DC, the answer “I go to school in the United States” would be inadequate and awkward to answer that
specific question with. Not enough information was given and the answer TOO GENERAL. Suppose in an effort to be
MORE SPECIFIC the student changed the answer to, “I go to school at 108 Stirling Road in Warren.” The dilemma shifted
completely to the other side, and the answer was TOO SPECIFIC. A more appropriate answer would be, “I go to school in
Warren, New Jersey.” This would be more appropriate UNLESS that conference the student was attending was at
Warren, New Jersey—then the MOST APPROPRIATE response would be, “ I go to school at Watchung Hills Regional High
School.”
The situation will call for different levels of specificity in order to be properly understood—it is the responsibility of the
student to most accurately judge what level of specificity the situation calls for.
Consider the following directive:
Evaluate the impact that Columbian Exchange had on the development of western civilization.
Level Three Thesis Statement: The cultural conflict and contact known as Columbian Exchange had a strong impact on
the social, political, and economic development of western civilization.
Level Two Thesis Statement: Although, the Columbian Exchange that developed after Christopher Columbus’ initial
expeditions to the North American continent created a new trade network which altered the development of all western
civilization on four different continents was initially beneficial to European cultures, the Columbian Exchange had a
catastrophic impact on the development of Native American and African cultures. This was evident in the collapse of
most Native American empires and tribes, the mass enslavement of millions of Africans, as well as the economic wealth
it offered western European nations like Spain and Portugal.
Level One Thesis Statement: The imperial expeditions that initially began with Christopher Columbus’ historically
significant voyage in 1492 instigated a period of interaction between several cultures from Europe that included the
Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, and English with the historically isolated Native American cultures in North and
Central America. This “exchange” ranged from the economic trading of goods such as squash, nuts, tobacco, gold,
chocolate, silk, iron, etc. to the cultural exchange of disease and slavery. While this extensive experience benefitted
Europe economically with increased trade, wealth, and gold; politically with the growth of global empires in Western
Europe especially; and socially with uplifting of the general quality of life as well as the change in social mobility
experienced by immigrants to the New World; however, it was ultimately detrimental to the growth and stability of
almost all Native American tribes economically with the collapse of their traditional barter and trade system; politically
with the collapse of large tribal empires like the Aztec and the Inca Empires; and socially with the epidemic of European
pathogens that claimed at times up to 90% of a Native American tribe’s population.
How much specificity to include in the Thesis Statement should be a balancing act, on the one hand, students don’t want
to be too general (Level Three Thesis Statement), but on the other hand they don’t want to be too specific (Level One
Thesis Statement). Students MUST let the reader known where they plan to go with the essay, but don’t give away all
the information on every detail in the Thesis Statement. The student wants the reader to keep reading; therefore the
Thesis Statement must acknowledge the stance and what each supporting argument will be, but not with every detail
(Level Two Thesis Statement).
CHECKLIST FOR THESIS STATEMENTS
Does the thesis statement address a debatable topic?
Almost every paper assignment requires the student to make an argument. In order to do this, students must first have
a topic about which one could reasonably make at least two different arguments. If it isn’t debatable, why spend the
time to write about it?
Does the thesis statement make a specific claim on a topic?
The thesis statement must make a specific stance. Students should avoid using general or vague langue in defining their
stance in the thesis statement. It is not a general topic or question; rather, it takes a specific stand on the topic at hand
Does the thesis statement offer a roadmap for the reader, containing organizational cues as to how to arrange the
various parts of the supporting arguments in the pages that follow?
The thesis statement should not only state the stance, but offer a roadmap for the reader, as to how the essay as a
whole will proceed. This will often require the thesis statement to be two sentences, but not always.
Does the thesis statement contain the key words or central idea that focuses the argument?
Including the key words from the question/prompt AND from the actual supporting arguments developed in the first
draft of the essay in the thesis statement allows the reader to better understand the important points of the supporting
arguments. Defining the key words also creates a continuity for the reader to develop a complete and coherent view of
the student’s stance as well assist the student in staying focused solely on the information/evidence that relates to the
thesis statement.
Is the thesis statement focused enough or complex enough to satisfy the page length of the assignment?
Remember: Part of the task in writing an essay is not only to state what the student will/can argue, but also to make the
argument itself. If the student cannot complete the argument in the space required, then the student must narrow the
scope of their topic. Similarly, if the thesis statement is too narrow, the student will have to brainstorm ways to broaden
the overall stance.
Can the student support the thesis statement with the evidence and pattern established?
If the student cannot support their stance, then the student cannot make write the essay. If the thesis statement cannot
be supported with the material available in the evidence and history used, the student will have to reframe their stance
and supporting arguments in provable terms.
Does the thesis statement really reflect the final draft?
If the thesis statement does not accurately express the student’s claim, the reader will be confused. The tricky part is
that often in the course of writing an essay, students’ ideas change or is modified. This means that it is vitally important
to continuously check that the thesis statement is the most accurate expression of the stance taken and supporting
arguments made in the actual drafting of the essay. When the student is finished with a draft, the student must revise
the working thesis statement so that it reflects what the student actually wrote, OR the student must revise the rest of
the essay so that it proves the thesis statement point for point.