Developing and Supporting a Strong Thesis
1. What is a thesis? [The central claim of an essay.]
2. What are some characteristics of an effective thesis?
[Presents the central claim of the essay clearly and precisely.
Provides specific direction to the essay.
Sets up a structure/organization for the essay.
Prepares readers for what follows in the essay.]
3. Where do you typically place a thesis within an essay? Why?
[In an academic essay, writers typically place the thesis at the end of the introduction. The
thesis provides a transition to the body of the essay.]
4. What do you need to provide in the introduction before presenting the thesis?
[Before presenting the thesis, writers need to introduce the topic of the essay to the readers.
Writers should provide readers with whatever is necessary to prepare them for the thesis,
including background information, necessary explanation, and definitions of terms. Writers
may also want to do something to create a hook to get readers interested in the topic.]
5. Evaluate the following thesis statements for an essay assignment that asked students to
compare and contrast the American workplace of the 20th century with that of the 21st
century and use course readings to support the ideas presented in the essay:
A. There are many similarities and differences between the workplace of the 20th and 21st
centuries. [Too general; not enough specific direction for the essay.]
B. Within this essay, I will describe the major similarities and differences between the American
workplace of the 20th and 21st centuries. [Not a claim, just a statement of intent; too general.]
C. Despite some similarities between the workplace of the 20th and 21st centuries, I think there will
be more differences than similarities. [Stronger voice—3rd person; too general.]
D. In the 20th century workplace, Americans often worked for the same company for their entire
career, while in the 21st century, most will work in several different jobs. In both the 20th and
21st centuries, workers will need to have the ability to adapt to different situations, but in the
21st century, the ability to adapt and be flexible will be even more important. While a college
degree was seen as the key to getting a good job in the 20th century, such a degree will no
longer guarantee that you will get a good job in the 21st century. [Too many sentences; writer
needs to identify connections among the ideas and combine related ideas.]
E. Although the 20th and 21st century workplaces share some superficial similarities, they differ in
the role and impact of technology, the types of jobs available, the competition for those jobs,
and the skills, education, and training needed to secure such jobs. [Best thesis; makes a claim,
gives specific direction to the essay, and has an authoritative voice.]
6. What ideas does thesis 5E commit the writer to develop and how would these ideas be
organized (number the ideas in thesis 5E)? [I. Superficial similarities between 20th and 21st
century workplace; II. Differences: (A) role and impact of technology, (B) types of jobs available,
(C) Competition for jobs, and (D) necessary skills, education, and training.]
7. What types of evidence and support can you provide to develop a thesis?
[Facts, figures, statistics, studies, expert opinion, examples, hypothetical examples, logical
reasoning, analysis, description, passages from written texts.]
8. Where and how should you provide such support? What do you need to document and how
do you document your sources?
[Support should come within the body of the essay. Writers typically provide a topic sentence that
identifies the main idea of the paragraph and then present evidence and support for that main idea.
Each paragraph should have enough support and analysis to convince readers of the correctness of
the idea. Provide in-text citations within the essay to identify the source (author and page number)
and then include a list of sources at the end.]
9. Evaluate the support and evidence provided in the following paragraphs from two different
student essays comparing the workplace in the 20th and 21st centuries. Which is the better
paragraph and why?
Competition for jobs will dramatically increase in the twenty-first century. No longer will there be
American jobs so we will need to compete with people from all over the world for those jobs. “Girls, when
I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, ‘Tom, finish your dinner—people in China and India are
starving.’ My advice to you is: ‘Girls, finish your homework—people in China and India are starving for
your jobs’” (Friedman 318). If people in China and India are starving for our jobs, then we better be
prepared to compete with billions of people, which is a very challenging task for workers in the United
States. How can we compete with billions of people for a job? If you are an engineer, then the answer will
be that you need to be “‘sharp, intelligent engineers with leadership and business skills’” (qtd. in Reitz
320). If you are going into business, then you better be ready to face the “monumental change and
gargantuan opportunity” (Peters 331) that the twenty-first century presents. However, other experts
emphasize that “What the worriers always forget is that the same changes in production technology that
destroy jobs also create new ones” (p. 327), which suggests that maybe we do not need to worry about
competition as much as some suggest because new jobs will be created as old ones are lost or outsourced.
*****
In the twenty-first century workplace, globalization will significantly increase competition for jobs
as Americans will be forced to compete with people from all over the world for the available jobs. While in
the twentieth century, certain jobs were perceived to be “American,” in the twenty-first century, this will
no longer be the case. Thomas L. Friedman, author of the best-selling book The World Is Flat: A Brief
History of the Twenty-First Century, emphasizes the need for young people in the United States today to
see themselves “as competing against every young Chinese, Indian, and Brazilian” (317). Although
Friedman believes Americans can succeed in such a competitive environment, it will require more effort
than in the past, as those who succeed will have “to work a little harder and run a little faster” (318).
Individual Americans will no longer be able to succeed by what Hudson Institute researchers describe as
“hitching rides on the traditional mass transportation provided by unions, large corporations, and
government bureaucracies.” Instead, they must individually possess the “education, flexibility, and
foresight” necessary to succeed in a globalized workplace (Judy and D’Amico 313).
[The second paragraph is better because it provides a topic sentence that presents the main idea of the
paragraph and then presents relevant evidence and support for that idea. The writer connects the
evidence to the main idea of the paragraph and introduces voices of experts quoted within the
paragraph. The first paragraph provides a topic sentence, but then seems to contradict the idea in the
last sentence of the paragraph. The writer drops a quotation into the paragraph, failing to adequately
introduce and analyze it.]