Just the plain facts!
PRESENTATION SERIES
Theses and thesis-statements
© Nicholas G. Ashby 2004
Theses and thesis-statements
Most academic essay assignments require you to
come up with and defend a thesis. How well this
is done has a profound effect on the grade the
essay receives. You should be clear about the
answers to the following questions before
starting a thesis-based assignment:



What is a thesis?
What is the purpose of a thesis?
What is a thesis statement?
What is a thesis?
A sentence that makes a claim about something
(usually about an assigned topic or issue) could
be turned into a thesis. Here are some examples
of sentences that make a claim about something:
there should be a worldwide ban on DDT use
 pre-planned violence is not the cause of
football hooliganism
 even very small networks of neurons are
capable of learning and memory.

What is a thesis?
However, a sentence that makes a claim about
something is not a well-supported thesis until
reasons or evidence are provided to persuade
the reader that the claim is true or probable.
Hence, a well-supported thesis is essentially
the conclusion of an argument. An assignment
that requires you to come up with a thesis is
an assignment that requires you to argue for a
claim about something.
What is a thesis?
Reasons/evidence
Claim about something (thesis)
What is the purpose of a thesis?
A thesis-based essay assignment has two
purposes:

to give you the opportunity to demonstrate
your academic skills and talents

to add to the body of knowledge about the
topic or issue explored in the essay.
What is the purpose of a thesis?
Academic skills and talents

A thesis shows how well (or not!) you
understand the topic
It is hard to come up with a thesis that is
relevant to a topic or issue that you do not
fully understand!
What is the purpose of a thesis?

A thesis shows how well (or not!) you
understand the topic
A thesis that misses the crux of a topic or issue
is a sign to the grader that you have failed to
grasp the topic or issue fully!
What is the purpose of a thesis?

A thesis shows how well (or not!) you
understand the topic
A thesis that goes to the crux of the matter
indicates to the grader that you have
understood the topic or issue.
What is the purpose of a thesis?
A thesis can fail to be relevant to the topic
or issue in a number of ways:
the thesis could simply have no logical
connection to the topic or issue
 the thesis could be trivial
 the thesis could be too wide
 the thesis could be too narrow

What is the purpose of a thesis?
No logical connection!
Suppose you have an assignment that asks you
to write a thesis-based essay on the issue of
whether mandatory physical education at all
high school grades would significantly impact
on adult obesity rates in Canada. You come up
with the thesis: eating disorders among
high school students contributes significantly to
obesity in adult life.
What is the purpose of a thesis?
The thesis: eating disorders among
high school students contributes significantly to
obesity in adult life is interesting, but it has
nothing to do with the assigned issue, which
concerned mandatory physical education at all
high school grades, not eating disorders at high
school!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
Arguing for a thesis that has nothing to do with the
assigned topic is sometimes called going off topic.
Another way of going off topic is to discuss evidence
that has no logical connection to the thesis you
indicate in your thesis-statement! If your thesis is that
there should be mandatory physical education at all
high school grades, don’t spend your essay discussing
evidence for the thesis that eating disorders at high
school contribute to adult obesity!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
To help avoid going off topic, read and re-read
the assignment instructions until you
completely understand what you have to do. If
anything is unclear, ask the professor or TA.
When you are arranging the body of your
essay, check that the evidence is relevant to
the thesis you state in the introduction!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
Trivial theses!
A thesis that everyone already agrees with
is a trivial thesis.
Suppose you had an assignment that required
you to write a thesis-based essay on the
problem of homelessness in Toronto. You did
your research and came up with the thesis:
homelessness is a real problem in Toronto.
What is the purpose of a thesis?
This thesis is trivial because everyone would
agree with it.
Everybody thinks that homelessness is a
problem in Toronto. So it is a waste of time
writing an essay that argues for the thesis that
homelessness is a real problem in Toronto!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
It is also a trivial thesis vis-à-vis the
assignment because it is assumed to be true
in the assignment instructions…
If you are asked to write on the problem of
homelessness in Toronto, then it is fair to say
that it is a given that homelessness is a
problem in Toronto!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
To avoid trivial theses:
 be thorough in your reading and research,
and truly reflect on what you discover
 make sure that your thesis is more detailed
and specific than assumptions in the
assignment instructions (unless the thesis
itself is an assigned one)
 try to come up with an original thesis – but
remember that the more controversial the
thesis, the harder it will be to argue for it
effectively!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
Some theses more detailed than the assumption that
homelessness is a problem in Toronto:
creating more inner-city shelters will not alleviate
the problem of homelessness in Toronto
 the problem of homelessness in Toronto is made
worse by the lack of investment in affordable
housing
 to help ease the problem of homelessness in
Toronto, more resources need to be channeled into
support for those living with mental disabilities.

What is the purpose of a thesis?
A thesis-based assignment might give the
thesis to you directly, or indirectly via a
question or statement that you must agree or
disagree with.
Here, you do not have to worry about trivial
theses, but be concerned about the
effectiveness of your supporting argument!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
Theses that are too wide!
A thesis is too wide if it claims more than is
necessary.
If you were asked to write a thesis-based assignment
on the problem of urban sprawl in the GTA, and you
came up with the thesis: the root causes of urban
sprawl are the same in the Atlantic and Central
Canadian provinces, you would have a thesis that was
too wide!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
This thesis does bear a logical connection to
the assigned topic, but it includes more than
was assigned (urban sprawl in the GTA). This
results in a lower grade, not a higher grade!!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
Wide theses should be avoided because they:
 leave you open to the charge of having
gone off topic
 are much harder to argue for effectively –
the more your thesis includes, the more
reasons you must supply in order to support
it. Why create the extra work for yourself?!
 typically result in essays that are superficial
and lacking in detailed argument.
What is the purpose of a thesis?
The best ways to avoid a wide thesis are to:
make sure that you fully understand the
assignment instructions
 allow yourself time to research the topic
thoroughly
 check to make sure that your thesis is
focused on the assigned topic – if you are
unsure, check with the professor or TA.

What is the purpose of a thesis?
Theses that are too narrow!
A thesis is too narrow if it claims less than is
necessary.
If you were asked to write a thesis-based essay
on the likelihood of manned exploration of our
solar-system, and you came up with the thesis:
renewed manned exploration of the Moon is
likely, you would have a thesis that was too
narrow!
What is the purpose of a thesis? (ctd.)
This thesis does bear a logical connection to
the assigned topic, but it includes less than
was assigned (manned exploration of our
solar-system…not just the Moon). This results
in a lower grade!!
What is the purpose of a thesis?
Narrow theses should be avoided as they:

leave you open to the charge of having gone
off topic

leave you open to the criticism of having
failed to take into account a variety of
important and crucial points.
What is the purpose of a thesis?
The best ways to avoid a narrow thesis are to:
make sure that you fully understand the
assignment instructions
 allow yourself time to research the topic
thoroughly
 check to make sure that your thesis is
focused on the assigned topic – if you are
unsure, check with the professor or TA.

What is the purpose of a thesis?
Academic skills and talents
How well you argue for your thesis shows
how good (or bad!) you are at critical
thinking
An essay with a thesis that is not well-argued
for will not get the best grade, no matter
how interesting the thesis is.

What is the purpose of a thesis?
For your supporting argument to be effective:

it should include trustworthy evidence

the evidence should be relevant to the thesis.
For more on this, see the
BWC presentation on how
to argue for a thesis.
What is a thesis-statement?
A thesis-statement is simply a sentence, or a
couple of sentences that tell the reader what
the thesis of your essay is. Thesis-statements
are easy to write. They are factual sentences
like any other factual sentence!
What is a thesis-statement?
Some examples of possible thesis-statements:

there should be a phased-in worldwide ban
on the use of DDT

pre-planned violence is not the cause of
football hooliganism

memory and learning can be caused by
simple mechanisms
What is a thesis-statement?
A thesis-statement typically appears in an
essay’s introduction, and is repeated in the
essay’s conclusion. A thesis-statement appears
in an essay’s introduction so that the reader
can know what thesis is argued for in the body
of the essay. The next few slides provide
examples of thesis-statements (in blue) within
the context of essay introductions.
What is a thesis-statement?
The question of whether there should be a worldwide
ban on the use of DDT is a complex one, to be sure.
The harmful effects of DDT are well-documented and
the evidence is incontrovertible. However, it is also
undeniable that DDT has saved millions of lives in
sub-Saharan Africa. New, less environmentally harmful
methods of controlling malaria are being developed,
but they are not yet ready for widespread use.
Clearly, DDT should be banned worldwide, but the
ban should be phased-in as these new methods
become available to take its place.
What is a thesis-statement?
The troubling phenomenon of football hooliganism has
been with us for several decades, but the recent,
vicious clashes between rival fans has fuelled the
debate over its causes. One commonly held belief is
that football hooliganism is caused by violence which
has been pre-planned by itinerant fans. However, all
available scientific research shows quite clearly that
pre-planned violence is not the cause of football
hooliganism.
What is a thesis-statement?
To many, learning and memory are astonishing abilities
that must obviously be caused by complex
mechanisms. This view was attacked by behaviourism
in the early twentieth century, but by the end of the
century behaviourism, as a distinct philosophical
position, had become unpopular. More recently,
research in connectionism has shown convincingly that
even very small networks of neurons are capable of
learning and memory, thus vindicating behaviourism’s
original insight.
What is a thesis-statement?
Writing a thesis-statement is as easy as
writing any other factual sentence.
The challenging part
is coming up with a
good thesis and
supporting it with an
effective argument!!!
Frequently asked questions
1. Why am I finding it hard to come up
with a thesis?
The most common reason is that you are trying
to come up with a thesis before you have done
sufficient reading and research. You can’t come
up with a thesis about an issue until you have
researched that issue! Do the research first and
then it will be possible to come up with a
thesis.
Frequently asked questions
2. I’m having trouble coming up with a
thesis-statement – help!
The most common reason for this is that you
are doing things in the wrong order. Do the
reading and research first – make sure that you
understand the issue. Then come up with
a thesis. Then write your thesis-statement. If
you do things in this order, you should find it
easier to write your thesis-statement.
Frequently asked questions
3. I’ve done the reading and research,
but I’m still having trouble coming up
with a thesis!
Are there differing viewpoints on the issue you
have researched? If so, you could argue that a
particular viewpoint is more plausible than
others. If no claim seems worth arguing for,
then you may have failed to understand the
material you have read and need to read it
again.
Frequently asked questions
3. I’ve done the reading and research,
but I’m still having trouble coming up with a
thesis! (continued)
Check over the assignment instructions to make sure
that your expectations for the assignment are
realistic. For example, if you are asked to write a
short thesis-based essay on women in sport, and the
research includes lots of statistical data, you would
obviously not be expected to include all that data in
your essay – just come up with and defend a thesis
pertaining to the main ideas supported by the data.
Frequently asked questions
3. I’ve done the reading and research,
but I’m still having trouble coming up
with a thesis! (continued)
Think about the reading and research that you
have done in relation to the main themes and
messages of the course. These may give
you a clue about what sort of claim would be
good to use as a thesis.
Frequently asked questions
4. How long should my thesis-statement
be?
In a typical academic essay, a thesis-statement
should be no more than one or two sentences
long. Your thesis-statement needs to be clear
for the reader, who will encounter it in the
introductory paragraph of your essay. So
when you write your thesis-statement, keep it
clear and straightforward – avoid complicating
details.
Frequently asked questions
5. I have come up with several theses,
but I can’t decide which one to use.
Select a thesis according to interest and
academic suitability. Choose the thesis that
most interests you. Select your thesis, bearing
in mind that it must have relevance to the
assigned topic or issue, must not be trivial, too
wide or too narrow, and that it must be
possible to support it with relevant, trustworthy
evidence.
Other sources and resources

Make an appointment for the Bethune Writing Centre
(go to Master’s office at 205 Bethune to book a slot,
or call 416 736 2100 ext. 22035 )

Visit York Centre for Academic Writing online resources at:
http://www.arts.yorku.ca/caw/resources.html
The following books may be useful:
Hacker, D. (2003). A Canadian writer’s reference
(2nd ed.). Scarborough, Ont.: Nelson Thomson
Learning. Call number: PE 1408 H293

Troyka, L. Q. (2002). Simon & Schuster handbook
for writers (3rd ed.). Scarborough, Ont.: Prentice-Hall.
Call number: PE 1408 T697
Other sources and resources

For science students writing a scientific report, the
requirements for a thesis are different from those stated
here. The following book will be particularly useful:
Day, Robert A. (1998). How to write & publish a scientific
paper (5th ed.). Phoenix, Arizona: The Oryx Press.
Call number: T11 D33