Thesis Maker:
Three Steps to a
Strong Thesis Statement
A Tutorial
for the Students of
Mount Vernon High School
by Mr. Tuel, Librarian
Step 1
• Choose your topic.
• Do some reading/study about it.
• (Depending on the class/teacher, your topic may be
chosen for you.)
Step 2
• Choose your focus.
• This limits the information you will
present about your topic.
• The focus will also identify the approach
you will take toward your topic:
informational/expository or
argumentative/persuasive.
Step 3
• Write your thesis statement, a single
sentence that
– Identifies the topic and focus of your paper
– States the main idea/argument of your paper
– Controls the content and direction of your paper
• Think of your thesis as an umbrella under
which all of your paper will be covered.
Example 1
• TOPIC: The Vietnam War
• FOCUS: Rationale (reason for the war)
• THESIS: The United States fought the
Vietnam War in order to stop the spread
of communism in Indochina.
Example 2
• TOPIC: Jim Crow laws
• FOCUS: Effects of
• THESIS: “Jim Crow” laws, enacted by
many Southern legislatures between
1877 and the early 1950s, mandated
segregation of blacks and whites and
impacted public transportation, schools,
and many businesses.
Example 3
• TOPIC: The impact of the individual in history
• FOCUS: The murder of Emmett Till
• THESIS: The gruesome and vicious murder
of fourteen-year-old Emmett Till in the Deep
South in 1955 for his supposed whistling at a
white woman captured the attention of the
nation and helped to ignite the Civil Rights
movement of the 1960s.
Your Turn
• On your own paper, write the following:
– Your TOPIC:
– Your FOCUS:
– Your THESIS: