The Thesis Statement
The main idea of an essay or report
written as a single declarative
sentence.
Scribners Handbook for Writers
The thesis, then, is the main point of
your essay summed up in a single
sentence. In it, you tell the reader where
you stand on the issue, what subtopics
you intend to cover and in what order.
Readings for Writers (97)
What a Thesis should not be or do. . .
• It is not a rhetorical question.
– Are there elements of Racism in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings?
• It is not a statement of purpose.
– This paper will show that the moral content of children’s
cartoons are too ambiguous to present acceptable behavior
models.
• It should not summarize known facts.
– AIDS is a usually fatal disease in which the body’s immune
system fails to resist infection..
• It should not be too general.
– The drug problem is something we need to solve.
Devising a Thesis Statement
• Claim about facts, argue that something exists,
causes something else, or is defined in a
particular way.
• Claims about value: make subjective
statements about the worth of something.
• Claims about policy: state an action which
must be taken.
“The Thesis” by Sheridan Baker
• “Bad Essays come from Bad Beginnings.”
• If you do not find a thesis, your essay will be a
tour the the miscellaneous.
• The “aboutness” puts an argumentative edge
on an essay.
• The best kind of thesis is the kind that is an
affront to someone.
• The more generally unpopular an idea the
more unpopular the viewpoint, the stronger the
thesis.
Should Christians be Confrontive?
• Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
• And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out
all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the
seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It
is written, `My house shall be called the house of
prayer;’ but ye have made it a den of thieves (Mat.
21:12-13).
Helpful Sites
• “Creating Thesis Statements.” A PDF file which
covers what one text describes as a thesis:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5288042/CreatingThesis-Statements
• “Creating a Strong Thesis.” UWC (Undergrad
Writing Center Handouts)
http://projects.uwc.utexas.edu/handouts/?q=node/
45
• A PDF file with the same info:
http://projects.uwc.utexas.edu/handouts/files/Stro
ng%20Thesis.pdf
• “Paper Writing” Evangel University
http://www.evangel.edu/Academics/PaperWriti
ng/index.as
• Baker Sheridan “The Keyhole.”
http://www.evangel.edu/Academics/PaperWriti
ng/images/keyhole.gif