Thesis Statement: A thesis statement is a one sentence summary that tells your audience what your essay is attempting to prove about a specific subject.
Thesis Formula: Specific Subject -
+ A Specific Feeling or Feature
(school uniforms)
(will decrease school violence)
+ A Sense of Direction
= An Effective Thesis Statement
( because ....)
Strong Thesis: A strong thesis statement states something about the subject that is debatable; stating that, “Although school uniforms will decrease some students' self-expression, it will also decrease violence because it will eliminate class distinctions based on clothing and it will foster a sense of community,” is a strong thesis statement.
Weak Thesis: A weak thesis statement states something about the subject that is not debatable or too vague. For example, “School uniforms are good,” would be a weak thesis statement because words such as “bad” and
“good” are too vague; so, ask yourself, “Specifically, how are they good?” Also, stating something like, “School uniforms make everyone look the same,” is weak because most people would agree with you.
Topic Sentences: A topic sentence explains to your audience what you will be attempting to prove in the paragraph that the sentence appears. For example, “School uniforms will decrease school violence by decreasing clothing-related teasing.” So, the audience knows up front that the paragraph in which the above topic sentence appears focuses on proving that, “School uniforms will decrease clothing- related teasing.”
Unity:
Coherence:
Unity refers to a sense of oneness; writing in which each sentence helps to develop the main idea. Basically, if you’ve chosen to write about how school uniforms will decrease school violence, your essay should be filled with evidence and examples that back up that claim and not stray from that main topic.
The main question here is does your essay make sense as you move from one point to the next, one piece of evidence to the next?
Making sure the meaning in your essay is clear is essential to proving your thesis statement (the focus of your essay).