THESIS STATEMENTS:
Give direction to the author of a
paper
Give readers an idea as to what
the paper will be about
Where am I
going?
ESSAY
An essay without a
thesis statement
is like a car
without a driver
WHAT IS A THESIS STATEMENT?
A thesis statement is a sentence used in an essay
that serves as the guide for the essay and
directly answers the question or task asked of
you.
A thesis statement express the
main idea of your paper.
WHAT IS A THESIS NOT?
A factual statement
A topic sentence
TOPIC SENTENCE:
Big Spring is a small town in West Texas.
(This is factual, topic sentence;
therefore, it is not a thesis
statement.)
Yep, you
guessed
it—on
the test.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A THESIS STATEMENT
Addresses the prompt clearly
Makes a claim, or
Presents an argument
Is arguable (an opinion)
In first paragraph of essay
You
should be
great at
this!
IT’S TIME TO SPOT A THESIS!
ON EACH OF THE FOLLOWING
SLIDES,
READ THE WRITING PROMPT AND
T H E T W O S A M P L E S TAT E M E N T S .
C L I C K O N T H E O N E T H AT I S T H E
BEST CHOICE FOR A THESIS.
1. EARLY ON IN LIFE, PEOPLE DEVELOP AN
ADMIRATION FOR HEROES. IN A WELL-DEVELOPED
ESSAY, DISCUSS A PERSON YOU ADMIRE AND WHY YOU
CHOSE THIS PERSON.
Option
A
One person I admire is Babe Ruth, who played
baseball from 1914 until 1935.
Option
B Ruth, the greatest
One person I admire is Babe
baseball player of all time.
INCORRECT
Option
A
One person I admire is Babe Ruth, who played
baseball from 1914 until 1935.
Although this does address the writing prompt, this
is a factual statement. A thesis statement should be
something you can argue for or against.
CORRECT! GREAT JOB!
Option
B
One person I admire is Babe Ruth, the greatest
baseball player of all time.
This statement addresses the prompt, and presents
and opinion that can be argued.
2. …DISCUSS THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR II ON THE UNITED STATES.
Option
A
World War II was a costly war that had a major
impact on the economy of the United States
Option
B the economy of the United
World War II not only affected
States, but also altered the role of the American
government and the American people forever.
INCORRECT
Option
A
World War II was a costly war that had a major
impact on the economy of the United States
Although this is meets all the criteria for a thesis
statement, it only addresses part of the writing prompt.
Remember, the statement tells the reader what to
expect. With this as a thesis, one would only expect to
read about the economic effects.
CORRECT AGAIN!!!!
Option
B
World War II not only affected the economy of the United
States, but also altered the role of the American
government and the American people forever.
This is correct because it addresses the social, economic and
political effects as stated in the prompt. Notice that the words
people (social) and government (political) were used in this
statement. This makes the sentence more original and shows the
reader that you know what “social” and “political” refer to.
3. … DESCRIBE THREE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF LATIN
AMERICA AND THEIR IMPORTANCE TO THE REGION.
Option
A Amazon River and
The Andes Mountains, the
Yucatan Peninsula are the three most significant
physical features in Latin America.
Option
B
Three physical features found
in Latin America are
the Andes Mountains, the Amazon River and the
Yucatan Peninsula.
CORRECT! YOU ARE GETTING THIS!
Option
A Amazon River and
The Andes Mountains, the
Yucatan Peninsula are the three most significant
physical features in Latin America.
This statement gives an argument, it presents the
three physical features asked for in the prompt, and
makes reference to the importance (significance)
ALMOST! BUT NOT QUITE.
Option
Three physical features B
found in Latin America are
the Andes Mountains, the Amazon River and the
Yucatan Peninsula, which are all vital to the region.
This is a topic sentence. The reason it is not a good
thesis is because it does not present an argument or
address the whole prompt. It is a factual statement.
To make it a strong thesis, you must add to it.
4. DISCUSS THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE AND THE VEGETATION ON SUBSAHARAN AFRICA. BE SURE TO DISCUSS THE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING
TO CLIMATE, AND THE IMPACT HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS ON THE
VEGETATION.
Option
A
Human activity is altering the the vegetation of SubSaharan Africa and causing desertification, which will
have devastating effects on the people of the region.
Option
B vegetation of Sub-Saharan
Even though the climate and
Africa varies as a result of latitude and human activity,
they are still the two most important factors in determining
the quality of life.
THIS ONE IS TRICKY!
Option
Human activity is altering A
the the vegetation of SubSaharan Africa and causing desertification, which will
have devastating effects on the people of the region.
This one would be perfect for a thesis, there is only
one thing wrong with it. It does not address all of the
writing prompt. It only addresses the vegetation, but
not the climate or the factors for climate.
CORRECT! YOU ARE ON A ROLL!
Option B
Even though the climate and vegetation of Sub-Saharan
Africa varies as a result of latitude and human activity,
they are still the two most important factors in
determining the quality of life.
This statement gives an argument, and address all
aspects of the writing prompt (topic, effect, factors).
Notice how you do not have to go into detail, just
give the reader a hint of what you will write about.
5. IN SOUTH ASIA, GLOBALIZATION HAS PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN THE
DEVELOPING ECONOMIES OF THE REGION. DISCUSS THE POSITIVE
AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION IN ONE SOUTH ASIAN
COUNTRY.
Option
A
Globalization in India has offered solutions to poverty
for some and created more severe poverty for others.
Option
In India, globalization hasBmeant new jobs for India’s
emerging middle class.
YOU ARE READY TO WRITE!
Option
A
Globalization in India has offered solutions to poverty
for some and created more severe poverty for others.
There is an opinion (it has offered solutions, it has
created more severe poverty). It addresses the
positive (solutions) and negative (poverty) effects.
PRACTICE. YOU WILL GET THERE.
Option
B
In India, globalization has meant new jobs for India’s
emerging middle class.
Again, this would be a perfect thesis statement, if
the prompt only asked for the effects of
globalization. The prompt, however, specifies
positive and negative effects. This is only positive.
HAVING TROUBLE?
TURN YOUR TOPIC INTO A QUESTION (OR MULTIPLE QUESTIONS).
THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS THE THESIS STATEMENT FOR THE
ESSAY.
Q: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a
fourth-grade class?”
A: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourthgrade class are . . . .”
OR
A: “Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to
improve . . . “
TEST YOUR QUESTION
Determine as many questions as possible
 No question is too broad or narrow in the early stages
Treat each question as a “possibility”
Test each question with these others:
 Is the question or answer plausible enough to be made convincing?
 Is the question sufficiently challenging?
 Is the question within your reach, given the limitations on time, your
access to pertinent information, and the length of the assignment?
Do not forget Who, What, When, Where, and Why if you are
stuck.
AN EXAMPLE: START TO FINISH
SUBJECT AND TOPICS
Subject: College Education
Topics: upward mobility, firstgeneration, consumerism, price of
books, tuition costs, overall college
costs, availability of financial aid,
technology, preparedness
Choose preparedness
AN EXAMPLE:
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Does high school adequately prepare students for college?
 Answer: No, high school does not adequately prepare students for
college.
 What do students need to be prepared for college?
 Answer: High school students need to be made aware of the demands
required to receive a college education.
 What consequences result from underprepared students?
 Answer: Underprepared college students usually do not succeed in
college; some even fail out.
AN EXAMPLE:
THESIS STATEMENTS
Thesis statements:
 High schools fail to prepare students for entrance into
college; therefore, colleges should offer more remedial
courses.
 The lack of prepared freshman entering American
universities indicates a need for high school teachers and
counselors to reiterate the rigors of college curricula.
 High schools fail to prepare students for entrance into
college; therefore, many students fail to finish.
AN EXAMPLE:
ALL TOGETHER NOW...
Q: Does high school adequately prepare students for college?
A: No, high school does not adequately prepare students for college.
T: High schools fail to prepare students for entrance into college; therefore, colleges
should offer more remedial courses.
Q: What do students need to be prepared for college?
A: High school students need to be made aware of the demands required to receive
a college education.
T: The lack of prepared freshman entering American universities indicates a need
for high school teachers and counselors to reiterate the rigors of college curricula.
Q: What consequences result from underprepared students?
A: Underprepared college students usually do not succeed in college; some even
fail out.
T: High schools fail to prepare students for entrance into college; therefore, many
students fail to finish.
A STRONG THESIS TAKES SOME
SORT OF STAND.
WHICH THESIS STATEMENT BELOW TAKES A STAND?
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
There are some negative and positive aspects to the
Banana Herb Tea Supplement.
Vs.
Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss
that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass,
and therefore poses a potential danger to customers.
A STRONG THESIS JUSTIFIES
DISCUSSION.
WHICH THESIS STATEMENT BELOW JUSTIFIES DISCUSSION?
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
My family is an extended family.
Vs.
While most American families would view extended
family as a burden, African American families rely on
extended family for support.
A STRONG THESIS EXPRESSES ONE
MAIN IDEA.
WHICH THESIS STATEMENT BELOW EXPRESSES ONE MAIN IDEA?
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the
Internet, and web pages can provide both advertising and
customer support.
Vs.
Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing
potential, companies should exploit this potential by using
web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.
A STRONG THESIS IS SPECIFIC.
WHICH THESIS STATEMENT BELOW IS SPECIFIC?
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
World hunger has many causes and effects.
Vs.
Hunger persists in Appalachia because jobs are
scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely
profitable.
WORK CITED
Even I use
easybib.com
Rodriguez, Mr. "Thesis Identifying Activity." Upload & Share PowerPoint Presentations
and Documents. Web. 30 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.slideshare.net/mr_rodriguez23/thesis-identifying-activity>.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE INTRODUCTORY
PARAGRAPH?
Get the reader’s attention
Set tone for the rest of the essay
Make a contract with the reader - what will be
covered in this piece?
THE PARTS OF THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
The Hook - Designed to grab attention immediately and
give some indication about the essay’s topic
The Transition - Moves the reader from the hook to the
driving force of the essay….
Set Up for a Thesis: provides background information,
explains underlying information,
describes the complexity of the issue,
introduces various layers of the subject, and
helps transition from these more broad ideas to the
narrow thesis.
The Thesis - Makes the contract with the reader about
what will be discussed without a blatant
announcement.
IN THE INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH
NEVER EVER EVER. . .
bluntly announce the essay's intent ("In this essay I
will...),
make unreasonable statements,
apologize for the material that is being written ("In my
humble opinion..."),
go into a detailed account of the writing,
include random information that has nothing to do
with the essay,
dilly-dally. Get to it. Move confidently into the essay.
IN WHAT ORDER DO I WRITE THE
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH?
Even though the reader will read the hook
first, you actually write the thesis statement
first. Type your thesis statement into your
document. Review your thesis statement.
What comes to mind when you think about the
thesis? Set your cursor before the thesis and
insert your hook. Once you have a hook,
develop a transition to guide your reader to
the thesis statement.
WHAT IF I’M HANDWRITING MY ESSAY?
If you are handwriting an essay for a test or
other situation, make sure you still write the
thesis statement first. On a separate piece
of paper, write the thesis statement. Then
read over the thesis and generate a hook
that will grab the reader’s attention. Finally,
transition to the thesis and recopy the thesis
statement as the last sentence in the
paragraph.
TYPES OF HOOKS
1. Personal examples
2. Quotations
3. Facts or statistics
4. Rhetorical questions
5. Current events
PERSONAL EXAMPLES
Provides strong, dramatic incidents to use.
Honesty in expressing thoughts and feelings
will ring true with the reader. While you can
make up the personal experience, be careful
that it sounds credible.
Personal observation - different from a personal
example, an observation is something you saw
happening.
EXAMPLE 1
On Friday, February 19, 2011, life changed
for an eighteen-year-old young man. He became
very ill from a bacterial infection. His body could
not fight the infection. Why? After a week of tests
and examinations by several specialists, the
diagnosis was made. He had leukemia, a cancer of
the bone marrow. I am that young man. When a
person finds out that he has cancer, just as I did,
his whole world changes. A cancer patient is
affected physically, psychologically, and socially
by the impact of cancer.
EXAMPLE 2
One morning a young mother had her sevenmonth old son in his stroller under the peach tree near
the family pool. She walked to the kitchen to get a
knife so she could peel the peach for him. Ten seconds
later, she found him facedown with the stroller at the
bottom of the pool. She immediately pulled him out
and administered CPR to her son. If she had been gone
any longer, he might have been one of the statistics
that plague our country every year. These child
drownings could be greatly reduced if parents never
left their children unattended around water, if pools
were properly fenced, and if other safety devices were
installed in or by the pool.
USING QUOTATIONS
Content of quote should be:
Dramatic
Emotionally appealing
Surprising
Humorous
Quote does not have to be from a famous person
Must be relevant to thesis statement
EXAMPLE 1
“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven
of hell, a hell of heaven” (255). This thought by John
Milton was recorded over four hundred years ago, but it is
still timely for us today. He seems to be saying that we are
the ones to control our lives. We can be miserable when
things are going well, just as we can be happy when
things are going wrong. With this thought in mind, we can
control the way we face life through our attitude, our
determination, and our ability.
EXAMPLE 2
“I am stupid. I am never going back to school.” These are the
words spoken by a learning disabled child when he was in
first grade. He cried as he slowly walked to his bedroom,
shredding his schoolwork into small pieces. This was the first
of many times when he and his parents would feel frustrated
because there was nothing that they could do. Parents of
children with learning disabilities have often felt unprepared
to help their children with their handicaps and frustrated with
attempts to seek the proper placement of them in the publicschool system. The experience of school can be
overwhelming for children who have trouble learning. The
learning disabled student in the public educational system
must deal with academic, social, and emotional problems.
USING FACTS OR STATISTICS
Must be startling or unusual
Must be from a credible source
Use journal as a place to record
both quotes and facts or statistics
that might work for an introduction
“Just the facts,
please.”
EXAMPLE 1
In the desert regions of Arizona, solar homes date back
to the pre-Columbian Indians. These people carefully
designed their homes in the recesses of south-facing
cliffs to receive the warmth of the winter sun. In the
summer, shade was provided by overhanging cliffs.
Today, solar homes are becoming popular across the
country. These solar homes, as then, must be
carefully designed to use the sun efficiently in the
orientation, the exterior, and the interior.
EXAMPLE 2
According to an article in Family Safety & First Aid, published
by Berkley Books, “… every 45 seconds a fire breaks out in
an American home – 700,000 residences aflame each
year. And 16 times a day somebody dies in one of these
burning homes” (45). These statistics are frightening and
should not be taken lightly. The best way to deal with the
possibility of loss from fire is to plan ahead before it
happens. Otherwise, it is too late. In order not to become
one of these statistics, Americans need to equip their
homes with safety devices, set and adhere to safety rules,
and practice a family escape plan in order to protect their
families.
USING RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
• A rhetorical question is a question that you ask and
then answer yourself
• A rhetorical question can be "an
effective persuasive device, subtly influencing the kind
of response one wants to get from an audience"
(Edward P.J. Corbett).
• Use the text or the prompt the help you create a
rhetorical question
EXAMPLE 1
Can education reduce crime? German police are embarrassed after
a 27 year old man whom they had just booked for burglary
walked out of the police station and stole an unmarked police
vehicle. It is thought that the man stole the key from an officer at
the station. When he was booked and released, he was observed
by officers getting into the unmarked police car. The officers gave
chase resulting in the man's re-arrest. Three vehicles (including
the stolen police car) were damaged during the pursuit. The
stolen vehicle was recovered upon arrest of its unlawful driver.
This criminal seems unable to prevent himself from taking
actions with bad consequences, and if this trait is common
among criminals, perhaps education in this area would reduce
crime.
EXAMPLE 2
Would you like a robot classmate? Qrio, a humanoid robot
developed by Sony Intelligence Dynamics Laboratories, has
been "attending" a nursery school in California since March.
Qrio is taken to the school in San Diego every day, and spends
time playing with ten children under the age of two. A
researcher is on-hand to observe and document the
interactions that take place. The children were apprehensive
about the robot at first, but have grown to accept it, and will
help it up when it falls. "The children think of Qrio as a feeble
younger brother", according to researcher Fumihide Tanaka. The
benefits of using a robot in the classroom far outweigh the
consequences.
USING CURRENT EVENTS
Must be recent
Must be important
Should be made public by
newspapers, television, or
radio
EXAMPLE
This morning’s news reported that a young girl, age 5, was
abducted from her classroom. As a frantic search ensued,
people across the Philadelphia area were shocked to find that
the kidnapper walked right into the child’s classroom and
demanded that the young kindergartner leave with the woman.
The child managed to escape and was found, but she had been
attacked by her captors. Obviously, safety procedures broke
down and this poor child paid the price. In order to assure the
safety of all children, schools across the country must review
safety procedures, tighten safety protocols where necessary,
and assure all staff members are properly trained.