THESIS
STATEMENTS
TOPIC
= General category your essay is about
= What do you have an opinion about?
= Ex. Consumer privacy – too broad
= Ex. The rampant violation of
consumers’ privacy in the pursuit of
corporate profits – more narrow
THE POSITION OR CLAIM
= What is one thing about your topic that you believe to
be true and that you wish to argue?
= If you do not yet have a position, making a cluster or
a map with your topic in the center is a good way to
help yourself find a position.
= Another good way is to begin a free write, brainstorm,
list, or doing some preliminary research.
THE QUALIFICATION
= Is what you say always true always?
= Are there exceptions?
= Are there good reasons why your
position may have a down side?
THE QUALIFICATION
= Avoid absolute statements
= Here’s a trick: begin your qualification with a word like
“although,” “though” or “even though.”
= Example Qualification: Although schools of over a
thousand students have flourished in America. . .
THE REASON OR JUSTIFICATION
= In general why do you believe your position to
be correct in spite of your qualification?
= What is the overall good to be gained by
agreeing with your position?
= This is a general statement; your specific
reasons will follow in the body of your essay.
PUT THEM ALL
TOGETHER.
= In one or two sentences, present your
thesis, including a qualification, a reason,
and a position.
= The classic, traditional way of combining
is to first present your qualification and
immediately demonstrates your interest in
accuracy and fairness.
STRONG THESIS STATEMENTS
• A strong thesis statement takes a position.
Outsourcing has positive and negative effects.
Is this a strong thesis statement?
Among many other things, “Outsourcing has positive and
negative effects” is a weak thesis because it takes both sides
of a debate instead of asserting a position.
TAKING A POSITION
Here is an example of a thesis that needs honing from the Purdue OWL website.
“Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the
Internet, and web pages can provide both advertising and customer
support.”
Is this a paper about marketing, web pages, or customer support?
The thesis needs, therefore, to establish a relationship between important
terms
“Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the
Internet, and web pages can provide both advertising and
customer support.”
This statement can be improved. One revision suggested is the
following:
“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.”
THE “SO WHAT?” FACTOR
= a good thesis statement should take a stand
= a good thesis statement should justify discussion
(SO WHAT?)
= a good thesis statement should express one main
idea or a clear relationship between specific ideas
linked by words like "because," "since," "so,"
"although," "unless," or "however.”
“SO WHAT” FACTOR
= A good thesis statement should be
restricted to a specific and manageable
focus and specific purpose - readers are
more likely to reward a paper that does a
small task well than a paper that takes on an
unrealistic task and fails
WORKING THESIS IN ACTION
1st draft
The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons,
some of which were the same and some different.
2nd draft
While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of
slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South
fought to preserve its own institutions.
3rd draft
While both Northerners and Southerners believed they
fought against tyranny and oppression, Northerners focused
on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended
their own right to self-government.
DOCUMENTED ESSAY THESIS
Increasingly, consumer tracking in the internet has led to the commoditization
of individuals allowing people to be traded and sold; therefore, this can
potentially create categories wherein some people are more valuable than
others and lead to individual and societal harms.
Though celebrities’ wealth allows them the capacity to enjoy more privacy in
more ways than others, the public’s demand for news and information about
their lives undermines their capacity to enjoy this privacy as much as the
middle and lower class.
EXAMPLE THESES
Example of an argumentative thesis statement:
High school graduates should be required to take a year
off to pursue community service projects before
entering college in order to increase their maturity and
global awareness.
The paper that follows should:
Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students
should pursue community projects before entering college