1. Developing Strong Thesis Statements By: Jessie Rusk Social Sciences Learning Center 10/19/2010

2. What is a Thesis Statement? The thesis statement is typically that ONE sentence in your paper that asserts, controls, and structures the entire argument. It is usually the last sentence of the first paragraph. Without a strong thesis, a paper might seem unfocused, weak, and not worth the reader’s time.

3. What Makes a Good Thesis? A good thesis statement will make a claim. This doesn’t mean that you have to reduce an idea to an “either/or” proposition and then take a stand. Rather, you need to develop an interesting perspective that you can support and defend. This perspective must be more than an observation. EX: “America is violent” is an observation. “Americans are violent because they are fearful” is an argument. Why? Because it posits a perspective. It makes a claim. Also, if your thesis is positing something that no one can (or would wish to) argue with, then it’s not a very good thesis.

4. A Good Thesis… Will control the entire argument. Your thesis determines that you are required to say in a paper. It also determines what you cannot say. Every paragraph in your paper exists in order to support your thesis. Accordingly, if one of your paragraphs seems irrelevant to your thesis you have two choices: get rid of the paragraph or rewrite your thesis.

5. A Good Thesis… Is like a contract between you and your reader. If you introduce ideas that the reader isn’t prepared for, you’ve violated that contract.

6. A Good Thesis… Will provide a structure for your argument. A good thesis not only signals to the reader WHAT your argument is, but HOW your argument will be presented. In other words, your thesis sentence should either directly or indirectly suggest the structure of your argument to the reader.

7. More on A Good Thesis Say, for example, that you are going to argue that “American fearfulness express itself in three curious ways: A, B, and C.” In this case, the reader understands that you are going to have three important points to cover, and that these points will appear in a certain order. If you suggest a particular ordering principle and then abandon it, the reader will feel betrayed, irritated confused.

8. Will My Thesis Sentence Make the Grade? Does my thesis sentence attempt to answer (or at least to explore) a challenging intellectual question? Is the point I'm making one that would generate discussion and argument, or is it one that would leave people asking, "So what?" Is my thesis too vague? Too general? Should I focus on some more specific aspect of my topic?

9. Will My Thesis Sentence Make the Grade? Does my thesis deal directly with the topic at hand, or is it a declaration of my personal feelings? Does my thesis indicate the direction of my argument? Does it suggest a structure for my paper?

10. More Thesis Checklist Does my introductory paragraph define terms important to my thesis? If I am writing a research paper, does my introduction "place" my thesis within the larger, ongoing scholarly discussion about my topic? Is the language in my thesis vivid and clear? In short, is this thesis the very best sentence that it can be?

11. How to Generate a Thesis if the Topic is Assigned Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question.

12. How to Generate a Thesis if the Topic is Assigned For example, if your assignment is, “Write a report to the local school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class,” turn the request into a question like, “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” After you’ve chosen the question your essay will answer, compose one or two complete sentences answering that question.

13. The key difference between an opinion statement and thesis statement is that a thesis conveys to the reader that the claim being offered has been thoroughly explored and is defendable by evidence. It answers the "what" question (what is the argument?) and it gives the reader a clue as to the "why" question (why is this argument the most persuasive?). Examples of good thesis statements: "The ability to purchase television advertising is essential for any candidate's bid for election to the Senate because television reaches millions of people and thus has the ability to dramatically increase name recognition.“ The organizational structure of the United Nations, namely consensus voting in the security council, makes it incapable of preventing war between major powers."

14. Good: X has made a significant impact on the teenage population due to its . . . Bad: In this paper, I will discuss X.