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What is a thesis?
The thesis is the controlling or central idea of a piece ofwriting, a main point that the author wishes to prove. It can be locatedanywhere in the introduction, but traditionally is located at the end of thefirst paragraph.
The thesis does one or more of the following:
- Expresses a strong,controversial claim
- Makes a call to action
- Asks the question that will beanswered in the essay
- Forecasts the structure of theessay
Why is the thesis important?
Since the thesis states the main idea of a piece of writing,the absence of a thesis results in a confused, incomplete essay. Having astrong thesis statement ensures that the reader will understand what point theauthor is trying to get across.
| What To Do: - State your point of view as fact - Narrow your topic to one main idea - Assert your position clearly and firmly - Support your claim with facts, details, - and examples | What Not To Do: - Use noncommittal language such as possibly, maybe, or I think thatÉ - Explore too many main ideas at once - Be vague in the assertion of your topic - Initiate claims that you cannot support with fact | |||
| What can I ask myself to help me write my thesis? - What am I trying to accomplish by writing this piece? - What am I trying to convince the reader? - What main arguments do I have so far? - Is my argument specific and manageable? | ||||
| You should always formulate a thesis to focus your thoughts as your write, but you can always change your thesis to fit new thoughts or new evidence that you come up with. ItŐs easier to fit the thesis to the paper you already have than to try and find non-existent evidence to support an inaccurate thesis. | ||||
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