Definition and Samples of the Three-Part Thesis Statement

THREE-PART
THESIS STATEMENTS
Definition

The thesis statement is the most important sentence in the five-paragraph essay. Whereas a simple thesis statement is really just a topic sentence that is applied to an entire essay of more than one paragraph, a threepart thesis statement includes a three-part list of the essay's main supporting points.
Simple thesis statement:
The Waterloo Campaign was a disaster for Napoleon.
Three-part thesis statement:
The Waterloo Campaign was a disaster for Napoleon because it destroyed the bulk of the French armed forces, exposed Napoleon's personal weaknesses, and dramatically eroded his support among the French people.

Good thesis statements
State or name the central idea of the essay (The Waterloo Campaign)
Assert something specific and important about the essay's subject (was a disaster for Napoleon)
State or imply the purpose of the essay (the effects of the Waterloo Campaign)
Often state the thesis' main supporting ideas in a listing of the supporting points (destroyed the bulk of the French armed forces, exposed Napoleon's personal weaknesses, and dramatically eroded his support among the French people)

Sample thesis statements

The subjects (topics) are in bold and the assertions are underlined.
Most successful students have three characteristic abilities that separate them from those who merely play at being students: they have the ability to motivate themselves, they have the ability to organize themselves, and they have the ability to set goals for themselves.
But two candidates for the office of mayor, Candidate A, the Republican nominee, and Candidate
B, the Democratic nominee, differ dramatically in their approaches to taxation, government spending, and social issues.

Parallelism

Three-part thesis statements must maintain parallelism by using the same part of speech (for instance, all adjectives) or the same part of the sentence (for example, all clauses).
Non-parallel: "She likes dancing, swimming, and to box."
Parallel: "She likes dancing, swimming, and boxing."
Non-parallel: "He admires people with strong convictions, forceful characters, and who think for themselves."
Parallel: "He admires people with strong convictions, forceful characters, and independent minds."
Parallel: "He admires people who have strong convictions, who have morals, and who think for themselves."
Adapted from Memos for Developmental Writers

http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/sblack/dspw0800/Memos.htm) by Stephen Black, 2006.

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