This handout describes what a thesis statement is‚ how thesis statements work in your writing‚ and how you can discover or refine one for your draft. INTRODUCTION Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting‚ logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up‚ your parents to let you borrow the car‚ your friend to vote for your favorite
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Thesis Statements A thesis statement should be argumentative (debatable) and function as a one-two sentence --condensation of your paper’s primary claim (or argument). Thesis statements are necessary so that readers can identify the point and/or argument of your paper early in the paper. A thesis statement also allows you to state the primary reasons behind your paper’s argument early in the paper. A thesis statement is not a “duh” statement‚ such as “The extermination of the Jews was bad
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an effective research paper‚ regardless of whether you are in high school‚ college‚ or graduate school‚ is a good thesis statement. A good thesis statement should be concise‚ direct‚ and must state a point of view. A thesis statement can’t be a fact‚ because the whole point of a research paper is to argue a point‚ and you can’t argue your thesis if it’s a fact. Perhaps the hardest thing about writing a good thesis statement is narrowing down a broad topic to a clear thesis that states an arguable
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WRITE A STRONG THESIS STATEMENT A WRITING CENTRE HANDOUT 1. UNDERSTAND THE ACADEMIC WRITING TASK You can begin to formulate a good thesis statement only after you have got a solid grasp of the purpose of the assignment. If you’re asked to write a paper in response to a specific assignment question‚ then your first task is make sure that you clearly understand the academic writing task. Determine which of the following critical thinking skills you are primarily being asked to apply to your object(s)
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G Thesis Statements What Is a Thesis Statement? If you have ever worked in an office with computers‚ your computer was probably connected to a network. In a network‚ there is one main computer to which all the other computers send and receive information. If that base computer shuts down‚ all the other computers shut down—everything centers on that one computer. In the same way‚ every word‚ sentence‚ and paragraph in an essay must relate to or center on the thesis statement. A thesis statement
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WTG 7a: The Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences The thesis statement concisely expresses your main idea to your audience and is supported by the body of the essay. Your thesis statement should do more than state a fact; rather‚ it should make an assertion based on your own ideas. ( Bad: iPods are devices that transport and play music. ( Good: iPods are the best source for transporting and playing music not only because they are compact and user-friendly but also because they store
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ESSAYS BEGIN WITH A THESIS STATEMENT What is a thesis statement? A single sentence that summarizes your main idea How do you create a thesis statement? Two Parts: (1) Topic + (2) Opinion = Thesis Statement The good‚ the bad‚ the ugly… Good thesis statements are clear‚ to the point sentences with enough detail to make the main idea of the essay unmistakable and the writer’s opinions obvious. Bad thesis statements may make the main idea and writer’s opinion obvious‚ but the
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A FEW MORE TOPICS & THESIS EXAMPLES TOPIC: body piercing BAD: Body piercing is popular among kids nowadays. BETTER: Body piercing among contemporary youth represents the latest form of rebelling against authority that previous generations manifested in smoking‚ getting tattoos‚ and wearing mini-skirts. TOPIC: female musicians BAD: Female musicians are getting more popular. BETTER: During the past five years‚ musical artists like Sheryl Crow‚ Alanis Morisette‚ and Jewel have solidified a place
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Makes a Good Literature Paper? An argument When you write an extended literary essay‚ often one requiring research‚ you are essentially making an argument. You are arguing that your perspective-an interpretation‚ an evaluative judgment‚ or a critical evaluation-is a valid one. A debatable thesis statement Like any argument paper you have ever written for a first-year composition course‚ you must have a specific‚ detailed thesis statement that reveals your perspective‚ and‚ like any good argument
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Center-LAC Rm.222 The Thesis Statement What is a Thesis Statement? A thesis statement is the main idea in a piece of writing. The thesis statement is typically placed in the introduction and should be comprised of two parts: a topic part‚ which states the topic‚ and a comment part‚ which makes an important point about the topic. Example: Recent studies of second-hand smoke (topic part) have determined that it is more damaging than originally thought (comment part). Thesis statements may vary depending
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