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Thesis Statement

Developing a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement tells a reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.  The body of the essay gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation. Your thesis statement gives the reader a preview of the essay's purpose and goal. 

 

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A thesis statement:

  • tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
  • is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
  • directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question about the subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay, might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
  • makes a claim that others might dispute.
  • is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

Remember! The thesis statement is a work in progress!

You can't just pluck a thesis out of thin air.  A thesis is the evolutionary result of a thinking process, not a miraculous creation. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Let me repeat that: deciding on a thesis does not come first. Before you can come up with an assertion on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the beneath-the-surface significance of these relationships. After this initial exploration of the question at hand, you can formulate a "working thesis," an argument that you think will make sense of the evidence, but that may need adjustment along the way. (Hickman)

 

To read more about how the process is on-going read the handout below.

Brainstorming for a Thesis by Researching Basic Facts 

1. The first thing you must do is to know your subject. Spend some time reading about and researching general information about your subject. 
 
2. As you gather general information on your topic, note any controversies, trends, contrasts, difficulties, social issues, or humanitarian impacts your subject may have within or surrounding it.
 
In this example we are using the Senior Capstone project as written for the graduation class of 2015-2016. The assignment was to research a career that the student might be interested in pursuing. Attached below is a basic 3 point outline for gathering basic information.

Writing & Developing the Thesis Statement

 Once you have a basic understanding of the topic and questions that surface through reading, begin to jot down ideas for a thesis statement. Make sure to record at least tow or three questions just in case you are unable to find sufficient information on one or the other.
 
Consider the following examples:
 
Subject: Fashion design
Possible thesis questions: 
 
How does fashion branding socially impact teenagers?
 
How has technology influenced the fashion industry?
 
What are the social implications of sexualizing fashion ads?
 
Subject: Electrical engineering
Possible thesis questions:
  
How have the advances in complex machinery benefited society?
 
How has the reduction in the size of the computer chip influenced the design of personal electronics?
 
How have recent developments in electronics affected the way we communicate with each other?
 

For more information on writing a preliminary thesis statement please see the handout below.

Citation

Hickman, Renee. "Thesis Statements—an Evolutionary Process." Handout. Burke county High School.Waynesboro, GA. n.d. Print.

 

Hickman, Renee. "Writing a Preliminary Thesis Statement." Handout. Burke County High School. Waynesboro, GA. n.d. Print.