Preparing for Project 1: Thesis Statements

Directions:

As you now know from the lecture on Essay Format and Tips on Writing, you essay should start with an introduction. In the introduction, you will have a hook, background information and a thesis. The thesis is the last sentence of your introduction, and it makes the overall argument for the whole essay. To work on your skill at writing thesis statements, let’s practice.

Step 1:

Review the following information about what a thesis is.

A thesis is your main insight or idea about a text or topic, and the main proposition that your essay demonstrates. It should be true but arguable (not obviously or patently true, but one alternative among several), be limited enough in scope to be argued in a short composition and with available evidence, and get to the heart of the text or topic being analyzed (not be peripheral). It should be stated early in some form and at some point recast sharply (not just be implied), and it should govern the whole essay (not disappear in places).

Remember from the PowerPoint, I describe a thesis statement as needing at least two things: a limited subject and an attitude about that limited subject. (Review the PowerPoint if you need to.)

When we are working on argument essays, our thesis must be a debatable claim. A claim that is not debatable does not qualify as a thesis—for example:

“Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a play about a young man who seeks revenge”.

That doesn’t say anything–it’s basically just a summary and is hardly debatable.

Here is an example of a stronger, more debatable thesis:

“Hamlet experiences internal conflict because he is in love with his mother”.

This is arguable, controversial even. The rest of a paper with this argument as its thesis will be an attempt to show, using specific examples from the text and evidence from scholars, (1) how Hamlet is in love with his mother, (2) why he’s in love with her, and (3) what implications there are for reading the play in this manner.

Note that a thesis, just like the Point in your paragraph is an opinion/claim. The difference is that the thesis is the claim of the whole essay while a Point is the claim of that specific paragraph. Often the Points are reasons/sub-claims for the big thesis.

Also review the following PowerPoint for more support.

LiteraryArguments.pptx

Step 2:

Practice writing good thesis statements with the worksheet below.

Writing Workshop- Thesis Practice