Generating a Thesis Statement

Generating a thesis statement

The first step in developing a thesis is defining a topic. As mentioned in the previous lesson, this topic may be defined for you by your instructor, or you may have the freedom to define a topic for yourself. Also important is the language of the assignment: if your instructor asks you to "describe," "illustrate," or "explain," your thesis should reflect this purpose.

The next step is to decide what you will say about your topic, and the prewriting techniques described in the previous lesson will help you here. Many angles on a given topic are possible; finding one that works for you is just a matter of analyzing your evidence and your assignment, and determining where the truth, as you see it, lies. Take a look at the variety of angles on global warming that professional writers have come up with. Thesis statements are underlined:

1. from "Undeniable Global Warming," Naomi Oreskes, Washington Post, December 26, 2004:

Many people have the impression that there is significant scientific disagreement about global climate change. It's time to lay that misapprehension to rest. There is a scientific consensus on the fact that Earth's climate is heating up and human activities are part of the reason. We need to stop repeating nonsense about the uncertainty of global warming and start talking seriously about the right approach to address it.

2. from "Don't Believe the Hype: Al Gore is wrong. There's no "consensus" on global warming," Richard S. Lindzen, WSJ.com, July 2, 2006.

Mr. Gore assures us that "the debate in the scientific community is over.". . . That statement, which Mr. Gore made in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, ought to have been followed by an asterisk. What exactly is this debate that Mr. Gore is referring to? Is there really a scientific community that is debating all these issues and then somehow agreeing in unison? Far from such a thing being over, it has never been clear to me what this "debate" actually is in the first place.

Every good essay begins with an argument—something the author believes to be true and worth proving.

A working thesis:

You do not need to worry about finding the perfect language for your thesis before you begin writing your essay, nor do you need to write your introduction, which is really concerned with drawing the reader into the argument, and not with the specific content of the argument. Richard Lindzen, in drafting his article, "Don't believe the hype," may well have started with a working thesis like "Contrary to what Al Gore says, there has been no debate among scientists about global warming." And Naomi Oreskes, in drafting her article, may well have begun with "scientists do agree that global warming is occurring." A working thesis is not a perfectly refined piece of writing, ready to be read by a reader, but a statement of what you will argue in the essay. The key words should be there which focus your work, but don't worry too much about the exact sentence structure until you revise your essay.

Common Thesis Statement Problems:

A solid thesis is the foundation of a good essay. Unfortunately, problems with a thesis lead to big problems in the essay: lack of focus, unity problems, development problems, and even sentence-level problems, because when a writer is unsure about direction, the content suffers on all levels. Some of the most common problems are described below:

weak argument: When the argument is weak, the thesis focuses on a seemingly insignificant or minor point, one that does not need more than a paragraph of support:

It was hard to call a ship home, but after living on the ship for three years, it became difficult to think of it as anything else.

no argument: A thesis that states a topic without an angle on that topic is just information. A reader wonders what is the point? What does the writer want me to think about this situation?

The qualities and the atmosphere of the two households can be very different based on various factors like age of kids, age of parents, and circumstances of the times they grew up in.

multiple directions: The language of the thesis suggests that the writer will explore several topics, but the connection between these topics is not clear:

TV families often confront issues such as gender, race and ethnic stereotypes but do not often reflect the lives and hardships of real American families.

thesis as a question: Instructors frown on this strategy for beginning an essay. A much stronger tactic is to turn that question into a statement (though the question may work quite well as working thesis, helping you to focus on your reader's needs).

But is the “American Dream” really such a dream? What does it really cost us to achieve that dream, and is that price worth it?

Revising Your Thesis:

When your thesis lacks clarity. . . rewriting the sentence to include a subordinate clause might help (see our module on coordination/subordination for more detail, and a list of subordinating conjunctions). Subordinate clauses are attached to the main clause via a subordinating conjunction, and these conjunctions identify specific relationships between ideas. Sometimes, the subordinator can give you a sense of what you want to do in the essay; for example, the subordinator "because" suggests the writer will be concerned with the causes for something; the subordinator "if" suggess the writer will be concerned with conditions for something happening.

say one thing. . . If the thesis appears to be going in many directions, the reader will not be able to follow you (you probably won't stay focused as you write the essay either). Revise your thesis so that you are proving just one thing, and not three or four things. See if the content of your thesis might actually fit under a broader umbrella. Consider the revision of the problematic thesis below:

original thesis:

TV families often confront issues such as gender, race and ethnic stereotypes but do not often reflect the lives and hardships of real American families.

revised thesis:

Even though contemporary TV sitcoms try to be real by confronting social problems such as ethnic stereotyping and gender inequality, they do not reflect the real day to day problems American families face.

In the revision, a common thread is found between the seemingly disparate topics of the original version: the topic becomes "how well TV sitcoms succeed at being real." The content of the essay will not need to be dramatically altered; it is the angle on the content that shifts—how the writer spins the content.

don't draw a map for development unless your teacher requires it. A thesis that begins with a phrase like "In this essay I will argue," "I will first. . . and then. . . " or "I hope to show that," actually takes attention away from the argument itself and weakens your voice in the essay. Some instructors will ask for a map, however, particularly in the biological or social sciences. In these disciplines, essay structures are often pragmatic, designed so that information can be processed quickly; but in the humanities, and in writing for a popular audience, such as for a newspaper or magazine, a more subtle approach is called for. Fortunately, repairing these mapping statements is easy; for the most part, you can just cut them out.