Writing an essay or any academic paper can be daunting if you do not know how to tell the main purpose of your paper in a couple of sentences. Besides, not everyone is going to read your whole paper. The first thing that anyone tends to read is your thesis in the introductory paragraph. This also helps your reader decide whether or not he wants to continue reading or give up on the rest of the paper. Therefore, crafting a strong thesis statement is highly important. You have to present the main theme of your paper in a single sentence. If you do not know how to write a thesis statement, you do not need to worry. All you need is a lesson on how to write a thesis statement and some practice. Then, you are ready to conquer the world. With that being said, let’s dive in.
What is a Thesis Statement?
A thesis statement is typically a single sentence that sums up the main theme or the central point of your essay or any academic paper. It is basically a one-sentence summary of your whole paper that tells your reader what your whole paper is about. Besides, it also tells your reader where your argument is going and what he should expect at the end of your essay or any other academic paper.
So whether you are writing a descriptive essay, argumentative essay, or informative, you need a thesis to not only summarize the main point of your paper but also give direction to your reader. Otherwise, all of your efforts go in vain. So, you should write a strong thesis statement to:
- Summarize the theme of your paper
- Give structure to your essay as a whole
- Develop a strong argument
- Give direction to your reader
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Tips on How to write a Good Thesis
It is important to understand that you do not need to write a thesis but you need to write a strong thesis that can easily fulfill your objectives. So, to write a good thesis, you should:
- Be specific: You essay or any other academic paper that you are writing should revolve around one central idea. So, check whether you are trying to talk about one specific thing in your thesis or is it something general. For instance, it is better to talk about the role of France in World War II than the World War II itself.
- Make clear arguement: Without beating around the bush, it is better to argue about one specific idea than multiple ideas in a single paper. Because most of the time, you get set of parameters that you can not cross. For instance, if you are assigned to write an essay that should not be more than 500 words, then you should only focus on one single idea and develop strong arguments around it than targeting multiple things at the same time.
- Craft an argueable thesis: The most important quality of a good thesis is that it is arguable. So, check whether or not someone else can argue with your thesis. If yes that means you have writen a good thesis. Otherwise, if it is a fact that no one can argue with then you should take some time and write a better thesis.
How to Write a Thesis Statement in English
Now that you know what is a thesis, why it is important, and what are the qualities of a good thesis, you are good to start learning how to write a thesis statement. There are three basic steps that you need to come up with a good thesis. So, as soon as you get your essay topic, you should start building a strong thesis so that you can write a good essay.
Step 1: Start with a Question
The first thing that you should do is ask yourself a question. Most of the time you will have a question given as a part of the topic for your essay. If there are not any, you should come up with your question. So, decide what would you like to find out about your topic.
For instance, you can ask the following question if you are writing an expository essay.
“How did the invention of internet change the education system?”
You can ask the following question if you are writing an argumentative essay.
“Does the internet have a positive role on the performance of students in college?”
Step 2: Write your Answer
Now that you have a question to answer, do some research around that question. You can either read related books, sample essays, or some articles online. After some search here and there, you will come up with an answer to your question.
For instance, if you are writing an expository essay, the answer to the above question would be:
“The invention of internet meant that students can easily access vast amount of information.”
In the case of an argumentative essay, the answer to the above question could be:
“The internet has a positive role on the performance of students in college.”
Step 3: Develop Your Answer and Write Your Thesis Statement
In this step, you need to analyze your answer to why this is the answer to your question and how you can improve it to convince your reader with your point of view. For that purpose, you need to read more about the topic of your essay because your thesis statement is not just the answer to your question. But it should be able to summarize your argument.
And for the above argumentative essay, it could be:
“The internet has a positive role on the performance of students in college because students can access any piece of information at their fingertips, it eliminates the need to go to physical library, and saves their time.”
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