How to Write a Thesis Statement

Understanding the Thesis Statement

Thesis statement encompasses one or two sentences explaining the focus of a certain written work. The thesis statement is essential in defining the scope of your work. It usually appears at the beginning of your work and offers a guideline on how to proceed with your work. Writing thesis statements sometimes presents serious challenges for scholars. Some of these challenges include:

a) Making the thesis statement adequately focused: this is a serious challenge for most scholars. Due to limited experiences, ensuring that the thesis statement is neither too narrow nor too shallow is a challenge. Enhancing focus must be done in consideration of the length of the work.

b) Making the thesis statement simple enough: in some cases, scholars fail to understand the importance of a simple thesis statement. Such a challenge is characterized by a too detailed thesis statement. It important for scholars to remember that the thesis statement should be brief and precise.

c) Ensuring that the thesis statement addresses one specific issue: scholars usually face challenges in developing a thesis statement that generates one specific argument. This is a serious problem that usually results into vague and poor work.

Features of a Superior Thesis Statement

A good thesis statement attends to the interests of both the writer and the reader. It sets a clear path for the writer to follow when advancing the presenting argument as it provides for a better organization of paragraphs. For the reader, it enhances understanding of the work since it stipulates what the reader should expect. Some of the common features of a good thesis statement encompass:

a) It should be in a complete sentence: the thesis statement should contain words combining together to express a certain point. From the thesis statement, it should be possible to decipher a particular thought or line of argument.

b) It must be specific: the scholar should avoid developing a thesis statement that is too general. General thesis statements make it difficult to adequately explore the topic. As well, vague or ambiguous words should be avoided when generating a thesis statement.

c) The thesis statement should elicit a debate: it should not entail a fact but should rather generate a discussion. As such, self-evident statements should be avoided when developing thesis statements.

d) It should be clear: the thesis should express a certain point or argument with clarity. It should be possible for the readers to understand the thesis statement with their first reading.

e) It should be possible to support it with evidence: thesis statements should avoid statements that cannot be backed with verifiable evidence. It should be possible to defend a particular point of view as expressed by/in the thesis statement.

f) It should be relevant: this demands that the thesis statement be effectively representative of the argument advanced in the work. 

The Process of Writing a Thesis Statement

Developing a thesis statement is an engaging process. It requires in-depth research and brainstorming to establish relationships between respective facts about the subject under study. The thesis statement requires refinement to make it suitable. The process of writing a thesis statement can be defined by the following steps:

Step 1: Understand the Topic

The topic could be selected for you or you could have the freedom to choose the topic. In cases where the topic has been chosen for you, the scholar should explore the interesting aspects of the topic. Where there is freedom to choose, scholars should select a topic that elicits interest in them.

Step 2: Research the Topic

This step is essential in enhancing the focus of your work and the suitability of the thesis statement. Explore the different angles from which the topic can be approached from to determine which one offers an adequate ground for deliberation. This step is important in enhancing the focus of your work.

Step 3: Develop and Argument

This step entails creating a debate around the thesis statement. It should focus on making the topic an argument that can generate numerous perspectives about an issue. In this, the scholar should ensure that the thesis statement is not just a statement of facts but rather an arguable statement.

Step 4: Gather Supporting Evidence

The scholar should proceed to gather information important in the advancement of the thesis statement. An in-depth research should be conducted to explore available facts in support of the argument advanced by/in the thesis statement. It is important to note down this evidence as it acts as a guide on the length and content of your work.

Step 5: Develop a Structure for your Work

This step is essential in the streamlining of the thesis statement. The structure helps explore the suitability of the thesis statement to the whole work. The structure should encompass arguments generated from the collected evidence.

Step 6: Analyzing the Thesis Statement

This is the final step in thesis statement writing. It encompasses examining the preliminary thesis to find out how concise, clear, and logical it is. This should be done in consideration of features of a good thesis statement. When and where necessary, changes should be incorporated to make it suitable to the topic.