THESIS
STATEMENTS
What’s A Thesis Statement?
The THESIS STATEMENT is that sentence or two in your text that contains the
focus of your essay and tells your reader what the essay is going to be about.
Why Do I Need A Thesis Statement?
The lack of a thesis statement may hint that an essay suffers from a lack of
focus. Many writers think of a thesis statement as an umbrella: everything
that you carry along in your essay has to fit under this umbrella, and if
you try to take on packages that don’t fit, you will either have to
get a bigger umbrella or something’s going to get wet. It’s a
matter of limiting our discussion to the work that can be accomplished within
a certain number of pages.
Where Do I Put My Thesis Statement?
The thesis statement usually appears near the beginning of a paper. It can
be the first sentence of an essay, but that often feels like a simplistic,
unexciting beginning. It more frequently appears at or near the end of the
first paragraph or two. >
Helpful Hints:
• BE FLEXIBLE!!
The thesis statement should remain flexible until the paper is actually finished;
one of the last things that we fuss with in the rewriting process. If we
discover new information in the process of writing our paper that ought to
be included in the thesis statement, then we’ll have to rewrite our
thesis statement. On the other hand, if we discover that our paper has done
adequate work but the thesis statement appears to include things that we
haven’t actually addressed, then we need to limit that thesis statement.
• DON’T BE SO OBVIOUS!!
Avoid announcing the thesis statement as if it were a thesis statement. In
other words, avoid using phrases such as “The purpose of this paper
is...” or “In this paper, I will attempt to…” Such
phrases betray this paper to be the work of an amateur. If necessary, write
the thesis statement that way the first time; it might help you determine,
in fact, that this is your thesis statement. But when you rewrite your paper,
eliminate the bald assertion that this is your thesis statement and write
the statement itself without that annoying, unnecessary preface.
ORGANIZING YOUR DRAFT
HOW WRITING is like BUILDING a HOUSE
Writing an effective college essay is like building a sturdy and attractive
house. The shape and size of the house, for example, depend largely on the
subject matter and the assignment’s particular details (such as length
and sources). But the final appearance of the house—its color, its
style, its interior decorating—the whole shebang—is heavily influenced
by the builder’s opinions, habits, and tastes. In other words, as the
writer or builder, you need to follow some guidelines as you “construct” the
essay. But your style, your habits, and, most of all, your argument usually
determine the sturdiness and attractiveness of the essay. In order for the
essay to be effective, you have to find the balance between the instructor’s
requirements, some elements of standard form, and, most importantly, your
own ideas.
HOW ORGANIZING is like a HOME INSPECTION
So who’s who here? If we accept that writing an essay is like building
a house, organizing an essay is like preparing that house for inspection. The
inspector or building code supervisor makes sure that the rules of the language
are obeyed. So what’s the goal? The goal is that prospective buyers—your
readers—“buy” your argument. We often think, “as long
as I know where all my ideas are, who cares what order I put them in?” Well,
it seems like you’re asking your readers to climb inside your head.
SOME TIPS for ORGANIZING
1) In order to organize successfully, you almost always have to begin with
the thesis-the argument-of the essay. Without a thesis, your essay will lack
direction. As long as you have a “working thesis”-one that states
the general argument but not quite the specific points you are going to make-we
can certainly work on organization.
2) Sometimes, after having a thesis, you notice that your
paragraphs tend to sprawl all over the place. You wonder, “Should
I focus on them or on reorganizing the whole paper?” If
your paragraphs try to cover too much or too little ground,
or if you are just not certain that they are well structured,
you may need to reconsider them. Each paragraph should
illuminate one controlling idea, and explain its significance
to your argument.
3) If you know you don’t have a problem with the
paragraphs, and you’re thinking, “My paragraphs
don’t link together very well,” you should
take a look at your transitions. It may be more useful
to construct better transitional sentences between paragraphs,
which would help you pinpoint the larger structural problems.
In other words, you may simply need to practice writing
transitional sentences so that the connections you are
thinking about become more explicit to your reader. But
trying to find appropriate and reasonable transitional
sentences, you will notice where more than just a sentence
is needed, or where larger organizational problems exist.
Other types of transitions include transitional paragraphs
(which link paragraphs together on a larger scale), and
transitional words.
OTHER GOODIES to TRY
1) Outlining and Planning
2) Making a List or a Cluster of Ideas
3) Writing Down and Examining Topic Sentences
4) Underlining Similar Thoughts (with colored pencils!)
5) Reading, Re-reading, and Re-reading Again
6) Taking Notes on your Draft
COMING TO CONCLUSIONS
(Part I)
Your conclusion is crucial to your essay’s success. It is your chance
to re-emphasize the main idea of your essay and make a lasting impression on
your readers. A conclusion should also leave your readers with a sense of completion.
STRATEGIES FOR WRITING EFFECTIVE CONCLUSIONS
Stress Your Main Idea and Points
A simple yet handy way to start a conclusion is to restate your thesis statement
in different words. You may also summarize briefly the key points of your
essay, but keep it short since a detailed summary will seem redundant. Remember
that a recap of your argument alone does not make for an effective conclusion.
This holds true especially for shorter essays. This is just a way to get
you started.
Ask Yourself, “So What?” Explain The
Larger Significance of the Essay
Think of your conclusion as the justification for your essay and let your readers
know why your argument or topic is important. While you should be careful not
to introduce new ideas in your final paragraph, your conclusion is a good opportunity
for you to discuss the answer to the question, “So What?” about
your essay. Ask yourself why your topic matters and what significance it has
beyond your essay.
Example: Below is the introduction of an essay on college
roommates. What could be the larger significance of this
essay? Ask yourself, “So what?” after finishing
each sentence and see what you come up with.
Choosing to leave the comforts of your family and home
to go away to college is a life-changing decision.
The roommate you get matched up with can make or break
your
experience. The girl I was matched up with changed
my life considerably in a way I didn’t like, so
I moved out. Moving was the best choice I could have
made.
Depending on the subject you cover, explaining the larger
significance of your essay will require some heavy thinking.
However, don’t look at it as just another tedious
step in the writing process but as an opportunity to be
as creative as you want. A conclusion allows you to go
beyond the boundaries of your argument to consider broader
issues and make new connections. If there’s something
important you want to say about your topic, something that
doesn’t fit specifically into your argument, then
you might want to say it in your conclusion. (But don’t
stray off into new topics!)
Give the Essay a Sense of Completion
An effective conclusion demonstrates how the points you made and the support
and examples you provided fit together. This gives the reader a sense of
closure. Of course, don’t wait until your final paragraph to show how
your ideas relate to each other. A conclusion should finalize these ideas
and relationships—not introduce them.
COMING TO CONCLUSIONS
(PART II)
COMING TO SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSIONS
Helpful Hints:
• The length of your conclusion should vary in proportion
to the length of your essay. You don’t want it to
be longer than the introduction of the body.
• After asking and answering questions about your topic,
you may use your conclusion to tell your readers why these
answers matter. This kind of conclusion illustrates how
broader issues are affected by the resolution of the thesis
statement.
• If your essay deals with a problem or controversy, you
may want to propose certain solutions, policies, recommendations,
or actions, perhaps summarizing them in a list.
• Keep your recommendations to a minimum. You don’t
want to include too much detail and make your conclusion
read like an introduction to another essay.
• After exploring your topic, you may find that you don’t
have enough information to give a final statement. If this
happens, you may offer suggestions for further investigation
on the topic.
• Look at the relatively clear consequences of your topic
or argument, consequences that don’t demand thorough
explanations. Keep your speculations interesting but not
so provocative that they require extensive discussion.
• Supply a mental picture or brief narrative to drive
home an essay.
• If appropriate, invite the reader to respond to the
information you have presented. Say you write an essay
on the importance of wild life preservation, your conclusion
might suggest ways the reader could get involved.
• Add a sense of closure by referring to an element of
your introduction. For instance, if you being with a story,
go back to it in your conclusion.
RECOGNIZING INEFFECTIVE CONCLUSIONS
Some Things to Avoid
When you revise your essay, check to see if you have made
any of the following mistakes in your conclusion:
• Ending with a revised thesis statement that contains
no substantive change.
• Introducing a new idea or subtopic. Do not give new
evidence to support your argument.
• Focusing on a minor part of your essay. Remember that
a conclusion should give a sense of completion. If you
discuss just one aspect of your argument, your conclusion
may sound repetitive.
• Apologizing for your view by including sentences such
as “I may not be an expert” or “At least
this is my opinion.” This can undercut your argument
and, in effect, your entire essay. Leave your readers with
the sense that they’ve been reading the work of someone
who knows what he or she is talking about.
• Attempting to make up for an incomplete structure. For
example, if you tell the reader in your introduction that
you will discuss four articles, and you end up discussing
only two, do not try to cover the remaining articles in
your final paragraph. In such a situation, it would be
best to limit your essay to topics you can realistically
handle.
• Coming to a sudden stop. Make sure you give clues to
the reader that you are beginning to end your discussion.
If you clearly stated your thesis in your introduction,
then the reader should recognize that you have covered
your final point. Avoid using obvious statements though,
such as “In conclusion…” or “In
closing…”
• Preaching to the reader.
• Becoming emotional or melodramatic, especially in an
intellectual essay.
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