Writing A Thesis Statement

Tip Sheet 13

Ask these questions:

What is it?
A thesis statement is a strong statement that you can prove with evidence. It is
not a simple statement of fact. A thesis statement should be the product of your
own critical thinking after  you have done some research. Your thesis statement
will be the main idea of your entire project. It can also be thought of as
the angle or point of view from which you present your material. 

When do I write it?

You will develop a thesis statement about your research topic after you
have written a Statement of Purpose and done some actual research into the
topic. You will then present your thesis statement in your introduction, prove it
with evidence in the body of your paper, project, or presentation, and finally
restate it along with a summary of your evidence in your conclusion.

How do I write it?

 Look again at your Statement of Purpose

 Look at the kinds of information you have been finding while taking notes.
 Decide what kind of statement you have enough evidence to prove.
(Be sure that you have done enough research to make a strong
argument. You may be challenged.)
 Write that as your thesis statement.

There are many ways to approach writing a thesis statement.

Just make sure that it is not simple a fact and that you can support it with
good evidence fromreliable sources.

Here are some ways to approach it:

 Define a problem and state your opinion about it

 Discuss the current state of an issue or problem and predict how it might
resolve
 Put forth a possible solution to a problem
  Look at an issue/topic from a new, interesting perspective
 Theorize how the world might be different today if something had/had not
happened in the past
 Compare two or more of something similar and give your rating about
them (cars, authors,computers, colleges, books)
 Put out your ideas about how something was influenced to be the way it
is or was (music, art, political leadership, genocide)

What does it look like?

Let's look at some of the examples from the Statement of Purpose tip sheet and
turn them into some possible thesis statements. These are all totally
hypothetical (made up). 

Statement of Purpose Possible thesis statement

"I want to learn about what has
The music of 50 cent has been heavily influenced by
influenced the music of 50
(you fill in the blank).
cent."

Teen gang activity in the United States can be

stopped by a combined approach which consists of
supervised youth programs, more job availability,
"I want to find out some ways and closer family relationships.
to stop teen gang activity."
or
Teenage gang activity can only be stopped with early
education in the public school systems.

Although much research has gone into finding a cure

"I want to know how close we
are to a cure for AIDS."
for the AIDS virus, we are no closer to a real cure
than we were when the disease first became known.
or
After years of research , scientists are on the verge of
discovering a cure for the AIDS virus.

"I want to know why Even though Christians and Muslims were
Christians and Muslims fought supposedly fighting for religious dominance in the
so hard with each other during medieval world, their motives were strongly affected
the middle ages." by the desire for land and economic power.

or
 Medieval Christians and Muslims were fighting
exclusively for deeply held religious beliefs.

You can see that there is more than one way to write a thesis statement,
depending on what you find out in your research and what your opinion is.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE:

Tip Sheet 14: Making An Outline
www.crlsresearchguide.org/14_Making_An_Outline.asp

If you have found enough evidence to support your thesis, you may be ready to make an outline

and proceed to your first draft.

Tip Sheet 6: Finding Sources

www.crlsresearchguide.org/06_Finding_Sources.asp

If, after looking at your notes, you do not think you have enough examples or evidence to

support your thesis statement (you should have at least three examples for each subtopic) look

for more now and take notes on them.

Then go to Tip Sheet 14: Making an Outline.