Academic writing

Thesis statement
 It is the central idea of your work. It should
be something you strongly believe in and are
ready to prove.
 It tells the reader how you will interpret the
subject matter under discussion.
 It is a road map for the paper; in other words,
it tells the reader what to expect from the rest
of the paper.
 It reflects the purpose of writing a paper and
highlights its main points
 It is an interpretation of a question or subject, not
the subject itself. (e.g. The subject, or topic, of an
essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis
must then offer a way to understand the war or
the novel)
 It needs to be elaborated and clearly defined. For a
historical paper for instance, it is not enough to
select a theme (e.g. the Reformation), you also will
need to define an area (e.g. The Netherlands) and a
period (e.g. the 16th century).
 It is supported by evidence throughout the whole
paper
 It is clearly presented in the introduction