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Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements
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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement
1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:
- An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
- An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
- An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.
If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.
2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.
3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.
4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.
Thesis Statement Examples
Example of an analytical thesis statement:
The paper that follows should:
- Explain the analysis of the college admission process
- Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors
Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:
- Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers
Example of an argumentative thesis statement:
- Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college
Developing an Implied Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences
LESSON Different types of writing require different types of thesis statements A brief statement that identifies a writer's thoughts, opinions, or conclusions about a topic. Thesis statements bring unity to a piece of writing, giving it a focus and a purpose. You can use three questions to help form a thesis statement: What is my topic? What am I trying to say about that topic? Why is this important to me or my reader? . Most academic essays A formal writing that the author composes using research, a strong thesis, and supporting details in order to advance an idea or demonstrate understanding of a topic. require the writer to include a stated thesis statement A thesis statement that has been explicitly written in an article, essay, or other reading. while other pieces, such as personal narratives A story or account of events that is written or told. , allow the writer to use an implied thesis statement An indirect overall argument, idea, or belief that a writer uses as the basis of an essay or dissertation but is never stated directly in the writing. , one that is not directly stated but one that the reader can infer To reach a conclusion based on context and your own knowledge. from reading. Both types of thesis statements tell the reader the author A person who wrote a text. 's topic The subject of a reading. and purpose The reason the writer is writing about a topic. It is what the writer wants the reader to know, feel, or do after reading the work. for writing about it.
Both an implied and stated thesis in an academic essay may sound like this: Preparing a weekly schedule helps students to be successful because it allows them to structure their class and work schedules, plan ahead for busy periods, and build in some free time for themselves . Both types of thesis statements provide direction for the remainder of the essay. The difference is that as a stated thesis, the statement actually appears in the introduction The first paragraph of an essay. It must engage the reader, set the tone, provide background information, and present the thesis. of the essay. An implied thesis statement, on the other hand, does not appear in the essay at all.
The introductory paragraph The first paragraph of an essay. It must engage the reader, set the tone, provide background information, and present the thesis. written for a narrative using the above thesis as an implied thesis statement may sound like this:
My first week in college taught me many things about my new, busy schedule. I got caught up in socializing and missed a few important assignments. I also thought I could work more at my part-time job like I had during high school. I soon learned, however, that I needed to schedule my activities better in order to be successful.
An opening paragraph A selection of a writing that is made up of sentences formed around one main point. Paragraphs are set apart by a new line and sometimes indentation. like this one in a narrative does not come out and state the author's exact thesis. It does, however, provide similar direction for the reader, resulting in an implied thesis.
A narrative is a story that has a purpose for being told. In other words, when a writer chooses a topic for a narrative, he or she must have a reason for writing about it. For example, if you wanted to write about a significant event in your life by telling a story about how you got your first job, you would need to think about your audience reading the narrative and ask yourself, "What do I want my readers to take away from this story?"
Using a variety of starting strategies such as brainstorming A prewriting technique where the author lists multiple ideas as he or she thinks of them, not considering one more than another until all ideas are captured. The objective is to create one great idea, or many ideas, on which to base a writing. , listing ideas, freewriting A prewriting technique where the author begins writing without regard to spelling or grammar about ideas, topics, or even characters, descriptions of events, and settings. Often the writer will freewrite for a set period of time. The objective is to develop a storyline through the writing process itself. , clustering A prewriting technique where the author creates an informal visual layout of possible ideas, grouping them together. The objective is to create visual clusters of information on which to base a writing. , or webbing A prewriting technique where the author creates an informal visual layout of possible ideas and then draws lines to connect them into a type of "web." The objective is to see connections between events and characters. can help you to begin thinking about a topic. Then, you can ask yourself questions about your topic using the five "Ws and the H – who, what, where, when, why, and how" to gather more ideas to write about. From there, you can begin the writing process by writing one paragraph about your topic, including a clear topic sentence A group of words, phrases, or clauses that expresses a complete thought. A complete sentence has these characteristics: a capitalized first word, a subject and a predicate, and end punctuation, such as a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamation mark (!). . That paragraph should reveal the main points The most important idea in a paragraph. Main points support the main idea of a reading. you would like to expand on in multiple paragraphs. The topic sentence in the paragraph can be used as your implied thesis statement for a narrative essay.
To write an implied thesis statement in response to a narrative prompt Instructions for a writing assignment given by an instructor. , follow these steps:
Step 1: Brainstorm.
Brainstorm possible ideas from your life experience that could potentially answer or respond to the prompt.
Step 2: Choose a topic and write a paragraph.
Choose one of the topics and write a brief paragraph explaining how that particular topic applies to the prompt.
Step 3: Write an implied thesis statement.
Using the topic sentence of the paragraph as a guide, write an implied thesis statement that explains why the details of the paragraph are important.
Step 4: Develop the topic sentences.
Begin outlining A preliminary plan for a piece of a writing, often in the form of a list. It should include a topic, audience, purpose, thesis statement, and main and supporting points. the essay by developing topic sentences A sentence that contains the controlling idea for an entire paragraph and is typically the first sentence of the paragraph. from the supporting details in the paragraph. This ensures that the implied thesis works as the guiding idea for the narrative.
There are many approaches to writing a narrative essay, but using the steps above can help you respond effectively to a typical narrative prompt in a college class.
Sometimes it works better for writers to write an implied thesis statement instead of a stated one because of the nature of the content The text in a writing that includes facts, thoughts, and ideas. The information that forms the body of the work. . For example, a report including large amounts of data that seeks to persuade the reader to draw a certain conclusion would be more likely to include a stated thesis. However, a narrative essay that explains certain events in a person's life is more likely to include an implied thesis statement because the writer wants to engage the reader in a different way. College students are often asked to write narrative essays to make connections between their personal experiences and the content they are studying, and an implied thesis statement helps to organize narratives in the same way a stated thesis statement organizes other essays.
Let's examine the process of developing a narrative essay that includes an implied thesis statement.
Prompt from instructor: Write about an important life lesson you have learned.
First, create a list of possible narrative essay topics from the prompt given by the instructor.
- A little kindness goes a long way.
- Being patient can bring rewards.
- I am a role model in everything I do.
Next, choose one of the ideas related to a life lesson to be your topic.
Topic: How I learned to be a role model in everything I do.
Now, begin to create the implied thesis using this topic. To do this, write a short paragraph describing how you will tell this narrative and what you learned or are trying to explain to the reader.
Narrative: I will tell the story of when I worked at the daycare center last summer. When I worked as a childcare assistant, I learned the children were watching me and would mimic my actions. This taught me to be careful of what I said and did because I learned that children act like those around them.
Now, write the implied thesis statement: "My experience at the daycare center taught me to always be a good role model because children are always watching."
From here, develop topic sentences that support the implied thesis statement for the paragraphs of the essay.
- Paragraph 1, Introduction, Topic Sentence:
"I learned many lessons when I worked at the community daycare center."
- Paragraph 2, Topic Sentence:
"My first day on the job was the most important of them all."
- Paragraph 3, Topic Sentence:
"Little Johnny taught me what it meant to be a bad role model for children."
- Paragraph 4, Topic Sentence:
"I changed my actions and saw immediate results with the children."
- Paragraph 5, Conclusion, Topic Sentence:
"I’ve worked at the daycare center for three summers now and continue to learn lessons from the children each year."
From here, a draft of the narrative essay can be created using the topic sentences.
Now, follow the process to choose a topic, write an implied thesis statement, and develop topic sentences that support the implied thesis statement for a potential narrative essay.
List three potential narrative topics from the following prompt:
Write about an important life lesson that you have learned.
Potential narrative topics
- Learning how to benefit from your failures creates success.
Patience leads to perfection.
- Real happiness comes not from things, but from giving and receiving love.
Step 2: Choose a topic and write a paragraph .
From the list created in Step 1, choose one as your topic.
Write a three- to four-sentence paragraph about the topic.
I learned how to play the piano, but it took many years to develop this skill. I had to be patient to sit down and practice daily. I also had to be patient with myself to realize I would learn how to play the piano in time. Only through repeated practice can a person really perfect a talent. Therefore, patience is essential to perfection.
From the short paragraph above, write an implied thesis statement.
Implied Thesis Statement
I have learned that when developing a skill, patience leads to practice, and practice leads to perfection.
Develop topic sentences that would be used in a narrative essay to support the implied thesis statement.
Paragraph 1, Introduction, Topic Sentence
It took many years for me to learn how to play the piano when I was young.
Paragraph 2, Topic Sentence
I had to be patient and practice every day, even when there seemed to be better things to do.
Paragraph 3, Topic Sentence
I also had to be patient with myself because I wanted to learn faster and become a modern-day Beethoven.
Paragraph 4, Conclusion, Topic Sentence
Repeated practice is how all perfection is achieved, even the perfection of genius.
How can an implied thesis statement be just as effective as a stated thesis?
Sample Answer
Like a stated thesis, an implied thesis will include the topic and purpose of the piece of writing and will help the writer structure his or her supporting details.
Why do implied thesis statements work well in a narrative essay?
Narratives are about something personal that is happening to the writer. Sometimes it is more effective for a writer to draw the reader into the narrative. Doing so can create a stronger connection between the writer and the passage and can help the reader find the meaning by becoming personally connected with the piece.
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