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Table of Contents
Introducing the All-Important Thesis Statement
The Quick and Dirty Formula to Writing a Fast, Good Thesis Statement
Different Types of Thesis Statements for Different Types of Essays
1. Personal narrative essays
2. Compare and contrast essays
3. Reaction and response essays
4. Research papers
Hot Tip: Why Its Important to Create a Working Thesis BEFORE Doing Your
Research
5. Literary analysis essays
6. Expository essays
7. Argumentative and persuasive essays
What Exactly Is a Thesis Statement?
How to Write a Thesis Statement in 5 Simple Steps
Step #1: Pick a topic
Step #2: Be specific
Step #3: Be arguable
Step #4: Create a mini-outline
Step #5: Choose your words wisely
How Writing a Thesis Statement Is Like Writing a Tweet (and Why You Shouldnt Be
Intimidated)
Both a tweet and a thesis statement should be focused and specific
Both a good tweet and a good thesis statement are debatable
Both a tweet and a thesis statement should be intriguing
The Argumentative Thesis Statement Dissected
A great argumentative thesis is focused and not too broad
A great argumentative thesis is centered on a debatable topic
Pardon my hysterics. The thesis sentence does not have to be this intimidating.
In fact, this guide will make it easy. Read it, and youll be a master of the thesis
statement in no time.
In this ebook, I will teach you everything you need to know to keep your teacher on the
edge of his seat! Heres what well cover:
1) First the quick and dirty way to write a FAST, good thesis statement.
2) Youll learn how to write an expert thesis for
ANY
kind of essay.
3) I'll teach you skills that you can apply to every class and every paper for the REST
of YOUR ACADEMIC LIFE.
4) Ill even give you 35 EXAMPLE THESIS STATEMENTS to inspire your own
writing.
5) Finally, Ill walk you through writing your own thesis statement in a flash using a
step-by-step guide.
Ready? Roll cameras.
I know youre in a hurry to get your paper started (and more importantly, finished) so
you can get on with your life.
Before we take a deep dive into all things thesis statement, lets go over my
quick and
dirty formula for writing a thesis statement
. If you get nothing else from this book, at
least learn the formula.
(But read the rest too!)
Oh and if you are a math wiz, please dont laugh at my formula!
So here it is:
Topic
= the topic of your paper
Stance
= your position on the topic (do you agree or disagree?)
Claim
= the claims that bolster your argument, which you will address in detail
later in your paper. (Note, Ive listed 3 claims, but you may have more or fewer.)
Thats it! Its just simple addition.
Topics
= the topics of your paper (there should be more than one)
Stance
= your position on the topic (are the topics the same, different, or both?)
Similarity/Difference
= the similarities and/or differences between the topics
Title + Author
= the title of the work and name of the author/creator
Opinion
= your reaction to the topic
Reason
= the reasons why you reacted to a piece of work in a certain way
Topic
= the topic of your paper
Conclusion
= the conclusions drawn from your research
Support
= the evidence that supports your conclusion, which you will address in
detail later in your paper
Title + Author
= the title and author of the work you are analyzing in your
paper
Literary element(s)
= element(s) such as theme, symbolism, or plot found in a
literary work
Stance
= your position on the meaning of the literary element
Support
= the evidence that supports your position or assertion, which you will
address in detail later in your paper
Topic
= the topic of your paper
Assertion
= your statement about the topic (what is the big deal about this
topic?)
Support
= the evidence that supports your position or assertion, which you will
address in detail later in your paper
Topic
= the topic of your paper
Significance
= why the topic is meaningful to your story
Notice a pattern here? These formulas are all quite similar. You can see that no matter
the type of essay you are writing, youll need to plug in the topic, your position,
assertion, or conclusion about the topic, and a summary of your supports or claims.
As you get better with writing thesis statements, you can play with the formulas a bit,
but youll still likely want to keep all of these elements.
Now that you have the formulas, lets break down the different types of thesis
statements even further.
Have you ever realized that you forgot your workout sneakers after you already made it
to the gym? You probably had to turn around, go home, and eat chocolate chip cookies
instead.
Im just saying, its pretty much impossible to run a treadmill wearing loafers or high
heels.
While shoes are always meant to be worn on your feet, their specific purpose will change
depending on what type of shoes you are wearing.
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You can walk a mile in someone elses moccasins, but I would not recommend running a
mile in penny loafers.
Same goes for the thesis statement. While a thesis statement is always used to set up
your paper, its specific purpose will change depending on what type of essay you are
writing.
An argumentative thesis statement might not be the right fit for your compare and
contrast essay and vice versa.
Let me break this down for you by giving you some examples of thesis statements for
different types of essays. Ive
color
coded
For example:
At 5 foot nothing, 100 and nothing pounds, I was hardly your typical football player.
But, that didnt stop me from believing that I could play for Notre Dame.
It turns out,
each other
as both dealt with an overwhelmingly impoverished population.
OR
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because one was a large, urban hospital, while the other was a small and rural health
clinic
.
characters are not likeable or believable, the dialogue is dull, and, most importantly,
vampires shouldnt sparkle.
4. Research papers
Research papers are in-depth forays into a topic that require you to really
know your
stuff
. They are the culmination of many research hours mixed with many more gallons
of coffee and manic typing (and sometimes banging your head) on your laptop.
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(For more help--and if youre writing a research paper, I know you need it!--read
How to
Write a Research Paper: a Step-by-Step Guide
.)
Your research paper thesis statement should
Summarize the research topic
State the main conclusions
Include your supporting points
For example:
Over one-third of American adults are obese, which leads to higher incidences of heart
disease and diabetes and burdens the healthcare system. Several researchers have
concluded that obesity is caused by genetic factors;
however, after comparing obesity
rates in the U.S. with obesity rates in China, and cross-examining cultural and genetic
factors in both populations, our studies conclude that obesity is primarily caused by
Western lifestyle choices
such as the consumption of processed and fast foods and an
Hot Tip: Why Its Important to Create a Working Thesis BEFORE Doing Your
Research
Knowing what you want to write about is important, but its just as important (or
maybe even more important) to know
what you want to say
about the topic.
If you want to be stressed out, overworked, and frustrated beyond belief because
you just cant find any good sources, then feel free to start researching
without
a working thesis.
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If you want to work harder than you have to, then start researching
without
a
thesis.
But if you want to make your life less stressful,
develop a thesis before you begin
researching
.
Heres why: A thesis is the controlling idea of your paper. It provides readers
(and you) with a road map of your paper.
Without a strong thesis, your paper lacks direction.
If you dont at least develop a working thesis before you begin researching, youll
lack direction, too. (But youll have no lack of frustration.)
Still dont believe me that you need a working thesis?
Look at this example: Lets say you decide to write about social media. (Note: in
this example, youre starting your search
without
a working thesis.)
Googling social media will produce a list of all kinds of results, from a list of
different types of social media sites, to social media in the news, to social media
in schools.
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Are these results useful? Probably not. Social media is too broad of a search
and doesnt include any focus.
Try the search again with a
working thesis
, such as Social media can cause
teens to feel isolated.
Suddenly, your results change. Rather than a list of random and likely useless
sites, youll see a list of more relevant sources.
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This tip not only increases your relevant search results but decreases your
frustration levels!
/End bonus tip. We will now proceed with our regularly scheduled programming.
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Literary analysis essays require you to dissect a short story, poem, novel, or other type of
literature and draw conclusions and observations about the theme, characters, plot,
and/or other literary elements.
State the title of the work and author
State the element of the work you will dissect
State your conclusion/observation about the element
Include your supporting points
For example:
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding
uses
6. Expository essays
Expository essays educate your reader on a given topic while often making and
defending an assertion about the topic.
(For more help, read
How to Write an Expository Essay That Pops
)
Your expository thesis statement should
State the topic
State your assertion
Include your supporting points
For example:
The Potawatomi tribe's oral traditions and religious beliefs
completely shaped the tribe's
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organization
as evidenced by the location of their villages near bodies of water and the
without exception, for all children in the U.S. who wish to attend school.
These
vaccinations are critical to the control and eradication of deadly infectious diseases.
As you can see, when it comes to thesis statements, one size does not fit all, but they do
have a lot in common.
Namely, most thesis statements, no matter the type of essay, will require you to state
your topic, offer your position, stance, assertion, or argument, and include some
supporting points or claims.
If you do that much, youll be way, waaaay ahead of your game.
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Now that you know a little bit more about the different types of thesis statements out
there, lets go back a little bit and talk about the definition and purpose of a thesis
statement.
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21
22
open 24 hours.
This time, youve managed to be a bit more specific, but readers are still going to say,
So what? Youve introduced a topic, but you havent yet included your
opinion
about
the topic.
Lets move on to the third component and revise again.
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the best fast-food restaurants around and has cheap prices, good food, and is
open 24 hours.
This thesis statement seems to meet all of the requirements, right? It includes a topic
and offers your opinion. It is specific and arguable, and it creates a mini-outline for your
paper.
24
While your thesis does include all of the required elements, the wording is less than
perfect, and you still need to revise for clarity and style.
25
In both cases, your goal is to summarize a lot of information into a small amount of
space in order to paint a larger picture. Lets dig into this idea some more.
For many of you, the phrase thesis statement strikes fear in your heart.
But, chances are that most of you reading this guide have also tweeted a time or two.
Most likely you did so
without
a lot of handwringing or worry.
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So what is it about the prospect of writing a thesis statement that prompts students to
wake up in a cold sweat?
Lets take a moment to compare the beloved tweet with the maligned thesis statement.
Youll find that theyre more alike than you might think.
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tweets play on this desire. And, they arent difficult to write, because you have the beliefs
to back them up.
If you are like me, you love reading other peoples opinions on Twitter. A tweet that
makes a debatable claim tends to draw my attention. I am much more likely to click on
the adjoining link if the tweet is controversial or challenges my current thoughts on a
matter.
Depending on the type of paper you write, a thesis statement should present a debatable
argument. If written well, your thesis will incite an opinion in your reader. And, if youve
done your legwork, it will be easy to write because youll have the research on hand to
back it up.
Whether your readers agree or disagree with your opinion is not important; what
matters is that they are sufficiently roused into reading further. Once that happens, you
can use the evidence in the rest of your paper to drive home your opinion, possibly
swaying their original beliefs.
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29
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This statement is too general and would be nearly impossible for you to defend. It leaves
a lot of big questions to answer. Is
all
fast food bad? Why is it bad? Who should avoid it?
Why should anyone care?
Dont write, There are high numbers of homeless people living in Berkeley,
California.
No one can argue for
or
against this statement. Its not debatable. Its just a fact.
An argument over this non-debatable statement would go something like this:
There are lots of homeless people in Berkeley.
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.
Opponents could easily argue that homeless people in Berkeley already receive adequate
services (
just look at all those luxurious sidewalks!
), or perhaps that they shouldnt be
entitled to services at all (
get a job, ya lazy loafers!
).
Dont write, Secondhand smoke is bad and can cause heart disease and cancer;
therefore, smoking should be outlawed in public places, but outlawing smoking is unfair
to smokers so maybe non-smokers can just hold their breath or wear masks around
smokers instead.
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A wishy-washy statement like this will make your reader scratch his head in puzzlement.
Are you for smoking laws or against them? Yankees or Mets? Mets or Yankees?
Pick a side, and stick with it!
Then stick up for it.
33
Do write, It is too late to save earth; therefore, humans should immediately set a
date for their relocation to Mars where, with proper planning, they can avoid issues of
famine, war, and global warming.
This statement includes some thought-provoking claims. The reader will wonder how
the author plans to defend them. (
Famine, war, and global warming can be easily
avoided on Mars? Go on)
Now that you know how to write a thesis statement, Im going to show you 35
argumentative thesis statement examples so you can get an idea of potential topics and
ways to approach them.
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4. In some cases, Ive included a links to example essays written on the topic for
further inspiration.
Ready? Here we go.
#1. Topic:
Is a college degree necessary for success?
Thesis
: A college degree is necessary for most people to achieve success in todays
society because many entry-level jobs wont hire people without a degree, and it gives
graduates more options in case their high school rock band doesn't make it out of the
garage; while there are other avenues one could take, the majority of career paths will
require college education.
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#2. Topic:
Should a college education be free for everyone?
Thesis
: A college education should not be free for everyone because it will not increase
graduation rates and will cost the taxpayers too much money.
#3
.
Topic:
Is the cost of tuition appropriate?
Thesis
: Lowering the cost of tuition by at least 50% would lead to less student debt and
allow more students to attend college, which, in turn, would increase the amount of
educated people in the general public.
#4
.
Topic:
Should guns be permitted on college campuses?
Thesis
: Guns should not be permitted on college campuses due to the increased
likelihood of violence and criminal activity.
#5. Topic:
What affect does Facebook have on a persons social life?
Thesis
: College students who overuse Facebook may have interactive online lives, but
in reality, they are more isolated than ever because they are missing out on true
face-to-face interaction with their peers.
#6. Topic:
Is our school too dependent on technology
?
Thesis
: Our schools dependence on technology has caused a greater prevalence of
mood disorders, memory loss, and loneliness among students. Educators should combat
these issues by requiring students to participate in regular technology detoxes.
#7. Topic:
Should school officials fight cyberbullying?
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Thesis
: Bullying has extended far beyond school and into cyberspace. Even though
these acts of aggression take place outside of school boundaries, school officials should
have the authority to discipline students who engage in cyberbullying without fear of
reprisal. Doing so will help improve the online behavior of students and decrease
incidences of cyberbully-related suicide attempts.
#8.
Topic:
Thesis
: Starting the school day at a later time will help increase students attentiveness
because more sleep will make them more alert and focused, and being more focused will
improve grades.
#10.
Topic:
Thesis
: Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be
evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and
volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests,
allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are
better in other areas a greater chance to further their education.
#11. Topic:
Are extracurricular activities important in high school?
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Thesis
: Extracurricular activities such as sports, music, art, and theater are extremely
important because they can give students a better sense of belonging, an idea of what
they want to do for a living, and the confidence to perform well in other subject areas.
#12. Topic:
Should students be graded on homework?
Thesis
: Students should only be graded on homework completion, not the correctness
of their homework, because it will allow students more time to fully grasp a concept,
they will feel less stressed about their overall homework load, and they will have the
chance to get an answer wrong every once in a while without fear of punishment.
#13.
Topic:
Thesis
: College football players should get paid to play because they put at least as
much time into practicing as most college students put into working, they dont have
time for a side job, and not paying them creates a double standard in regards to paying
professional athletes.
#14. Topic:
Should schools be segregated by sex?
Thesis
: Schools should not be segregated by sex because co-ed environments teach kids
valuable social and dating skills and expose them to different perspectives and ways of
thinking within the classroom.
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#15. Topic:
Do children benefit if everyone on the team receives a trophy?
Thesis
: Handing out trophies to everyone on a team has created a generation of
children who feel entitled and who do not understand the value of competition and hard
work.
#16. Topic:
Should childhood vaccinations be mandatory?
Thesis
: Childhood vaccinations should be mandatory as they are safe, reduce the risk of
illness, and protect other people from contagious diseases.
#17. Topic:
At what age should children stop getting an allowance?
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Thesis
: Children should stop receiving allowance at age 15 because they are able to
work outside of the home at this age, they will have three years to adjust to a job
environment before they are legally an adult, and it creates less burden on the parents
because the children will be able to pay for more of their own needs.
#18.
Topic:
Thesis
: Parents should allow their kids access to cell phones when the children start
going out on their own. Cell phones give kids the ability to call a parent if they are lost or
in trouble, teaches kids responsibility, and saves them from possible ridicule from peers
about not having what has become a basic piece of technology.
#19. Topic:
Should parents reward children for good grades and punish
Thesis
: Juveniles should not be sentenced as adults because adolescents brains are not
fully developed, and they are not yet capable of making adult decisions.
#21. Topic:
Should corporations be allowed to advertise in schools?
Thesis
: Advertising should not be allowed in public schools as it increases a perceived
importance on materialism, leads to conflicts over appropriate messaging in schools,
and deemphasizes the importance of education in favor of corporate culture.
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#22.
Topic:
per day?
Thesis
: Kids should be able to watch television for the same amount of time that they
put into reading for the day. This rule would ensure that kids read more, that their free
time isnt completely dominated by the television, and it would give them a greater
sense of autonomy by enabling them, in effect, to choose how much television they are
able to watch based on their reading time.
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#24. Topic:
Is government surveillance harmful?
Thesis
: Government surveillance programs do more harm than good because they
invade civil liberties, lead innocent people to suffer unfair punishments, and ultimately
fail to protect the citizens that they are designed to safeguard. For these reasons,
programs such as PRISM operated by the NSA should be discontinued.
#25. Topic:
Are security cameras an invasion of privacy?
Thesis
: Though security cameras are necessary and a valued part of society, strict
regulations need to be mandated in order to maintain citizens rights to privacy.
#26. Topic:
Should organ donors be financially compensated?
42
Thesis
: People who sign up for organ donation freely give their hearts and other
organs, but this free system limits the number of available donors and makes it difficult
for recipients to access lifesaving transplants. Thus, organ donors should be financially
compensated to produce more available organs and, at the same time, to decrease
profitable, illegal organ harvesting activities in the black market.
#27. Topic:
Should the U.S. media work to depict alternative family
structures?
Thesis
: The U.S. media depicts the traditional family as being comprised of a mother,
father, and children; however, this notion of the traditional family is outdated and can
be harmful to children who look to this as the gold standard. The U.S. media should,
therefore, expand and redefine the definition of the traditional American family to
include divorced and remarried parents, extended families living together, and families
with same-gender parents. This will increase the overall sense of happiness and
well-being among children whose families dont necessarily fit the mold.
#28.
Topic:
Thesis
: Marijuana has numerous medical applications, such as treating symptoms of
epilepsy, cancer, and glaucoma. Legalizing the use of marijuana in the U.S. will greatly
benefit the medical sector by giving physicians access to this lifesaving drug.
#29. Topic:
Should the minimum wage be increased?
Thesis
: The minimum wage must be raised as doing so will help workers out of poverty
and act as an economic stimulus.
#30. Topic:
Should citizens be allowed to keep exotic pets?
Thesis
: People should not be allowed to keep exotic pets, as it is unhealthy for the
animal, dangerous for the owner, and dangerous for the community.
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Thesis
: The government should research more effective ways to harness solar power
because the world needs to eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels, solar power is the
most abundant renewable resource, and the current production methods still pollute the
environment and need improvement.
#33. Topic:
Should fracking be banned?
Thesis
: Fracking should be banned because it poisons the water supply, leads to
earthquakes, and does not help mitigate the issue of CO2 pollution.
Topics and Thesis Statements on Global Issues
#34. Topic:
Is foreign aid to Africa effective?
Thesis
: Sending foreign aid to African countries is doing more harm than good, and it
should be discontinued; the practice has caused African countries to become vulnerable
to inflation, currency fluctuations, corruption, and civil unrest.
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#35.
Topic:
Thesis
: Chinas one-child policy was intended to help control population growth.
Instead, it has led to unintended and negative consequences, such as a diminishing
labor force, an aging population, the neglect of basic human rights, and an unbalanced
gender population. To improve Chinas situation, the policy should be reversed.
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-Example: Student debt is a national problem that is stifling the U.S. economy.
-Example alternative viewpoint: Student debt is necessary to a strong education, and
it helps the U.S. economy.
-Your topic
:
Step 2:
Pick a
stance
(Hint: what
should
or
shouldn't
be done about this topic? Again, test whether your
stance is debatable by rewriting it from the alternative viewpoint.)
-Example: Student loans should be forgiven in cases where students are unable to
repay their debts.
-Example alternative stance: Student loans should not be forgiven in cases where
students are unable to repay their debts.
-Your stance:
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Step 3:
Choose your
focus
(Hint: you can't focus on
everyone
; a narrow focus is better.)
-Example: American students who have graduated from universities with excessive
debt burdens.
-Your focus:
Step 4:
Make your
claims
(Hint: choose
3 or more
claims that you can
support
later in your essay.)
-Example: Debt forgiveness will benefit the growth of the economy by
1. Increasing tax revenues
2. Unfreezing credit markets
3. Creating jobs
-Your claims:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Step 5:
Put
it
all
together
this will benefit the growth of the economy by increasing tax revenues,
Step 6:
Edit and refine
(Hint: edit to be more specific and to use more articulate language.)
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-Example: Crippling student debt is stifling the growth of the U.S. economy because it
inhibits graduates from being able to spend money on consumer goods and home
purchases. To alleviate this, lenders should be required to forgive student loans in
cases where students are unable to repay their debts, as doing so will benefit the
growth of the economy by increasing tax revenues, unfreezing credit markets, and
creating jobs.
-Your revised thesis statement:
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