How to Write a Thesis Statement

How to Write a Good Thesis Statement

Thesis statement writing is unavoidable; it should be included in every academic work, small and large so that the reader understands the key purpose and message of the text they read. Tutors often don’t go farther than the first paragraph of their students’ essays if the thesis statement is weak or absent. So, the skill of high-quality thesis statement composition is the Hole Grail that all students look for.

How to make a thesis statement that will improve your supervisor? Is there a universal guide for composing unbeatable statements? Here are the comprehensive thesis statement guidelines that will help every student move one step further in honing this skill.

What Is a Thesis Statement?

In a nutshell, the thesis statement is an academic text’s kernel. It is the core idea that the writer explores throughout the essay, research paper, report, or dissertation. So, the task of this element is to state the main idea and writer’s opinion in simple, clear words.

The thesis statement is a roadmap of your paper, directing its major arguments and structuring your points. It guides the readers through the paper and gives them clues to the logic of your interpretation of facts.

Typically, thesis statements are placed at the end of the introduction paragraph or section. They serve as a culmination of your context and problem description, showing what stand you have taken toward the studied issue and what subject you’re going to explore.

How to Write a Thesis Statement Step-by-Step

Now let’s proceed to the process of composing a good, persuasive thesis statement. To understand how it can be written, you should follow these steps:

• Make a list of main ideas on your topic in the bullet point form.
• Brainstorm the essential ideas and thoughts coming to your mind after the initial research on the subject.
• Make connections between the points.
• Think of the cause-and-effect relationships and implications.
• Condense your vision of the topic and associated facts into one-two sentences and present them in the thesis statement.

How to Structure a Thesis Statement: Checklist

Though a thesis statement is usually one sentence (maximum two), you still need to follow certain structuring conventions to correspond to the academic standards and tutor’s expectations. The indispensable components a thesis statement should include are:

1. Your topic.
2. The argument or claim you’re going to make.
3. The evidence you will use to back your argument.

How to End a Thesis Statement: Things to Avoid

As the structure presented in the previous section presupposes, the end of your thesis statement should contain the evidence with which you plan to back your argument. As for the things to avoid, many students confuse a thesis statement with many other parts of an academic paper.

So, for your clarity, we have summarized what a thesis statement IS NOT:

• Don’t make a thesis statement in the form of a list.
• Make sure it is not too broad and not too narrow.
• Don’t use one specific example as a thesis statement.
• Don’t include unrelated points to it.
• Don’t use quotes in the thesis statement.
• Don’t formulate thesis statements as opinionated phrases like “I think” or “I feel.”
• Don’t exceed two sentences.

Thesis Statement Outline

There is no formal outline for a thesis statement, as it is a short part of a larger paper. But you can still find it helpful to see where this part is located within the paper’s structure. How to write a thesis statement example?

Here is the simple structure of a thesis statement outline.

Topic: Cheese

Fact: Health benefits

Evidence: Due to the high concentration of calcium, cheese produces positive effects on human bone health, so it should be included in the daily diet.

Here is a larger sample from our pro writers showing where the thesis statement is placed and how it determines the rest of the paper.

INTRODUCTION

Calcium is an essential nutrient that contributes to bone health and guarantees the proper functioning of the human heart, muscles, and nerves. Two-thirds of calcium intake in the Western diet is derived from dairy products, with cheese being one of the key products in most adults’ dairy ratio. Thus, the importance of cheese consumption goes far beyond gastronomic pleasure and includes a vital daily supply of calcium. Yet, it is essential to distinguish between cheese types and choose the ones with healthy microbiota to avoid gastrointestinal problems.

BODY OF THE PAPER

Since we delineated the value of cheese as a source of calcium and cautioned against cheese with pathogenic bacteria, the whole paper will revolve around choosing cheese correctly.

The opening body paragraph can talk about the history of dairy products and their inclusion in the nutritional recommendations in various countries.

One paragraph may be dedicated to comparing the harms and benefits of raw milk cheese, with the discussion of pathogenic bacteria in raw milk and potential hazards for the human microbiota.

Another paragraph can dwell on the benefits of probiotic cheese as the most balanced product in terms of its physicochemical parameters.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion is your opportunity to revert to the thesis statement – the value of cheese in nutritional terms and expert recommendations on choosing the safest product in terms of microbial effects.

Thesis Statement Introduction

Based on what we have already discovered about the thesis statement, we can see that the writer is free to structure this sentence’s beginning as they please.

But in most cases, the transition from problem description to a thesis statement is delineated by words like, “This paper examines,” “This report is dedicated to…,” “This essay explores…” In this way, you proceed from problem description to the way you approach it.

Here is a couple of examples of how the thesis statements begin:

• This essay demonstrates how…
• Thus, the present paper is dedicated to the issue of…
• In this paper, the research examines the problem of…

Thesis Statement Body

After the introductory part usually comes the main body of the thesis statement. Here, your task is to enumerate the central arguments you will further examine. Be clear, concise, and mention all of your points briefly.

Here are a couple of examples.

An Essay About the Harms of Sugar

If you have introduced the topic of sugar over-consumption and gave the rates of sugar consumption globally, you may proceed to the harms of sugar to human health in the thesis statement. In this way, your thesis statement is likely to look as follows:

• This paper examines the impact of sugar on blood sugar and body weight, showing how sugar over-consumption leads to diabetes and obesity among U.S. children.
• This essay explores the health effects of sugar, including blood glucose, bone health, psychological stability, and weight.

A Research Paper About Racism in Education

If you have dealt with the history of racism and anti-racism legislation in the USA in the introduction, then gradually narrowing the subject to racial disparities in education, your thesis statement can look as follows:

• This paper is dedicated to analyzing current racial gaps in secondary education and the impact of color-blind school policies on the persistence of racism.
• This essay will deal with the manifestations of racism in educational policies and curricula, exploring their impact on the academic achievement differences and access gaps among racially diverse students.

Thesis Statement Conclusion

It’s hard to discern a conclusion in a thesis statement, as it’s a single sentence. Yet, if we follow the linguistic term of a theme-rheme construction, you’ll see that the most essential, new information is provided at the end of the sentence. It is the trick of human attention span, with less attention paid to the beginning of the sentence and with maximum attention focused at its end.

So, a standard stylistic tool is to place the information you want the reader to remember at the end. In the examples we considered above, you’ll see how the final goal of the essay is stipulated at the end. This leaves the reader with a clear idea of what the essay will examine and what the writer plans to arrive at.

Here are a couple of examples to help you out with concluding your thesis statement:

• The essay deals with racism in modern U.S. schools and proposes solutions to remedy the problem.
• The paper deals with the health impacts of sugar and examines ways to manage addictive sugar cravings.

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