20 Thesis Statement
Establishing the Thesis Statement
Thesis or Focus
Once you have a specific, narrow topic, you’ll want to be sure you bring that specific topic into your essay effectively and maintain focus on that specific topic. It can be easy to wander off topic in a long research paper, but a good research paper always has a strong focus. Information that does not directly relate to supporting your point or maintaining your focus shouldn’t be included in your research essay.
Some research assignments will require a specifically stated thesis statement, while other projects will simply require that you maintain a strong focus, without requiring a specific thesis. (21)
Drafting a Debatable Thesis
A thesis statement expresses the central arguments and establishes the focus of a piece of writing. Here is a simple formula for the thesis statement:
Narrowed Topic + Main Ideas = Thesis Statement
An effective thesis statement for a research argument should be debatable. Because humans communicate in a variety of ways, the following thesis statement on text messaging fits the criteria for a debatable thesis:
Although text messaging can often be a convenient mode of communication, overreliance on the practice can lead to insincerity, confusion, and a lack of depth in human communication.
This is certainly an open topic for debate, as many people born in the last two decades view text messaging as the preferred method for staying in touch with friends and family. But the practice is not without controversy. M.I.T. communications theorist Sherry Turkle has interviewed many young people who admit to avoiding important face-to-face conversations because of their discomfort with spontaneous conversation. (1)
Stating Your Thesis
Most traditional research essays will require some kind of explicitly stated thesis. This means you should state your thesis clearly and directly for your readers. A thesis is a statement of purpose, one to two sentences long, about your research, that is often presented at the beginning of your essay to prepare your audience for the content of your whole research paper. Your thesis is often presented at the end of your introductory paragraph or paragraphs.
Your thesis statement should state your topic and, in a persuasive research essay, state your assertion about that topic. You should avoid simply “announcing” your thesis and should work to make it engaging. A good thesis will answer the “so what?” question your audience might have about your research paper. A good thesis statement will tell your readers what your research paper will be about and, specifically, why it is important.
You should avoid thesis statements that simply announce your purpose. For example, in a research paper on health care reform, you should avoid a thesis statement like this:
In this essay, I will write about health care in the United States.
Instead, a good thesis statement on health care reform in the United States would be more specific and make a p