Thesis Statements: As Easy as 1, 2, 3

             One of the most common roadblocks in writing an effective paper is a strong thesis statement. Yes, the same dreaded thesis statement that your Professor told you to make sure you had in your paper. As a writing tutor, I very much agree with your Professor. A thesis statement is a great way to unify and “nutshell” your argument or analysis.

      Before I continue, I wanted to clarify what a thesis statement is exactly, because while your Professors may urge you to write one, they often do not explain how it should be written. Instead they may tell you to visit the Writing Center to get help from a tutor. I decided to make this learning process even easier by showing you how to write a thesis statement right here on the computer.

So here it goes…

 A thesis statement should accomplish three major goals:

1. State a condensed interpretation of the main idea of your paper (Topic)
2. Assert your position on the claim or argument your paper presents (Focus)
3. Provide the reader with a “guide” so they know what to expect from your paper (Main Points)

By reading over these goals, you might be able to correctly conclude that writing a thesis statement should not be the first step of your writing process. You may have to conduct some research, clarify your argument, and find relationships between the main points of your paper. Once you know what direction your writing will take, you can construct a “working thesis” which you will support with evidence in the rest of your paper.

All in all, while a thesis statement may appear difficult and tedious, it gets easier as you continue your research and make an opinion about the topic. The best part is that after you have worked hard formulating a strong thesis statement, the rest of your paper will become that much easier to write because you will have a distinct direction and an easy-to-follow plan.

For more detail and specific examples on this topic, you can visit the following links:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/1/

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements/