It is like a signpost that signals the essays destination. My experience with young children has taught me that I want to be a disciplinary parent because I believe that a child without discipline can be a parents worst nightmare. You probably had trouble following his train of thought as he jumped around from point to point, either being too brief in places that needed further explanation or providing too many details on a meaningless element. In your career you may have to write a project proposal that focuses on a particular problem in your company, such as reinforcing the tardiness policy. A thesis is weak when it contains an obvious fact or something that no one can disagree with or provides a dead end. Precision. For whatever topic your professor gives you, you must ask yourself, What do I want to say about it? Asking and then answering this question is vital to forming a thesis that is precise, forceful and confident. It is specific and focuses on one to three points of a single ideapoints that are able to be demonstrated in the body. That is why writers need a thesis statement to provide a specific focus for their essay and to organize what they are about to discuss in the body. A weak thesis is simply a declaration of your topic or contains an obvious fact that cannot be argued. Proper essays require a thesis statement to provide a specific focus and suggest how the essay will be organized. Ability to be argued. This expression may also be too informal for the selected audience. Readers bring all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives to the reading process and would need clarification for a word so vague. Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? These statements reduce your credibility and weaken your argument. Clarify ideas that need explanation by asking yourself questions that narrow your thesis. Phrases such as I feel or I believe actually weaken the readers sense of your confidence because these phrases imply that you are the only person who feels the way you do. Remember that a thesis statement does not summarize an issue but rather dissects it. Linking verbs often make thesis statements weak because they do not express action. The government must expand its funding for research on renewable energy resources in order to prepare for the impending end of oil. The subject of this paper is my experience with ferrets as pets. A strong thesis statement contains the following qualities. On a separate piece of paper, identify each as weak or strong. Depending on your topic, it may or may not be appropriate to use first person point of view. It is not enough merely to discuss a general topic or simply answer a question with a yes or no. http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s13-01-developing-a-strong-clear-thes.html, CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Identify any weaknesses in this sentence and revise the statement to reflect the elements of a strong thesis statement. You have to form a specific opinion, and then articulate that into a controlling ideathe main idea upon which you build your thesis. By replacing those general words like people and work hard, the writer can better focus his or her research and gain more direction in his or her writing. Your opinion is more convincing when you use a firm attitude. The writer should ask himself or herself questions similar to the 5WH questions. Edgar Allan Poe was a poet who lived in Baltimore during the nineteenth century. A strong thesis is specific, precise, forceful, confident, and is able to be demonstrated. Using the techniques from this chapter would apply to revising that thesis. A thesis is weak when it makes an unreasonable or outrageous claim or insults the opposing side. The thesis statement is where you make a claim that will guide you through your entire paper. In your career you may have to write a project proposal that focuses on a particular problem in your company, such as reinforcing the tardiness policy. For example, health care is a broad topic, but a proper thesis statement would focus on a specific area of that topic, such as options for individuals without health care coverage. The writer should ask himself or herself questions in order to replace the linking verb with an action verb, thus forming a stronger thesis statement, one that takes a more definitive stance on the issue: It is true that some young women in todays society are more sexualized than in the past, but that is not true for all girls. A thesis statement that is forceful shows readers that you are, in fact, making an argument. Then revise the weak statements so that they conform to the requirements of a strong thesis. You can rely on personal observations in order to do this, or you can consult outside sources to demonstrate that what you assert is valid. You then completed a freewriting exercise about an event you recently experienced and chose a general topic to write about. Pay attention to your own everyday thesis statements as well, as these can become material for future essays. It tells the reader the point you want to make in your essay, while the essay itself supports that point. Now, on a separate sheet of paper, write down your working thesis statement. Just as a personal anecdote can be a disorganized mess, an essay can fall into the same trap of being out of order and confusing. After writing the proposal, you may find that the thesis needs revision to reflect exactly what is expressed in the body. Many girls have strict parents, dress appropriately, and do not engage in sexual activity while in middle school and high school. Specificity. You must further pinpoint what you are going to discuss regarding these limited effects, such as whom they affect and what the cause is. Writing at Work. Your thesis will probably change as you write, so you will need to modify it to reflect exactly what you have discussed in your essay. By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more accurately defines his or her stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay. Exposing children from an early age to the dangers of drug abuse is a sure method of preventing future drug addicts. Writing in college often takes the form of persuasionconvincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. While your e-mail will be shorter than an essay, using a thesis statement in your first paragraph quickly lets your boss know what you are asking for, why it is necessary, and what the benefits are. Personal Reflection. For any claim you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide reasons and examples for your opinion. A joke means many things to many people. It forecasts the content of the essay and suggests how you will organize your information. A thesis statement must concentrate on a specific area of a general topic. One way to revise the thesis would be to write: In this essay, I will give you lots of reasons why slot machines should not be legalized in Baltimore. Please share with a classmate and compare your answers. His ideas were probably scattered, and the story did not flow very well. You can cut down on irrelevant aspects and revise your thesis by taking the following steps: The revised thesis makes a more specific statement about success and what it means to work hard. Now that you have read about the contents of a good thesis statement and have seen examples, take a look at the pitfalls to avoid when composing your own thesis: Read the following thesis statements. A thesis is one sentence long and appears toward the end of your introduction. A worthy argument is backed by examples and details. Despite his promises during his campaign, President Kennedy took few executive measures to support civil rights legislation. Become aware of thesis statements in everyday life by paying attention to peoples opinions and their reasons for those opinions. The proposal would aim to fix the problem; using a thesis statement would clearly state the boundaries of the problem and tell the goals of the project. Working thesis statements often become stronger as you gather information and form new opinions and reasons for those opinions. For those that are weak, list the reasons why. In short body paragraphs, you can provide the essential information needed to expand upon your request. Compared to an absolute divorce, no-fault divorce is less expensive, promotes fairer settlements, and reflects a more realistic view of the causes for marital breakdown. A factual statement often is not considered arguable. In other words, your stance has insufficient backing. This is a weak thesis statement because the reader cant decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. Just as a thesis statement organizes an essay, it can also organize your e-mail request. Step #5: Start Writing, Even If You Think You Have Nothing to Say (ideas are born with writing) This is one of the most fear-inducing hurdles to getting started. By challenging your own ideas and forming definite reasons for those ideas, you grow closer to a more precise point of view, which you can then incorporate into your thesis statement. A strong thesis challenges readers with a point of view that can be debated and can be supported with evidence. Successful Writing Section 9.1: Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement. The key is to edit out the choices that are draining your energy, so you can focus on your thesis. If you find yourself struggling to make sense of your paper or your topic, then it's likely due to a weak thesis statement. If the specific topic is options for individuals without health care coverage, then your precise thesis statement must make an exact claim about it, such as that limited options exist for those who are uninsured by their employers. Revision helps you strengthen your thesis so that it matches what you have expressed in the body of the paper. Develop a strong, clear thesis statement with the proper elements. Ability to be demonstrated. After you answered these questions, you chose one of the three methods of prewriting and gathered possible supporting points for your working thesis statement. Omit any general claims that are hard to support. Although the idea of studying abroad might sound costly, the The best way to revise your thesis statement is to ask questions about it and then examine the answers to those questions. Readers might wonder, Why are they not paid enough? But this statement does not compel them to ask many more questions. Remember that a thesis is not the topic itself, but rather your interpretation of the question or subject. Each of the following thesis statements meets several of the following requirements: You can find thesis statements in many places, such as in the news; in the opinions of friends, coworkers or teachers; and even in songs you hear on the radio. When the story was over, you probably had many questions. The proposal would aim to fix the problem; using a thesis statement would clearly state the Understanding what makes a good thesis statement is one of the major keys to writing a great research paper or argumentative essay. Be sure your thesis statement contains a point of view that can be supported with evidence. You should form your thesis before you begin to organize an essay, but you may find that it needs revision as the essay develops. The linking verb in this working thesis statement is the word are. Using that general topic, you then narrowed it down by answering the 5WH questions. Remember to make each statement specific, precise, demonstrable, forceful and confident. Introduction. In addition to using force in your thesis statement, you must also use confidence in your claim. As you may recall, the creation of a thesis statement begins when you choose a broad subject and then narrow down its parts until you pinpoint a specific aspect of that topic. Confidence. Because many childrens toys have potential safety hazards that could lead to injury, it is clear that not all childrens toys are safe. A thesis statement is your interpretation of the subject, not the topic itself. In todays crumbling job market, a high school diploma is not significant enough education to land a stable, lucrative job. The writer of this thesis should ask the following questions: In the first section of Chapter 8 The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?, you determined your purpose for writing and your audience. For every essay you write, you must focus on a central idea. Even in a personal essay that allows the use of first person, your thesis should not contain phrases such as in my opinion or I believe. Remember from Chapter 8 The Writing Process: How Do I Begin? that your thesis statement begins as a working thesis statement, an indefinite statement that you make about your topic early in the writing process for the purpose of planning and guiding your writing. A strong thesis statement must be precise enough to allow for a coherent argument and to remain focused on the topic. Closing all American borders for a period of five years is one solution that will tackle illegal immigration. Rather, they connect words and phrases to the second half of the sentence. Just like a topic sentence summarizes a single paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes an entire essay. Revise your thesis by ensuring all words are specific, all ideas are exact, and all verbs express action. A thesis is weak when it is simply a declaration of your subject or a description of what you will discuss in your essay. The tone is assertive and takes a stance that others might oppose. This idea stems from a topic you have chosen or been assigned or from a question your teacher has asked. Studying abroad. By asking questions, the writer can devise a more precise and appropriate explanation for joke. Maybe he told the end of the story first, then moved to the beginning and later added details to the middle. The original includes too broad a range of people and does not define exactly what success entails. Often in your career, you will need to ask your boss for something through an e-mail. (See Chapter 8 The Writing Process: How Do I Begin? for more information on the 5WH questions.) Make sure it is specific, precise, arguable, demonstrable, forceful, and confident. A thesis statement must present a relevant and specific argument. The legal drinking age in the United States, The societal and personal struggles of Troy Maxon in the play. Forcefulness. Pinpoint and replace all nonspecific words, such as. 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