I have struggled so many times with writing thesis statements for my essay all through high school. At first, I didn’t even understand why I should have to have a thesis statement. Why can’t I just write my essay just how I want? You really can’t. Once I hit college, I realized that a thesis statement was absolutely crucial for my paper. The first time your teacher/professor reads the thesis statement you have come up with, they will be able to tell if it is a strong thesis statement or not. If it is not strong, then it confuses the reader throughout the rest of your paper, and they have no idea how to tell exactly what your paper is about. If you want a good grade, you need to have a strong thesis statement. Today, I will tell you exactly how to do that.
Much of the time, students try to write a thesis statement when they have no idea what that even is. Your thesis statement is what you are going to PROVE in your paper. Your entire thesis paragraph should lead up to this one sentence. Your thesis statement should not be more than a sentence or two. It is better if it is just one sentence, but if you really cant find a way to write it in one sentence, then you can use two. The best place to put this statement is at the very end of your thesis paragraph, which should be your first paragraph, or introduction. You can put it in different places, but it will be difficult for your reader to locate it and understand the rest of your essay. Your teacher should be able to quickly pinpoint exactly where the statement is. They should think in your head “Oh, that’s what they are trying to prove!” If you can’t read your thesis statement and think that yourself, then it is not a strong thesis statement. It’s actually not even a thesis statement at all, it’s just a random statement.
Once you know what you want to prove and you form it into a solid statement, make sure that you actually make your paper about that. Many times, students write their thesis statement and then they don’t pull through with what they said they were going to. Think of your thesis statement as a promise to your reader. You are saying to them “I promise that my paper will prove this to you.” By the end of your paper, you want your reader to agree with what you thesis statement says.
Have someone read your paper. See if they can pick out what your thesis statement is and see if they agree with what you what your thesis statement is saying. If they do not, or they can’t find your thesis statement, then you need to do some revising either to the content of your body paragraphs, so the location of your thesis statement. Your thesis statement may even need some re-wording. It does not have to be a complicated statement with big words. It should be easy for your reader’s to understand. Let me give you an example of a thesis paragraph and I’ll walk you through the whole process. This was actually a paper that I had written for one of my classes.
Example Thesis Paragraph:
Since the major economic crisis began here in the United States, there have been constant debates about whether the government is distributing its money efficiently. People all over the country have been laid off of their job, have been trying to find a job, or have lost hours at their current job. The major questions that are being asked are: Where is the government’s money going? Where should it be going? And when is it the government’s responsibility to provide money for its citizens? Three major ways in which the government distributes its money into the economy is through welfare programs, Supplemental Security Income, and financial aid for college students and secondary public schools. In order to better the country’s situation with its economy, the government should distribute more of its money to secondary and high education.”
This paragraph was taken out of a final paper I wrote for an English class last semester in which my task was to either give an answer to a question, discuss how feasible a certain scenario was, or give a solution to a problem. I decided to give a solution to a problem. In my thesis paragraph, I began by briefly explaining the problem. I stated that the country was going through an economic crisis, that people were losing jobs because of it, and that there was something the government could do to fix the problem. I showed how the government distributes some of its money, and in my thesis statement I state where the government should direct more of its money in order to fix the problem with the economy. So, where is my thesis statement? It is the last sentence of the paragraph:
In order to better the country’s situation with its economy, the government should distribute more of its money to secondary and high education.
My thesis statement is one sentence, does not use complicated words, and tells the reader exactly what I am going to prove. So, my entire paper should be about how the government’s distribution of money to high schools and colleges will benefit the economy, since that is what my thesis statement PROMISES my paper will do. Make sure you do that as well!
Tarah DeSantis, “Financial Aid for College Students.” Associated Content.
