A Simple Guide For Developing A Strong Thesis Statement

What’s the first important step in construction? Whether it’s a building or a bridge, the first step is to prepare a blueprint. This blueprint governs the entire construction process. The thesis statement is the blueprint of your assignment, irrespective of its type. It not only presents your arguments to the reader but also describes an idea or provokes an analysis. It helps you stay focused and on thesis statement writing throughout the assignment.

In short, the thesis statement writing acts as a solid roadmap for the rest of your paper. It is, in fact, mandatory to include the statement at the end of your introduction. So, here is a complete guide for you to learn how to write a thesis statement with relevant examples. 

1. Understand the type of academic writing task first

The format, language, and tone of the thesis statement depend on the academic task you are working on. You can get assignment help if you find it hard to figure out the purpose of your topic or task. 

Here are the main types of writing tasks students are assigned to:

Analytical 

You are required to assess, analyse, evaluate and determine a specific element in this type of writing task. So, your thesis statement examples should express the key conclusions of your analysis. 

Example:

Though multiple claims show that vaccines can cause autism, scientific data analysis shows that vaccines have no role in developing autism spectrum disorder. 

Expository

You are required to write a compare/contrast or cause/effect paper in an expository writing task. The thesis statement identifies the main differences or similarities in compare/contrast and causes or effects in a cause/effect essay. 

Example of compare/contrast thesis statement:

Both America and Canada are multi-cultural and have very large immigration populations. However, the main difference between both country’s approach to the immigrant population is Canada’s adoption of a cultural mosaic in contrast to the American ‘melting pot.’

Example of cause/effect statement:

Depression is one of the most common causes of suicide, caused by extreme stress about academic performance. 

Argumentative 

You are required to make a claim about a topic and present arguments based on relevant evidence to support the claim. 

Example:

Utilitarianism fails as a moral theory since the consequences of calculation can be hectic. Moreover, there isn’t any guarantee of justice, and hence it cannot always tell us what we are supposed to do morally. 

2. Formulate a research question 

Students often get online thesis help because they cannot distinguish between a research question and a thesis statement. Both of them are closely related but aren’t interchangeable. At times, you may get the research question as a part of your assignment question. At other times, you may have to come up with a research question on your own. 

In simple words, the research question is:

• The main question outlined in your assignment that narrows down your topic
• The question that focuses your research on a specific problem, controversy, issue or contradiction
• The question that your thesis statement answers in the form of a specific claim

Example of a research question

“What was the most significant cause of the increased involvement of America I the Vietnam War during the 1960s?”

Example of a thesis statement as a response to the research question:

“America’s anti-communist foreign policy was the main reason why America involved in the war escalated it during the 1960s.”

3. Come up with a tentative thesis statement

The thesis statement isn’t something you can come up with at one go. You need time and, most importantly, practise. Thus, prepare a tentative thesis statement initially and then proceed to refine that and make it stronger. The tentative thesis statement helps you focus your research and analysis to make the writing task manageable for you. Do not start analysing evidence for the paper unless you are certain of the main argument that you want to make in your work. 

Prepare the tentative thesis statement in the initial stage of your writing process. Then, you can start collecting data once you have a rough statement ready. Now, as you get further in the analysis of evidence, it will eventually help you clarify the thesis statement. 

Here’s what to ask yourself while generating a main claim for the essay:

• What are the patterns or implications that I can notice after looking closely at my evidence?
• How can I explain the contradictions between my thesis statement and selected evidence?
• What kind of support and evidence do I need to support my tentative thesis?
• What evidence cannot be supported by the tentative thesis?
• How to rewrite the tentative statement to accommodate the evidence that doesn’t fit?

The bottom line is that you need to readjust the thesis statement to match the evidence and analysis. It will help you write a polished and defensible thesis statement in the final draft. 

Example of a tentative thesis statement:

Educating Pam is about celebrating the liberating potential of enabling education which is also a healthy dose of working-class, real-world infusions. 

Example of complicating evidence:

Pam and Jim end up alone and alienated. 

Example of a revised thesis:

Educating Pam is about celebrating the liberating potential of enabling education to the working class in the real world and acknowledges the potential costs of alienation and loneliness. 

4. Identify a contradiction 

Thesis statements can be interesting if you can identify a contradiction and highlight the same in the statement. Let’s say you go halfway through the essay and find you have nothing else to say. That means your thesis doesn’t have the intellectual vigour required to propel you through the entire essay. 

Professors do not usually prefer an intellectually flat thesis statement. Thus, you should focus on introducing an interesting contradiction, paradox or tension between two things. It is imperative to consider the nuances and complexities of the topic at hand and write the thesis statement accordingly. 

Example:

The Long Day’s narrator conveys many tenets of feminism, like commitment to women’s economic independence. But, the feminist sympathies are suppressed by the narrator’s traditional attitudes towards female sensibility. 

5. Write the statement in a complex sentence 

You need to learn how to use language and sentence structure and convey the meaning of your ideas efficiently. For example, the best way to write a thesis statement is to use complex sentence structures that create emphasis and convey a hierarchy of ideas. 

Example of a thesis statement that has a weal structure:

The Crucifixion and The Nativity is a brutal tragedy and a high-spirited comedy, respectively. Both explore a common theme- the intersection of the divine and human. 

Example of a thesis statement with a complex sentence structure:

Although one is a brutal tragedy and the other is a high-spirited comedy, the plays The Crucifixion and The Nativity explore a common theme: the intersection of the human and the divine. 

Wrapping Up, 

The thesis statement is often the first thing your professors see while assessing the paper. It, after all, conveys the main context or idea of your essay. So, do not take this section for granted lest you are okay with losing valuable marks. Test your thesis before presenting it in your work. Make sure it reflects your analysis and depth of thought. It should be at par with the type of task you are working on. 

Author Bio:

Anne Gill is an assistant professor at a reputed institution in the United Kingdom. She also provides assignment help at MyAssignmenthelp.co.uk. In addition, Sam loves to paint in her free time.