What is a thesis statement?
A thesis statement is the part of your written essay that expresses your primary assertion or point of view.
Your thesis statement will have more impact if you also include a valid reason for your viewpoint.
We can therefore think of the thesis statement as consisting of an opinion and a reason.
If you have to write an essay as part of your standardized exam, the thesis statement should be placed in the first paragraph of your essay.
For standardized essay assessments, the thesis statement is usually located in one of two places: (1) the last sentence of the first paragraph or (2) the first sentence of the first paragraph of the essay.
How to write a thesis statement
In order to write your thesis statement, you need to consider the essay question that you have been assigned.
Ask yourself: What is my opinion on this subject?
Try to express your opinion succinctly by jotting it down on your scrap paper or computer.
Then think of a compelling reason for your opinion.
Finally, write and revise a well-constructed, grammatical sentence that expresses your opinion and your reason.
We have already seen an example of a thesis statement on our writing the introduction page.
Thesis statement exercise
Consider the following essay topic: Should the government offer more forms of financial aid to college students? Then follow the instructions below.
- Jot down your opinion on this subject.
- Try to express a good reason why you have that opinion.
- Write your thesis statement.
- Critically evaluate your thesis statement and edit it as necessary.
- When you have finished making your thesis statement as good as you possibly can, compare your answer with the thesis statement examples in the next section.
Thesis statement examples
Choose the best thesis statement from the examples provided below. Then compare the one you have written to the suggested answer.
Example 1: The government should offer more forms of financial aid to college students.
Example 2: In my opinion, more forms of governmental financial aid should be offered to college students.
Example 3: Clearly, the government should not offer more forms of college financial aid which will place an unnecessary burden on the economy.
Example 4: Because a better educated population will bring increased benefits to society and the economy in the future, the government should provide a wider array of financial support to students wishing to obtain higher education.
Comments: Thesis statement example 4 is the suggested answer.
Example 1
In this example, the student has made a common mistake: he or she simply repeats verbatim the wording from the essay question.
Remember that you need to use your own words in your essay response.
In thesis statement 1, the student also fails to provide a reason for his or her opinion.
Example 2
Example 2 uses the phrase “in my opinion,” which some teachers consider to be too informal for an expository piece like this one.
Thesis statement number two also illustrates how students nearly copy from the essay question.
The phrase “financial aid to college students” from the essay question is merely restated as “financial aid should be offered to college students” in the student’s response.
In addition, the writer of essay 2 does not elucidate why he or she holds this particular point of view.
So, thesis statements 1 and 2 both do not give reasons why the students hold their particular opinions on the subject.
The reader of the essays 1 and 2 may therefore be unclear about the precise direction that the students are going to take in their writing.
Example 3
Example 3 attempts to give a reason why the student has this viewpoint. Unfortunately, the sentence is somewhat poorly structured.
It may be the case that the student opposes financial aid in general because he thinks that all forms of financial aid place a burden on the economy.
Alternatively, the student could be trying to express the idea that he opposes only those forms of financial aid that actually do place a burden on the economy.
You may consider thesis statement 3 to be an unusual point of view.
However, bear in mind that you are being assessed on your writing skills on the essay task.
You will not be judged on the opinions that you hold, as long as you express and support them well.
Example 4
This example 4 is the best response.
It does not repeat any of the phrases from the essay question verbatim.
It expresses the idea of financial aid as “financial support” and the idea of college students as “students wishing to obtain higher education.”
Thesis statement example 4 also provides the clear reason that “a better educated population will bring increased benefits to society and the economy in the future.”
Now try the exercises on writing the main body and the conclusion.