A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO WRITING A THESIS STATEMENT
WHAT PRECISELY IS A THESIS STATEMENT?
Would you believe that the quality of a single line in your essay, thesis or dissertation could determine whether or not you pass or fail?
Although it may seem absurd and unjust, it is the truth. The thesis statement is what I am referring to. Your thesis statement is a concise summary of your essay on one line. Your thesis statement should contain one line that answers the question in your essay's title.
It is often found at the end of a thesis's first paragraph.
Consider the following example from an education master's dissertation.
TITLE
What constitutes strong GCSE English writing?
THESIS STATEMENT
The GCSE English writing performance assessment criteria, which a long history of varying preferences has impacted, may currently be regarded as 'excellent writing. It is acceptable for the purpose, genre, and audience and is grammatically sound.
After a succinct introduction, In paragraph 1, the thesis statement will be stated.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A THESIS STATEMENT?
It is possible to make the difference between a First or a Failure by how your thesis statement is written. But precisely?
To explain it, consider what the term "thesis" implies. Your thesis is your fundamental argument, derived from the Greek thesis, which means "proposition."
It is the stance you will support and defend throughout your essay. Your fortress will crumble if there is nothing to defend it from, and your soldiers will start to run around aimlessly.
In essence, you do not have an essay until you have a clear thesis statement.
Both you and your examiner will benefit from a clearly stated thesis at the start of your essay. “It is evidence that you responded to the examiner's inquiry. You can use it as a guide for your essay."
This serves as a litmus test for you both to determine the strength and consistency of your argument. If you cannot condense your essay into one thought, it is too diffuse. If you cannot maintain the focus of your thesis statement throughout the essay, it is not focused.
A First-Class grade is awarded to essays that are focused and supported by solid evidence.
What information should your thesis statement include?
Three factors influence the content of your thesis statement:
1. The essay's subject and theme.
2. The essay's objective.
3. The essay's length.
Let's take a closer look at each of these to see how they might assist us in enhancing our thesis statement.
TOPIC AND SUBJECT OF THE ESSAY
The essay below is an extract from one written by a student of sports science
What are the main distinctions between recommendations for exercising to increase muscular strength and those for training to increase muscle hypertrophy?
First, you will need to decide on a topic.
These would include "training tips for getting the most out of your muscles' strength" and "training guidelines for getting the most out of your muscles' size."
Even though they are linked, this means that I will need to use my expertise in each of these fields. This also means that I will need to use field-specific vocabulary like load, volume, and isotonic.
Next, choose a subject.
It would be "the major differences between the training guidelines for these two goals in this instance." To show that I am on the right track, the word "important distinctions" will likely be in the middle of my thesis statement.
With this in mind, I might write the following thesis statement:
Resistance training based on isotonic contractions is required for both training objectives. However, it is probable that strength training will have higher absolute loads, and hypertrophy training will have a higher volume.
Although it is by no means a comprehensive essay, it outlines the "short answer" to the issue and prepares the reader for the "big response" that will come next.
But what if the essay requires more than simply the information to be arranged in a certain way? What happens if the essay calls for analysis? Or a disagreement?
THE ESSAY'S OBJECTIVE
Different thesis statements are needed for various essay goals. Thankfully, there are just three primary essay purposes, and you can easily identify them:
1. THE EXPOSITORY ESSAY
This sort of essay requests that the salient details of a subject be outlined together with justifications. An illustration of this is the Sports Science question from earlier. The WHAT and HOW of something are requested.
2. AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY
For this type of essay, you will need to be able to not only present the facts but also analyse and break them down so that you can understand them better. It is typical in disciplines like fine art and English literature. The question is WHY is something the way it is?
3. THE ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
For this kind of essay, you have to use the information you have, judge how useful it is, and then give your opinion on the subject. The WHAT, HOW, and WHY of a topic is covered more rapidly before asking: WHY DOES IT MATTER?
There must be a thesis statement with a proposition for each of the aforementioned essay categories (A sentence that answers a question or talks about the title)
Beyond that, each of these three essay kinds needs a separate set of supplements.
You must include a summary of the specifics of the conclusion in the expository essay. Let's examine an example:
EXPOSITORY ESSAY TITLE
In order to achieve maximum muscular strength and hypertrophy, what are the key training guidelines that differ?
(BSc Sports Science)
EXPOSITORY THESIS STATEMENT
Resistance training based on isotonic contractions is required for both training results. Both the absolute weights for strength and the volume necessary for hypertrophy may need to be increased.
(Isotonic resistance training is required for both approaches.) This is a crucial idea. The bold text highlights specifics.
You must give a summary of the research you did for the analytical essay. Here is an example:
AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY TITLE: What made England and Wales vote to leave Europe?
(BA in Politics).
THE ANALYTICAL THESIS STATEMENTS
Brexit was predominantly motivated by Right-wing political manoeuvres, according to a detailed analysis of voter demographics, the populist tone of political discourse leading up to the referendum, and the history of Britain's EU membership.
(The primary conclusion is that Brexit was heavily influenced by politics. The analytic approach is audacious).
An argumentative essay must offer a summary of your points. Another illustration:
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY TITLE
What are your thoughts on Shakespeare's authorship?
English literature (BA)
ARGUMENTATIVE THESIS
Given the unsatisfactory character of any counter-theories and the fragile sense of Shakespeare's identity, Shakespeare's authorship cannot be questioned.
(The most important conclusion is that Shakespeare wrote the plays. This is the logic.
These examples show that an essay is more than simply a single answer.
There's even more!
YOUR ESSAY'S LENGTH
Your thesis statement must be included in the prescribed length essay.
Your microcosm is a condensed or summarised version of your essay as a whole.
Therefore, it stands to reason that the thesis statement's substance will be influenced by how long the essay is.
If your essay is 800 words long and focuses on Eve in the Bible then your thesis statement should be: 'through extensive research of the Bible & extant critique'. More precision is required for an 800-word essay. Your thesis statement should be more precise and say, "With due awareness of the complexity in the issue, focusing upon feminist readings of Genesis."
"A highly effective technique to achieve precision is to match the scope supplied in your thesis statement to the depth you present throughout your essay."
Contrary to popular belief, an 80,000-word essay (for example, a PhD thesis on a stop-motion animated film) would appear fairly modest if it said that the article would just give a visual critique of Wallace & Gromit: The Worst Trousers. We anticipate additional information and more analytical approaches for a PhD.
To ensure precision, it is crucial to match your thesis' scope with the depth of your essay.
How can I create a thesis statement?
The process is simple and can be completed in three steps:
Put the question's name in the title (or ask a question from the statement).
Provide a succinct response to that question.
Finish the statement by summarising the rationale for your response.
Simple, right? It is possible!
Nevertheless, there are a lot of pitfalls that essayists might encounter with this section of the essay. Here are some of these dangers and suggestions for avoiding them.
AVOID THESE PITFALLS
PITFALL 1: AMATEURISH STYLE
This is a problem that novices often face when writing academic essays. This is not just the case for the thesis statement. These can occur in many different ways and are beyond the scope of this argument. Here's an example.
Before concluding, I will be examining the evidence in this essay.
It is amateurish for several reasons. It doesn't really say anything. It could be written as: "I will write an essay that answers the question." This sentence is a waste of time. The use of the first person is the next and most difficult issue. While we want to be able to see that the essay was written by someone, we don't want to hear their name mentioned. Does that make sense? No? Sorry.
It should instead read as follows:
This essay looks at evidence from X, and Y and finally reveals Z at the core.
It does not mention its author and is focused on the details, X, Y, and Z.
PITFALL 2: USE EMPTY PHRASING
This style looks a lot like amateurish writing. But empty language doesn't just sound like the work of a beginner; it sounds like an attempt to trick people.
It is easy to make the word count look longer by using phrases like "in order to" or "due the fact that" rather than "to". It is also possible to substitute one word for another phrase: "it is evident that" can (and should!) become "evidently".
This is a music GCSE essay. It's not too bizarre, but it's very tolerable.
Beethoven couldn't hear his music due to his hearing impairment. It is evident that Beethoven conceptualized the musical notes to compose.
(Wordy!)
Beethoven was deaf and hence unable to hear his own music. Beethoven obviously considered musically the notes he wished to write.
(Less wordy.
Beethoven was blind and could not hear the music he wrote.
(About as succinct a sentence as possible will get ...)
Don't confuse sophistication with wordiness. Ideas should have complex writing.
PITFALL 3: IMPROPER GRAMMAR
English is more than just a vehicle for your thoughts. The examination of your expression is a part of the academic process.
The basic principles of Standard English must be followed in order to please our examiners.
The following example of a thesis statement is taken from A Level Sociology essay.
There is still hope for tomorrow, judging by the current state of BAME in Internet Culture and the blatantly racist treatment given to police officers.
There is no one major verb in this statement. Technically, it is both true and false. That's a sentence.
The "concluding" would have to be made finite in order for it to be grammatically correct:
'it could be concluded' or 'we conclude'.
Because the sentence was so long, the writer lost his way!
It is possible to write long sentences and not make the subject/verb agree. This can be illustrated in the following example of a school Geography thesis statement:
Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Zaragoza, and Seville are the five most populous Spanish municipalities. However, none of the nine other top 20 cities is in the top twenty.
It is simple to overlook the fact that the subject "municipalities" and the verb "does" disagree because of the eight words that divide them. Of course, it should read "do," not "does."
FINAL THOUGHTS
The thesis statement, as I said at the beginning, can make the difference between a First or a Failure. Take your time.
It is important to write it down carefully.
After multiple revisions and improvements, you will be able to make it as perfect as possible.
This will result in a convincing, polished thesis statement that will lead to an essay that will truly impress your examiner.
