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Developing A Thesis
Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument.
You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how
the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have
read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the
argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to
convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."
An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact;
nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern
Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened
in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to
weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the
best thing"?)
A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan
to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.
Steps in Constructing a Thesis
First, analyze your primary sources. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or
complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are
the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions,
or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you
probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors
in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)
Once you have a working thesis, write it down. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea
for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be
forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-
draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down
what you have.
Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction. A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at
the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding
theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your
introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.
Anticipate the counter-arguments. Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might
be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments
that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counter-argument. If yours doesn't,
then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)
Michael Dukakis lost the 1988 presidential election because he failed to campaign
vigorously after the Democratic National Convention.
This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counter-
arguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a
"soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counter-argument, you'll
strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.
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While Dukakis' "soft-on-crime" image hurt his chances in the 1988 election, his
failure to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention bore a
greater responsibility for his defeat.
Some Caveats and Some Examples
A thesis is never a question. Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored,
or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument,
and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.
A thesis is never a list. "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in
Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about
political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about
cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only
possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an
argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.
A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational. An ineffective thesis would be,
"Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from
whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather
than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to
communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.
An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim. "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of
communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline"
is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section
about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite,
arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in
defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps
what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues
this claim."
A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible. Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions.
For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address
the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal
discontent."
Copyright 1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University
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How To Write a Thesis Statement
What is a Thesis Statement?
Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of
the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.
Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement?
to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two
to better organize and develop your argument
to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument
In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your
paper explores.
How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement?
Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic.
How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned (#assigned)
How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned (#unassigned)
How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One (#strongthesis)
How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned
Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill
the assignment into a specific question. For example, if your assignment is, “Write a report to the local school board
explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class,” turn the request into a question like, “What
are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” After you’ve chosen the question your essay will
answer, compose one or two complete sentences answering that question.
Q: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?”
A: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .”
OR
A: “Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to improve . . .”
The answer to the question is the thesis statement for the essay.
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How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned
Even if your assignment doesn’t ask a specific question, your thesis statement still needs to answer a question about the
issue you’d like to explore. In this situation, your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about.
A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:
take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree
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deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment
express one main idea
assert your conclusions about a subject
Let’s see how to generate a thesis statement for a social policy paper.
Brainstorm the topic.
Let’s say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans. You find that you
are interested in the amount of sugar Americans consume.
You start out with a thesis statement like this:
Sugar consumption.
This fragment isn’t a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject. Furthermore, your reader doesn’t
know what you want to say about sugar consumption.
Narrow the topic.
Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far
more sugar than is healthy.
You change your thesis to look like this:
Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.
This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school
children. Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might
agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who
should do it. You should note that this fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader doesn’t know your
conclusions on the topic.
Take a position on the topic.
After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that
something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.
You revise your thesis statement to look like this:
More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school
children.
This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are vague.
Use specific language.
You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices, so you write:
Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily
allowance of sugar.
This statement is specific, but it isn’t a thesis. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion.
Make an assertion based on clearly stated support.
You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:
Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily
allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with
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healthy alternatives.
Notice how the thesis answers the question, “What should be done to reduce sugar consumption by children, and who
should do it?” When you started thinking about the paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you
became more involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights.
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How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One
1. A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand.
Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a
class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate. Here are two thesis statements:
There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.
This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague.
Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle
and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.
This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.
2. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion.
Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using
your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:
My family is an extended family.
This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. Your reader won’t be able to tell the point of the statement,
and will probably stop reading.
While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family
structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship
ties in an extended family.
This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view. A good strategy for
creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay
to see how you support your point.
3. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea.
Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea,
then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. For example:
Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both
advertising and customer support.
This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or
Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the
thesis would be to write:
Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this
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potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.
This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis
statements contain words like because, since, so, although, unless, and however.
4. A strong thesis statement is specific.
A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable
topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:
World hunger has many causes and effects.
This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten
pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised
thesis might look like this:
Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely
profitable.
This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also
identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.
Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
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