The thesis statement concisely expresses your main idea to your audience and is supported by the body of the essay. Your thesis statement should do more than state a fact; rather, it should make an assertion based on your own ideas.

Bad:  iPods are devices that transport and play music.

Good: iPods are the best source for transporting and playing music not only because they are compact and user-friendly but also because they store large amounts of music.

KINDS OF THESIS STATEMENTS

1.  The enumerative thesis (a.k.a. “three-point” thesis) lists the evidence that supports your primary argument.  Each body paragraph discusses one piece of evidence.

Example:  The writers of Futurama use irreverent humor to satirize pop culture, comment on technology, and explore controversial themes.

2.  The umbrella thesis encompasses the entire argument in a concise statement without naming each piece of evidence that the author plans to use.  

Example:  The irreverent humor used in Futurama is not used simply to entertain, but to comment on deeper societal issues.  

HOW TO DEVELOP A THESIS STATEMENT

Think deeper!  After writing a thesis statement, ask yourself, “So what?”

Example: Futurama is a humorous television show. (So what?)

Revision:  Futurama is entertaining because of its controversial humor. (So what?)

Revision: The irreverent humor used in Futurama is not used simply to entertain, but to comment on deeper societal issues.  

SOME WAYS TO EXPAND YOUR THESIS

Say why:  

For many student writers, procrastination is based on fear; this fear keeps students from improving their writing because they do not take the time to fully develop their ideas.

Say why your audience should care:  

Students should understand that worrying about grammar and spelling too early in the writing process will actually lead to a poor essay.

Say how:  

English teachers often overwhelm students by giving them too many tasks to think about when writing essays.

Make specific comparisons:  

The key difference between writing in high school and writing in college is that your ideas become more significant and complex; therefore, college freshman have to learn to think critically.

Make an evaluation:  

My high school teacher’s insistence on teaching me the five-paragraph essay has actually hurt my writing skills.

Consider the consequences:  If students do not find ways to think deeper and more critically, they will never learn to fully develop their ideas.

TOPIC SENTENCES

Just as the thesis statement tells the main argument of your essay, topic sentences state the main idea of individual body paragraphs and directly relate to your thesis.  Topic sentences provide support for your argument and direction for your reader.   Consider the following analogy to help understand the importance of strong topic sentences and how to support them.  

Pyramid Analogy

Think of your essay as the peak of a pyramid. It is the main point your essay, but you can’t have the peak of a pyramid without support. The next layer of your pyramid consists of topic sentences. All of your topic sentences explain why your thesis is true and support it. Underneath the topic sentences rests your supporting details. Supporting details are the nitty gritty of any good argument. Your supporting details explain why each of your topic sentences is true, thus explaining why your thesis is true.

If you click the picture to the left you can download a *.pdf that you can print out and fill out for yourself.

THESIS STATEMENTS AND MULTIMODAL ASSIGNMENTS

Sometimes you’ll be required to compose projects that aren’t simple essays. When this happens, your composition should still have a central idea or thesis statement. This can be challenging to some students, but the good news is you already know how to do this. You just didn’t realize it. Look at the analogy below.

What does this choice say?

Every design choice you make can help you construct a stronger argument.  Everything from choice of font to the color of your PowerPoint slides says something about your topic whether you want it to or not.  When you makes a decision on a project, think about what that decision says about your thesis, or main idea.