Writing a thesis statement is not easier for majority of students due to several reasons like they do not understand the basic concept of thesis statement. Because of the same reason they don’t know how to write it in a perfect manner. In order to make your thesis writing interesting, you must understand the basic concepts and the requirements of thesis writing.
Academic writing often takes the form of convincing your audience or the readers that you a purely logical and interesting point of view about the subject that you are studying. Persuading others is the skill that you practice every day. You convince your room mate to organize the room in a proper manner, your parents for certain things on a daily basis or your friend to support your favourite candidate. In academic life, course assignments often demand you to produce persuasive content for your assignments, essay writing or dissertation writing.
You, as a student, are given the goal to convince your reader on your view point. And this persuasion form is normally referred to as academic argument and follows a predictable pattern in academic writing. Professional dissertation writers focus more on preparing a perfect thesis statement in order to have highly convincing final paper.
What is Thesis Statement?
After a short introduction of your topic, you mention your view point about the topic directly and most of the times, you do it in only one sentence. The sentence that is covering your point of view is normally called thesis statement and it also serves as the summary of the arguments that you will use throughout your paper.
A perfect thesis statement:
- Educates the audience about the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
- Is an outline or road map of the paper you are working on. To interpret it differently, it informs the audience about what to expect in remaining part of the paper.
- Is the part of the paper that directly answers the questions asked. A thesis is the understanding of the question not the subject itself. For example, the subject or the topic of your paper can be Eradicating the Poverty and your thesis must offer the ways to understand the poverty.
- Elaborates a point of view that other may disagree.
- Is normally a single sentence which is almost at the beginning of yours paper (or sometimes, at the end of the first paragraph) which presents your arguments to your audience. The remaining part of the paper organizes and elaborates the evidences which will convince the audience about the logic of your interpretation.
When to Include A Thesis Statement?
If your essay writing or dissertation writing assignment requires you to take a stance or make a claim about a certain subject, you will have to convey your stance or make the claim in your thesis statement almost at the beginning of your draft. It is not always obvious that your writing assignment may explicitly require that you need to include a thesis statement because it is normal practice to have a thesis statement included in your writing paper. However, if you have any doubt about it, you must clarify it from your instructor if the required assignment should have a thesis statement.
Additionally, when you are given an assignment to interpret, to analyze, to make comparisons, to highlight causes and effects, or to take a stand on a specific issue; it is likely to develop a thesis and persuasively support it.
The 3 Parts of A Thesis Statement
Every thesis statement has 3 main parts:
A Perfectly Defined Topic
The topic is actually the gateway of your writing assignment; it tells your audience what your paper is about. However, you should not have a topic which is too broad that it hardly tells your audience what the paper is about. You must narrowly define your topic so that it can offer your audience to understand it properly.
For example, ‘dessert’ is too broad topic, using ‘dessert’ as ‘ice cream’ is a bit better as it is a bit specific; but using the topic as ‘chocolate ice cream’ is the most specific one and is best if used as the topic. So, you should not broadly define your topics.
Your Claim about the Topic
Your claim about the topic means your assertion or the opinion about the topic. You will have to decide what do you want your readers to know from your specifically defined topic in order to make a certain opinion about your topic.
For example, if you have an opinion like ‘chocolate ice cream is good’ then it is not a strong one as this claim is not much debate-able. If you make the claim as ‘chocolate ice cream makes me feel good when I am feeling low’ is also not of much impact as it is not an opinion that can be socially relevant because it is individual’s opinion. However, if you make the claim as ‘chocolate ice cream supports mental health and increases productivity’ then it makes real sense as your claim is a perfectly debate-able point of view and is socially relevant too.
The Because Part
The because part of your thesis statement is of immense importance as it helps your readers to know how you plan to support your claim. In order to make a successful plan, you really need to ask yourself the why part of your claim i.e. why are you making the claim that you have specified in claim part of your thesis statement. Now list down all the supportive answers to all your whys of the claim that you are making. In simple words, ‘chocolate ice cream supports mental health and increases productivity’ because… reason 1, reason 2, reason 3 and so on… List down and organize all points of your because section and elaborate them with solid reasons.
For example, chocolate ice cream enhances physical health as it contains some most important nutrients which are good for good physical health which ultimately supports your mental health. In similar manner, list down all the reasons and elaborate accordingly.
Conclusion
The ultimate goal of every writing task is to make a considerable impact and you, being the author, make that impact when you are able to convince the audience in some specific way. Thesis statement is what helps you make that impact through proper topic, a perfect claim and a significant because part. If you are able to successfully take your audience from introduction point to concluding the topic this means you have made the job!
So, decide a specific topic carefully, outline a socially relevant and debate-able claim and organize your because part in a manner that it elaborates all the point with genuine reasons.