HighSchoolQ

✍️ English Grammar and Writing · Essay Writing

Writing a Thesis Statement: notes and common mistakes

Study notes

Key ideas

  • A thesis statement is the main point of an essay in one or two sentences. It answers the prompt and gives the claim and, often, the main reasons.
  • A topic, a fact, an announcement, and a question are not theses. A thesis is a claim with a reason, or, in an informative essay, a specific controlling idea.
  • For an argumentative thesis, the recipe is topic + claim + because. To improve a weak argumentative thesis, add a claim, make it specific, and add the reason.
  • The thesis does a different job in each kind of essay. Argumentative: a claim to defend. Literary analysis: an interpretation of the work, not a plot summary. Informative: a controlling idea, not a debate.
  • The thesis usually goes at the end of the introduction. Each body paragraph supports one part of it, and the conclusion returns to it.
  • A road-map thesis, which previews the main reasons, is optional. A thesis can be revised after you draft.

Steps

  1. Read the prompt and underline what it asks you to do.
  2. Write your topic.
  3. Decide your claim (or, for an informative essay, your central idea).
  4. For an argumentative or analytic essay, add because and your main reason or reasons. For an informative essay, name the parts your essay will explain.
  5. Make it specific by replacing vague words with who, what, and how much.
  6. Cut it down to one clear claim.
  7. Run the five-question checklist: answers the prompt, arguable, specific, one claim, supportable.
  8. Place it at the end of the introduction, and revise it after you draft if the essay proves something a little different.

Watch out

  • An announcement (This essay will be about...) is not a thesis. It says what you will do, not what you claim.
  • A fact is not an argumentative thesis. Use facts as evidence in the body.
  • A question is not a thesis. The thesis is your answer to it.
  • Hedges such as has both good and bad effects say nothing that a reader could disagree with.
  • Do not pack several unrelated claims into one thesis.
  • In a literary analysis, retelling the plot is not a thesis. Make a claim about what the work shows.

Why it works

  • A thesis gives you a plan. Once you know your main point, you can decide what belongs in the essay and what to leave out.
  • A thesis gives readers a map. They know what you are claiming and can follow how each paragraph supports it.
  • Clear claims matter in school writing, on tests that ask for essays, and in college and work writing.

Common mistakes

✗ MistakeA thesis announces what the essay will do: In this essay, I will discuss school lunches.
✓ InsteadThat is an announcement. A thesis states your claim and reason: Our school should lengthen lunch because students need time to eat and relax before class. Say what you think, not what you will do.
✗ MistakeA thesis should be a fact that I can prove.
✓ InsteadA fact is already settled, so there is nothing to prove. Use facts as evidence in the body paragraphs. An argumentative thesis is a claim that a reasonable reader could dispute.
✗ MistakeA good thesis is safe, so that nobody can disagree with it.
✓ InsteadA thesis that nobody could disagree with has nothing to prove. Take a position and give a reason. (An informative thesis is a controlling idea, not an argument, but it must still be specific.)
✗ MistakeA thesis for a literary analysis retells what happens in the story.
✓ InsteadA plot summary describes events. A literary thesis makes a claim about what the work shows or how the author does it, and you prove it with evidence from the text.
✗ MistakeThe more claims my thesis has, the stronger it is.
✓ InsteadA strong thesis makes one clear claim. Several unrelated claims leave the body paragraphs with no single idea to support.
✗ MistakeOnce I write my thesis, I can never change it.
✓ InsteadWriters often revise a thesis after drafting so that it matches what the essay actually proves.
✗ MistakeEvery thesis must list three reasons.
✓ InsteadA road-map thesis that lists the main reasons is optional. A thesis only needs one or two sentences with a clear claim and, usually, a reason.

Teach it back

Explain to a friend (or a pet!) how to turn a topic into an argumentative thesis. Pick a school topic of your own, then show how you add a claim, make it specific, and add a because. Say how you would check the result.

Explaining it out loud shows what you really know. Did you…

  • I named my topic and said that a topic by itself is not a thesis.
  • I added a claim that a reasonable reader could disagree with, made it specific, and added a because.
  • I checked it with the five questions: answers the prompt, arguable, specific, one clear claim, and supportable with evidence.

Your 3-week memory plan

  1. TodayRead the lesson, then try the flashcards.
  2. TomorrowRecall it from memory first, then check.
  3. In 3 daysTake the true/false and practice questions.
  4. In 1 weekMix it with older topics and teach it back.
  5. In 3 weeksA last quick review before it fades.

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