Thesis statements are used to express the complete idea of a research paper or essay in one line. They should be crisp and to the point and should be effectively introduce the reader to your paper. The need for thesis statements stems from the fact that an argumentative or persuasive piece of writing should begin with an arguable claim or 'thesis'. As per best practices, your statement should be the last line of the first paragraph in your essay, i.e. your introduction. The purpose of the statement is to arouse the reader’s interest and encourage them to keep on reading.
Is It A Statement of Fact?
Yes and no. Have a look at the below statement:
Fast food is detrimental for your health.
In case you were planning to write something like the above, let me break it you, it is not good enough. A thesis statement should get your argument across in a crisp manner. Like I said earlier, it should be debatable and it should answer questions like What? Why? Who?
Vague is one of the many things your statement cannot be. It should make a specific claim and support it with reason. Instead of the above statement, you could go for a better formed statement. The below is one of the many ways in which it can be put forward:
Australians should stop regular consumption of fast food as it leads to health problems like obesity, diabetes and cardiac problems.
How to Write a Thesis Statement?
The below three tips are all you need to frame the perfect thesis statement.
Avoid writing unfocused ideas; your thesis statement should be concise and specific. Ideally, it should be a single sentence, two at maximum in case it is absolutely needed.
Plagiarism is a big no when it comes to academic assignments, but students often paraphrase other’s work. A thesis statement should be written by you and should be 100% authentic.
An obvious statement about any topic is never sufficient. A thesis statement should be complete in itself and must, in itself, justify your standpoint.
The below image shows some more examples of good thesis statements. Once you have your statement ready, prepare your thesis statement outline and write it all up. In case you need help with your thesis or essay, you can contact our experts in exclusive one-on-one sessions.