A THESIS STATEMENT IS A SENTENCE (OR SOMETIMES TWO SENTENCES) IN YOUR PAPER THAT STATES YOUR ARGUMENT
OR MAIN IDEA. OFTEN, THE THESIS STATEMENT IS THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE PAPER. A GOOD
THESIS STATEMENT SHOULD BE SPECIFIC AND CLEARLY OUTLINE YOUR SPECIFIC CLAIM.
WRITING AN ARGUABLE THESIS
A general comment about a topic is not a thesis statement. Your thesis statement must make an argument. The kind of
argument depends on the subject (history, English, etc.), but in every subject, you must do more than make a general
statement: you must make an arguable statement.
Not Arguable:
Teachers face many challenges.
In 1362, the English parliament passed a statute mandating the use of English in law courts.
Arguable:
Two major challenges faced by today’s teachers include reduced funding and invasive federal policy on
education.
The English parliament’s ratification in 1362 of a statute mandating the use of English in law courts was
a pivotal moment in the fourteenth century trend toward Anglicization in the face of continual cultural
and military conflict with France during the Hundred Years’ War.
The “Not Arguable” statements are too general or too widely agreed upon to be good arguments. No one would argue
that teachers do not face any challenges; nor would anyone argue that a widely-acknowledged historical event did not
happen. The argument lies in the interpretation. The “Arguable” examples go beyond general statements to make claims
about the significance of the topic.
WRITING AN ORGANIZED THESIS
A well-written thesis should be organized in a logical order. For example, in a problem/solution paper, it is logical to
establish that there is a problem before you propose a solution to it, so the thesis should reflect that logical structure.
Poor Organization: Smoking should be outlawed because it kills people.
Better Organization: Smoking is a serious problem because it harms the health of both smokers and
nonsmokers; however, a viable two-part solution to the dangerous problem of smoking is to increase the tax on
cigarettes and ban smoking in public places.
Writing Effective Thesis Statements
The previous example of “Poor Organization” inverts the logical order of the paper: it puts the proposed solution before
the problem, and it is not specific about either the problem or the solution. The example of “Better Organization” above
provides a logical sequence and breaks down the argument into parts. As readers, we can anticipate how the paper’s
argument will arranged.
I. The Problem of Smoking
a. negative health effects on smokers
b. negative health effects on nonsmokers
II. Solutions to the Problem of Smoking
a. increasing taxes on cigarettes
b. banning smoking in public places
USING A FORMULA TO WRITE YOUR THESIS
Thesis statements vary from discipline to discipline. History papers, psychology papers, and English papers need
different kinds of arguments, so they need different kinds of thesis statements. A thesis statement includes three main
parts: the topic, the position, and (often) the main points of the argument. See how the examples of good thesis
statements from this handout break down into parts below.
Topic
Position
Main Points
Challenges faced by
today’s teachers
(there are) two major
challenges faced by
today’s teachers
the two major challenges include:
● reduced funding
● federal policy
1362 statute mandating
the use of English in
Law courts
was a pivotal moment in
the trend toward
Anglicization
It resulted from conflict with France during the Hundred
Years’ war
--cultural conflict
--military conflict
Smoking
is a problem and should
be solved
● Smoking harms the health of smokers and nonsmokers
● The problem can be solved by increasing taxes on
cigarettes and banning smoking in public places.
If you are having trouble writing a thesis, use the chart below to outline your topic, position, and main points.
Topic
Position
Main Points
