Thesis
Statement
What is it?
It's a one or two sentence statement that explicitly outlines the purpose or point of your speech. It is generally a complex, compound sentence.
What does it do?
It should point toward the development or course of argument the audience can expect your argument to take.
Where does it go?
Because the rest of the speech will support or back up your thesis, a thesis is normally placed at or near the end of the introduction.
Thesis Statement as a Tool
What does it contain?
The thesis sentence must contain an arguable point.
A thesis sentence must not simply make an observation -- for example, "Writer X seems in his novel Y to be obsessed with lipstick."
Rather, it must assert a point that is arguable:
"Writer X uses lipstick to point to his novel's larger theme: the masking and unmasking of the self."
What it determines?
The thesis sentence must control the entire argument. Your thesis sentence determines what you are required to say in the speech.
It also determines what you cannot say.
Every sentence in your speech exists in order to support your thesis.
What if something doesn't support the thesis?
If one of your topics seems irrelevant to your thesis you have two choices: get rid of the paragraph, or rewrite your thesis.
Is it fixed in concrete?
Imagine that as you are writing your speech you stumble across the new idea that lipstick is used in Writer X's novel not only to mask the self, but also to signal when the self is in crisis.
This observation is a good one; do you really want to throw it away? Or do you want to rewrite your thesis so that it accommodates this new idea?
Think of it as a contract.
The thesis is like a contract between you and your audience.
Understand that you don't have a third option: you can't simply stick the idea in without preparing the audience for it in your thesis.
If you introduce ideas that the audience isn't prepared for, you've violated that contract.
It provides structure for your speech
-
The thesis sentence should provide a structure for your argument.
-
A good thesis not only signals to the audience what your argument is, but how your argument will be presented.
-
In other words, your thesis sentence should either directly or indirectly suggest the structure of your argument to your audience.
-
Say, for example, that you are going to argue that "Writer X explores the masking and unmasking of the self in three curious ways: A, B, and C."
-
In this case, the audience understands that you are going to have three important points to cover, and that these points will appear in a certain order.
Other attributes
-
It takes a side on a topic rather than simply announcing that the speech is about a topic.
-
Don't tell the audience about something; tell them what about something.
-
Answer the questions "how?" or "why?"
-
It is sufficiently narrow and specific that your supporting points are necessary and sufficient, not arbitrary.
More attributes
-
It argues one main point and doesn't squeeze three different theses for three different speeches into one sentence;
-
And most importantly, it passes the "So What?" test.
The four "should's" of a thesis statement:
Take a stand
A good thesis statement "Should take a stand"
don't be afraid to have an opinion;
if after your research, your opinion changes, all the better - means you have been thinking;
you can write a new thesis statement!
Justify discussion
A good thesis statement should justify discussion
don't leave your audience saying to themselves "So what" or "duh" or "like what's the point"
One main idea
A good thesis statement should express one main idea
or a clear relationship between two specific ideas linked by words like "because," "since," "so," "although," "unless," or "however."
Restricted
A good thesis statement should be restricted
to a specific and manageable topic
audiences are more likely to reward a speech that does a small task well than a speech that takes on an unrealistic task and fails.
Thesis checklists
- Does my thesis sentence attempt to answer (or at least to explore) a challenging intellectual question?
- Is the point I'm making one that would generate discussion and argument, or is it one that would leave people asking, "So what?"
- Is my thesis too vague? Too general? Should I focus on some more specific aspect of my topic?
- Does my thesis deal directly with the topic at hand?
Continued
-
Does my thesis indicate the direction of my argument? Does it suggest a structure for my speech?
- If I am writing a research paper, does my introduction set the broader stage for my topic, and does the introduction "place" my thesis within the larger, ongoing scholarly discussion about my topic?
- Is the language in my thesis statement vivid, clear, and specific? Is it direct and emphatic, setting up a specific cause and effect situation that will be developed throughout the paper?
Thesis Statements
By Jeffrey Winkler
Thesis Statements
The basis of writing a good thesis statement
