Thesis Statement 101
Writing an essay can be a really tough work. Especially when you’re not as good at writing as you would like to be. However, with a good amount of effort, everything can be achieved. The same way applies to your well-written essay with a strong thesis statement. You just have to take our advice on which steps to follow. And pay attention to which steps to avoid while writing your thesis statement. After that, you just have to adjust it to your needs!
What is a thesis statement?
You might say: “Ok, great, let’s do it, but… what does it actually mean?” Basically, a thesis statement is usually the last sentence of the introduction part and it’s crucial for your essay. It allows you to catch your reader‘s attention and wake up their curiosity by resuming in that one sentence the whole content of your essay.
Although it could sound easy, writing a strong thesis statement can be really challenging because you need to choose wisely every single word, so let’s talk about some basic steps to follow if you want to master the writing of your thesis statements.
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It has to wake up your reader‘s curiosity
First of all, your thesis statement has to catch your reader‘s attention. The introduction is the part that your reader‘s going to read first and decide whether they are interested in reading your essay or not. If you write something like “Federico García Lorca is one of the most eminent personalities of Spanish literature”, it won’t catch a lot of attention because it might not even offer any new information.
Try writing something like that instead: “Federico García Lorca, one of the most eminent personalities of 20th-century Spanish literature, was well known for his political resistance, which cost him his life, yet still there are some who disagree”.
It should be a perfect summary of your essay
Be careful to match the content of your thesis statement to your essay and vice-versa. As we’ve already said, it should be a perfect summary of your work. That means it should add the cohesion between the introduction and the body. Always mentioning every content you’re going to talk about later.
While writing, often times you remember more ideas you could mention, but be careful to leave only those which are really relevant. Also, when you’re introducing something new, don’t forget to introduce it also to your thesis statement.
Be especially careful about the conclusion. Sometimes you end up changing it at the very last moment and it might no longer match your thesis so don’t forget to go back and re-write it.
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Don’t forget about the transparency
Just as we already said, a thesis statement must be an introduction to what’s going to happen in your essay. Therefore, it not only has to say exactly what’s your work going to be about but also which’s your position on the topic. You don’t want to give your opinion about it, but you do want to avoid being ambiguous.
For example, if you’re writing about how consumption of wine can be dangerous for your health, don’t write something like that: “Some people think one glass of red wine every day can improve your health, but some don’t”. Instead of this, try to make clear that you‘re going to focus on why it’s not good.
Remember: a thesis statement must be an introduction to what’s going to happen in your essay
It should be simple, clear and logical
However automatic that can seem, try to bring these to a new level and pay attention to the syntaxis. Try to write down the ideas which you will work on in your essay’s body. Then organize them in a complete sentence which is well organized and easy to read. If you’re not sure, ask your friends or family if they understand your thesis.
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It shouldn’t be too complicated, obvious, unclear or ambiguous
You don’t want your thesis statement to be too long, keep it simple, but not too simple.
You also don’t want it to say something obvious like “Water is one of the most important things in our life.“ We all know that already.
And, finally, try to avoid anything that could be unclear or ambiguous. Your readers must know exactly what they’re going to read about.
It might seem a lot of information at once. Who would think a simple sentence could be so complicated? However, writing a strong thesis statement is a whole science, but now you already have the tools.
It’s just up to you how you use them. We hope we’ve made your essay writing easier and if you have any suggestion, don’t forget to leave us a comment!
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