What is a Thesis Statement - A Complete Guide

Ever wondered how important it is to write a perfect thesis statement for your essay or research paper? Well, it is as important as water is to the human body. You heard me!

Getting a write thesis statement for your academic writing is everything. If the thesis statement made is correct the whole essay will fall into place.

Take every step to ensure that your thesis statement is perfect and appealing.

1. What is a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a sentence or a statement that communicates the key idea of an essay or a research paper. It is mandatory in essays such as argumentative essays, expository essays, analytical essays, etc.

A thesis statement explicitly expresses the topic under discussion and is written for some specific targeted readers. This statement is a part of your introduction and is used to build interest in the readers.

In other words, it describes your position in the essay. The purpose of a thesis statement is:

• It narrow downs the topic into a specific focus of research
• It sets a direction for the entire paper.
• It leads up to a conclusion.
• It is always to be presented on the topic.
• It is a stand that a writer takes and justify the further argument.

It is not a typical statement with facts. A thesis statement should be arguable and not factual. The reason behind it is that the factual statement can easily be proved.

It is impossible to write interesting essays and papers about facts. The purpose of writing is to show the analytical and critical thinking skills of a writer to its instructor which is only possible by creating an argument.

Another characteristic is it always takes the side and stand and justify the further argument in your work.

2. Types of Thesis Statement

Typically, differentiated on the explicitness of the statement, there are two types for your essay or paper. The types are:

• Direct Thesis Statement
• Indirect Thesis Statement

A type of thesis statement provided gives the reader a clue what a writer is going to discuss in his essay or paper.

2.1 Direct Thesis Statement

A direct thesis statement is a statement that explicitly indicates what your essay will discuss and talk about.

For Example: “Plastic bags are a major cause of cancer these days”. In this statement, it is pretty clear what your reasoning will be about. All of the information presented will be supporting this argument.

2.2 Indirect Thesis Statement

Unlike the direct thesis statement, the indirect thesis statement doesn't explicitly indicates the idea that is going to be presented in the essay.

For Example: “Plastic bags cause major fatal disease. The disease will be discussed further in the essay”.

In this, the disease is not obvious and people will have to read the essay to know about it.

3. How to Write a Thesis Statement

Keep in mind that it is written to reflect and highlight the key idea of an essay. So pay extra attention while writing a thesis statement.

They are tricky to write and because of this students find it confusing to write. Give time to yourself when drafting it and do not just write it to get over with it.

It is suggested to do a research first about your topic to come up with an appropriate and correct thesis statement for your essay.

The thesis statement of different essay types is written differently as the purpose of the essay differs. A thesis statement of some common essay types are written in the following way:

• Argumentative Thesis Statement - For argumentative writing, it includes the main argument that a writer proves in his essay. In some cases, depending on the topic, there is more than one thesis statement.
• Analytical Thesis Statement - In an analytical essay, it highlights the in-depth analysis of a selected issue. In the introduction paragraph, tell your readers what your analysis is going to be about and how it will be done.
• Expository Thesis Statement - An expository thesis statement performs an explanatory function and describes an idea about the topic. In this, you simply explain to the reader what your main idea is.

A basic way to write is:

• Read the topic question carefully and attentively.
• Make sure to choose the topic according to the essay type.
• Research for your information and data related to the topic
• Collect pieces of evidence that are relevant and organize them.
• Know the significance of the topic selected and gather data to form a statement.
• Your statement should be specific.
• Choose a topic that is debatable.

The thesis statements for research papers are written in the same manner. No matter what writing type is, an essay or college research, it should clearly present the main argument and subject of your writing.

An effective trick to write is to first complete your essay and research and then draft a final thesis statement according to the content.

Instructors believe that a strong thesis statement is the most important. A strong thesis statement is specific and direct and points towards the conclusion. Keep in mind to not make vague statements as it will weaken the whole introduction and body on an essay simultaneously.

4. Thesis Statement Examples

To make you clear of the concept, we have gathered some examples for your better understanding:

1. More women should run for political office to get empowered. On a grassroots level, this can be done by educating women and telling them the need and importance of their power.
2. It is important for teachers to tell students the difference between the illegitimate and authentic news as digital literacy is growing, which is spreading misleading and deceiving information.
3. Cultural diversity in the workplace leads to richer ideas for the betterment of the company, more cooperation, and empathy between different racial groups.
4. Taylor Swift, because of being extremely influential, should run for political office to empower women as she has feminist perspectives which are quite obvious from the lyrics she writes.
5. Mercy killing should be legal as it is a good thing to take people out of undue pain and struggle towards life when they know they will not survive.
6. Fashion magazines are evolving and bringing forward diverse groups but it has yet to break the stereotype of thin bodies as healthy images.
7. Although teaching about good and bad touch to students at school is helpful yet parents should take part in teaching their children the meaning of consent in the early years of a child's age.
8. Companies and corporations should lay extra emphasis on the rights and comfort of their employees to make the best out of them and making it easier for them to maintain a balance in their work and social life.
9. Cyberbullying is the major cause of stress and anxiety among teenagers at this time. The common use of smartphones and social media have made children be part of this vicious crime of cyberbullying.
10. Library culture is dying and it should be preserved by the state as they are the best resources for communication.

5. Common Questions

People who are to write an essay or do research for the first time often have confusion and questions in their minds. Our experts have gathered some common questions and queries that students have related to writing the thesis statement for their work.

How long should the thesis statement be?

The length of a good thesis statement depends on the type of essay you are writing. If you are writing your essay in a typical 5 paragraph format then it should be precise.

It is preferred to write it in a sentence or two.

Can it be a question?

The purpose is to state what you are claiming in your essay. If you throw a question in your thesis statement it will not state the argument or key idea discussed in the paper but to engage your audience you can use a question as well.

Can it be a hook?

A hook is an opening statement that is used to grab your reader's attention while it is a sentence that presents your claim and is usually placed at the end of an introduction.

A thesis statement can not be the opening statement and belongs to a specific area of an introduction.

To write a thesis statement, make sure you follow all the above-mentioned steps to make your essay and research paper effective. If there are confusion and questions related to the thesis statement all feel free to take your instructor's help.