Developing A Thesis First, analyze your primary sources.. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the Once you have a working thesis, write it down.. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a Keep your thesis prominent in your A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes: take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment express one main idea assert your conclusions about a subject purpose for your thesis/dissertation. When you can articulate this purpose clearly, you are ready to write your prospectus/proposal. This document specifies the purpose of the study, significance of the study, a tentative review of the literature on the topic and its theoretical framework (a working bibliography should be attached), your
Developing A Thesis |
Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what writing a thesis essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument.
After reading your thesis statement, writing a thesis, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested writing a thesis see how I might be.
An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no. Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"? A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.
Steps in Constructing a Thesis. First, analyze your primary sources. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point writing a thesis and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis.
Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different writing a thesis in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis. Once you have a working thesis, write it down. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely.
You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have. Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.
A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter page essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, writing a thesis, it is a good rule of thumb.
Anticipate the counterarguments. Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay.
Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument. This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.
Some Caveats and Some Examples. A thesis is never a question, writing a thesis. Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question "Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe? A thesis is never a list. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument, writing a thesis.
Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are writing a thesis. A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational. An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil. what does evil mean? and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough.
It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading. An effective thesis has a definable, writing a thesis, arguable claim. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, writing a thesis, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced.
I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim. A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible. Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability writing a thesis address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent. CopyrightMaxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University.
Skip to main content. Main Menu Utility Menu Search. Harvard College Writing Program HARVARD. FAQ Schedule an appointment Writing Resources English Grammar and Language Tutor Departmental Writing Fellows Writing Resources Writing Advice: The Barker Underground Blog Meet the tutors! Contact Us, writing a thesis. Steps in Constructing a Thesis First, analyze your primary sources. Michael Dukakis lost the presidential election because he failed to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention.
While Dukakis' "soft-on-crime" image hurt his chances in the election, his failure to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention bore a greater responsibility for his defeat. Some Caveats and Some Examples A thesis is never a question. Writing Resources Strategies for Essay Writing How to Read an Assignment How to Do a Close Reading Developing A Thesis Outlining Topic Sentences and Signposting Transitioning: Beware of Velcro Writing a thesis to Writing a thesis a Comparative Analysis Ending the Essay: Conclusions Brief Guides to Writing writing a thesis the Disciplines.
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Developing A Thesis First, analyze your primary sources.. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the Once you have a working thesis, write it down.. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a Keep your thesis prominent in your A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes: take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment express one main idea assert your conclusions about a subject purpose for your thesis/dissertation. When you can articulate this purpose clearly, you are ready to write your prospectus/proposal. This document specifies the purpose of the study, significance of the study, a tentative review of the literature on the topic and its theoretical framework (a working bibliography should be attached), your
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