RIZAL COLLEGE OF TAAL

Taal, Batangas

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

READING AND WRITING SKILLS

Quarter 3 – Module 4:
Thesis Statements

STUDY GUIDE
 Lesson Thesis Statements
2

Defining the thesis statement

A thesis statement is the central idea of an essay, around which all other ideas revolve.
It is not just the most important idea; it also controls the essay by determining what you should not
include in your work. In one sentence, it reveals and summarizes the argument you intend to develop
and defend.
The thesis statement reflects your purpose for writing. It is a constant reminder of your
main point and your stand, directing the entire flow of your writing.
It should be clear that the thesis statement is not the subject or topic itself, but an
interpretation of the topic. If you were asked, for example, to write an essay on Noli Me Tangere or
Martial Law during President Marco’s time, your thesis statement would inform the reader of how you
understand such a topic and what you deem to be important or debatable about it.

Formulating a thesis statement

The thesis statement comes as result of pre-writing. It is the product of thinking about
your ideas, seeking evidence, and looking for relationships between these. At times a potential thesis
statement may become clear to you, especially if an interesting angle on an issue catches your
attention. Other times, you may need to ask the following questions to help you find out a thesis
statement:

 What main idea does most of pre-writing support?

 What are the relationships that exist among my ideas?
 Which aspect of the topic seems to be given the most detail?
 Where does may stand seem to be the most consistent?
 What is the focus of the most interesting and significant points of my pre-writing?
 What ideas should I do more research on?

Whatever thesis statement you come up with initially is called a working thesis statement, an
argument containing your stand and that you intend to prove with evidence in the essay. It is called
such because you may have to adjust your thesis statement depending on your research and writing.

Let us say you writing a reaction paper about your school’s Reserve Officers Training Corps
program for your fellow high school students. After going over your pre-writing, you come up with the
 following working thesis statement: “High school seniors become more responsible because of joining
the Reserve Officers Training Corps program”.

However, while writing the essay, you discover that you need to specify exactly what part of
the program causes them to be more responsible. You also remember that not all high school seniors
are officers-some are cadets. After doing some more research, you decide to revise the working thesis
statement as follows: “High School seniors who join the Reserve Officers Training Corps program
develop better leadership skills because of the discipline instilled in them by the program.

As you can see, creating a thesis statement results from looking at your paper’s general subject
could be the school’s extracurricular activities. A narrower subject is the Reserve Officers Training
Corps Program. Because a thesis statement should contain your opinion on the topic, you could
mention your belief that the program is beneficial for students because it teaches them discipline.

A helpful way to decide if your thesis statement is too broad or too narrow would be go back
to your pre-writing and draft a list of the contents of your essay. Adjust your thesis statement
accordingly to reflect majority of the contents and the requirements of the essay.

You can also look at your general subject and ask a specific question about it. In the previous
example, if the general topic were “high school extracurricular activities”, you might narrow it down
by asking, “Which program best instills discipline in high school students?” This will give you the idea
of the Reserve Officers Training Corps.

Characteristics of an effective thesis statement

Now that you have learned how to formulate a thesis statement, how will you know if your
thesis statement is strong?

Below are the characteristics of an effective thesis statement:

1. Responds to the assignment by following instructions

Going back to the instructions can assure you that your thesis statement is relevant and addresses
what your teacher has prescribed. It can also refocus your argument if needed.
2. Expresses the main idea in one to two sentences
A thesis statement should be comprehensive yet concise because you will be spending the rest
of the paper proving your point.
3. Focuses on a specific issue
 Your thesis statement should be sufficiently narrowed based on the boundaries of the assignment,
and should only discuss one or few related issues so that your paper remains focused and you do not
ramble or leave some parts undeveloped.
4. States a stand on the topic
A thesis statement must reveal your attitude toward the topic. Your attitude will show how you
intend to interpret or discuss the issue, and this is what differentiates you from other writers who may
be writing about the same topic. Your attitude also helps you to elaborate on a topic, because there is
so much that can be said about something factual.
5. Says something meaningful by answering the questions: “So what?” “How?” and “Why?”
A good thesis statement shows why the reader should care about your work. If your thesis
statement is able to answer the question “so what,” it means that significance of your paper is clear to
the reader. Next, your thesis statement should be able to substantiate your claims by providing the
reader evidence, or an idea of how you intend to support your stand. This is usually answerable by
addressing “how” and “why’.
6. Previews the rest of the essay by being placed in the introduction
A thesis statement is usually placed in the introduction so that the reader knows what to
expect in reading your essay.
7. Reflects a tone and point-of-view appropriately to the identified purpose and audience
Your thesis statement should consider the writing situation you find yourself in. This requires
thinking about why you are writing and who you are writing for. Does the way your thesis statement is
written, reflect these concerns adequately?

More Guidelines on Writing Thesis Statements

You can make your thesis statements more effective if you keep the following guide-lines in
mind:
1. Avoid making overly-opinionated stands
While a thesis statement needs to reveal your attitude toward the topic, be careful not to go to
the extremes and write a thesis statement with an exaggerated claim. This is because you need to
prove your thesis statement first, and avoid imposing your opinion on the reader, lest you affect their
disposition toward you.
2. Avoid making announcements
Sometimes, it is easier just to tell your reader what you intend to write about. You might say, “
In this essay, I will be discussing the benefits of joining the Reserve officers Training Corps”. The
problem with this statement is that it does not specify what those benefits are or what your attitude
toward the subject is.

3. Avoid stating only facts

If you rely only on facts in your thesis statements, you will not have much room for discussion,
because facts are generally not as debatable as opinions. Your thesis statement must contain a
position that your readers can oppose.