P2-F WEEK 11

Fall 2022
Writing

WRITING THE THESIS STATEMENT OF A CAUSE ESSAY

What is the thesis statement?
The thesis statement is the direct response to the essay question and the last sentence of the introduction
paragraph. The purpose of writing a thesis statement is to inform the reader about the ideas (specific
reasons) that will be discussed in the essay. These ideas are often called subtopics. A thesis statement may
have two or three subtopics. There are certain structures and words we can use to write a thesis statement.

Examples:
What are the causes of global warming?
Thesis Statement: There are several important causes of global warming, two of which are greenhouse
gases and deforestation.
 Subtopic 1: greenhouse gases
 Subtopic 2: deforestation

What are the reasons for emigration?

Thesis Statement: Emigration has a large number of underlying causes, but two stand out: wars and
unemployment.
 Subtopic 1: wars
 Subtopic 2: unemployment

Why do traffic accidents happen?

Thesis Statement: In Turkey, traffic accidents happen as a result of several important reasons, which are
careless drivers, drunk driving, and road conditions.
 Subtopic 1: careless drivers
 Subtopic 2: drunk driving
 Subtopic 3: road conditions

Examples:
What are some factors that may cause people to lose their jobs?

 There are several reasons why some people lose their jobs, two of which are depression and
economic problems.

 There are a number of reasons why some people lose their jobs, but two stand out: depression
and economic problems.

 Losing a job may be caused by depression and economic problems.

 Losing a job may results from depression and economic problems.

 Losing a job may arise from depression and economic problems.

 Even though several factors cause people to lose their jobs, depression and economic problems
can be mentioned as the most significant ones.
 P2-F WEEK 11
Fall 2022
Writing

 Although there are many reasons why people lose their jobs, depression and economic
problems stand out as the most significant ones.

 There are various reasons for some people to lose their jobs, two of which are depression and
economic problems.

 There are several reasons for losing a job, but two stand out: depression and economic
problems.

 There are several causes of losing a job, but two stand out: depression and economic problems.

 The main reasons for losing a job are depression and economic problems.

PRACTICE
Below there are some cause essay questions. For each question, write a thesis statement. Make sure
that you use different structures for each question.

1. Why do some people prefer to spend their whole life in their hometown?
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2. Each year, many teenagers run away from home. What are the main causes?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Why do some universities require students to take courses which are not related to their department?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. Why is listening to the radio still popular?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5. Huge new shopping malls such as Forum Istanbul have been very successful. What are the reasons for
their popularity?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

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