THESIS

STATEMENTS
WHAT IS THESIS STATEMENT?
 It is the central idea of an essay
 It is not just the most important idea; it is also
controls the essay by determining what should or
should not included in your work.
 It reflects your purpose of writing.
 WHEN FORMULATING A THESIS STATEMENT

Consider the following questions to help you for your thesis statement

 What main idea does most of my pre-writing support?

 What are the relationship that exist among my ideas?

 Which aspect of the topic seems to be given the most

detail?
 Where does my 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?
 WORKING THESIS

 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.
TIPS TO REMEMBER

 Thesis statement should contain your opinion

on the topic, when the subject is too broad,
you can revise it and narrow it to the more
specific subjects.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF AN
EFFECTIVE THESIS STATEMENT
 Respond to the assignment by following instructions
1

 Expresses the main idea on one to two sentences

2

 Focuses on a specific issue

3

 State a stand on the topic

4
5 Says something meaningful by answering the questions

(e.g “So what?” “How?” “Why?”)
6 Preview the rest of the essay by being palced in the

introduction
7 Reflects a tone and point-of-view appropriate to the

identified purpose and audience
 MORE GUIDELINES FOR MAKING THESIS
STATEMENTS MORE EFFECTIVE

1 Avoid making overly-opinionated stands

2 Avoid making announcements
3 Avoid only facts
THAT’S ALL
THANK YOU