Lesson 2 - Thesis
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A thesis statement is an assertion, not a statement of fact or an observation.
Fact or observation: People use many
lawn chemicals.
Thesis:
People are poisoning the environment with chemicals merely to keep their lawns
clean.
A thesis takes a stand rather than announcing a subject.
Announcement: The thesis of this paper
is the difficulty of solving our environmental problems.
Thesis: Solving our environmental problems is
more difficult than many environmentalists believe.
A thesis is the main idea, not the title. It must be a complete sentence that explains in some detail what you expect to write about.
Title: Social Security and Old
Age.
Thesis: Continuing
changes in the Social Security System makes it almost impossible to plan
intelligently for one's retirement.
A thesis statement is narrow, rather than broad. If the thesis statement is sufficiently narrow, it can be fully supported.
Broad: The American steel industry has
many problems.
Narrow:
The primary problem if the American steel industry is the lack of funds to
renovate outdated plants and equipment.
A thesis statement is specific rather than vague or general.
Vague: Hemingway's war stories are very
good.
Specific:
Hemingway's stories helped create a new prose style by employing extensive
dialogue, shorter sentences, and strong Anglo-Saxon words.
A thesis statement has one main point rather than several main points. More than one point may be too difficult for the reader to understand and the writer to support.
More than one main point: Stephen
Hawking's physical disability has not prevented him from becoming a
world-renowned physicist, and has book is the subject of a movie.
One Main point: Stephen Hawking's
physical disability has not prevented him from becoming a world renowned
physicist.
Using your thoughts and ideas from lesson one, develop a thesis for your paper, and submit via the form below.
