ࡱ> .12q` Z 8# """""""666668n< hhhhhhhhhhhhhhxhw  } q q q q q q q q q hq q q w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w  How to Generate and Effective Thesis Statement Shepherd University Academic Support Center, LIB 103 1. Create a thesis that is subject to debate. In other words, do not merely state the obvious and do not state a widely accepted fact, value or opinion. Instead, write a thesis statement that requires you to prove it by using evidence and reasoning.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT  Obvious: Few women are elected to congress.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT  Debatable: Women are rarely elected to congress because many voters feel that women are biologically incapable of political reasoning. 2. Create a thesis that is specific and narrow. Many thesis statements are weak because they never focus on specifics. Instead, they are filled with broad generalizations. Often this problem stems from a thesis statement that is too broad. Broad thesis statements usually encourage papers that lack specific evidence or specific reasoning. The more specific you are in your thesis statement, the easier it will be to stay focused and to find relevant evidence to prove your claim.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT  Broad: Great literature uses a lot of ideas in order to instruct and entertain the reader.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT Specific: Shakespeare uses imagery from astronomy to convey the theme of fate in Romeo and Juliet. 3. Don't repeat the claim of the work(s) you are citing. While it is tempting to put an author's main idea into your own words to use as your thesis statement, remember that this leaves very little room to demonstrate your own critical thinking skills. If you repeat the author's claim, you end up with a paper that merely summarizes the assigned readings. Unless the teacher asks you to write a paper that either agrees or disagrees (and you choose to agree), you need to work at developing a thesis statement that is based from your own ideas. Papers written for humanities classes (such as English classes), often promote independent thinking. Take a risk when forming a thesis statement.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT  Unoriginal: As Socrates, Thoreau, Ghandi, and King have said, unjust laws deserve to be broken.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT  Original: Dr. Kevorkian's participation in euthanazing patients is the most dramatic contemporary act of civil disobedience. 4. Show confidence when wording your thesis statement. Effective writers don't preface their claims by stating that they could be wrong. A thesis statement that hedges or qualifies too much suggests to your readers that you are unsure of your stance. If you have found sufficient evidence and formulated sufficient reasons, you can state your claim with confidence.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT  Unsure: Some may disagree, but I think that Emily Dickinson may actually write more about doubt than she writes about faith.  SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT Confident: Emily Dickinson's poetry celebrates her doubt as much as it celebrates her faith. 5. Revise so that your thesis is in the first paragraph. Many students do not articulate their main point until they write their whole paper. Then their strongest, clearest, most focused point--their thesis statement--appears in their conclusion! Be sure to revise your essay so that you place your thesis in the first paragraph. Doing so will allow your readers to follow your ideas more closely from the outset. 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