Students have heard the term thesis statement hundreds of times by the time they reach high school, yet have only a vague understanding of what one is. Your first responsibility is to teach them what a thesis statement is:
- A thesis statement presents your opinions or thoughts on a subject or an issue. You cannot write an essay without one.
- A thesis statement must contain a subject + an opinion.
- A thesis statement answers the topic question (the one you created or the one presented to you by the instructor).
TIP: A thesis statement should never contain the following: in my opinion, I think, I believe, etc. However, it may be helpful for students to begin their thesis statement rough draft with in my opinion, I believe, or I think to make sure they are expressing their thoughts or opinion on a specific subject or issue. When writing the final thesis statement, simply eliminate those phrases
When teaching thesis statements it is important to demonstrate the difference between writing a thesis statement and writing a good thesis statement. These instructions will help you teach the latter:
- A good thesis statement is short and simple: it should be no longer than one sentence, regardless of essay length.
- Good Example: Success is a result of doing the right things consistently.
- Bad Example: In a world full of success gurus and books about success, it becomes ever so more important to delineate the one trait that ultimately determines success: doing the right things consistently.
- A good thesis statement is limited to one main idea.
- Good example: The key to successful dieting is focusing on a specific goal.
- Bad example: The key to successful dieting is focusing on a specific goal, which is also the key to successfully running a business and coaching a football team.
- A good thesis statement is a declarative sentence with no qualifiers (might, maybe, perhaps, etc.):
- Good example: Lebron James' ability to score, pass, and rebound make him the league's most valuable player.
- Bad example: Does Lebron James' ability to score, pass, and rebound make him the league's most valuable player?
- Bad Example: Lebron James' ability to score, pass, and rebound just might make him the league's most valuable player.
Knowing what a good thesis statement looks like and knowing how to write a good thesis statement are not the same. The following steps will help you and your students write a good thesis statement.
- Write several trial thesis statements: writing is a process, so is writing a thesis statement. When teaching thesis statements, teach students to revise thesis statements.
- If you're having trouble deciding which side to take on a controversial issue, write your thesis statement from two different points of view. Then decide which one better represents your opinion. If you still can't decide, list facts on both sides of the issue and decide which facts make a more persuasive argument.
