what helps support your thesis

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

While Sandel argues that pursuing perfection through genetic engineering would decrease our sense of humility, he claims that the sense of solidarity we would lose is also important.

This thesis summarizes several points in Sandel’s argument, but it does not make a claim about how we should understand his argument. A reader who read Sandel’s argument would not also need to read an essay based on this descriptive thesis.  

Broad thesis (arguable, but difficult to support with evidence) 

Michael Sandel’s arguments about genetic engineering do not take into consideration all the relevant issues.

This is an arguable claim because it would be possible to argue against it by saying that Michael Sandel’s arguments do take all of the relevant issues into consideration. But the claim is too broad. Because the thesis does not specify which “issues” it is focused on—or why it matters if they are considered—readers won’t know what the rest of the essay will argue, and the writer won’t know what to focus on. If there is a particular issue that Sandel does not address, then a more specific version of the thesis would include that issue—hand an explanation of why it is important.  

Arguable thesis with analytical claim 

While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake” (54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well” (51) is less convincing.

This is an arguable analytical claim. To argue for this claim, the essay writer will need to show how evidence from the article itself points to this interpretation. It’s also a reasonable scope for a thesis because it can be supported with evidence available in the text and is neither too broad nor too narrow.  

Arguable thesis with normative claim 

Given Sandel’s argument against genetic enhancement, we should not allow parents to decide on using Human Growth Hormone for their children.

This thesis tells us what we should do about a particular issue discussed in Sandel’s article, but it does not tell us how we should understand Sandel’s argument.  

Questions to ask about your thesis 

• Is the thesis truly arguable? Does it speak to a genuine dilemma in the source, or would most readers automatically agree with it?  
• Is the thesis too obvious? Again, would most or all readers agree with it without needing to see your argument?  
• Is the thesis complex enough to require a whole essay's worth of argument?  
• Is the thesis supportable with evidence from the text rather than with generalizations or outside research?  
• Would anyone want to read a paper in which this thesis was developed? That is, can you explain what this paper is adding to our understanding of a problem, question, or topic?
• picture_as_pdf Thesis

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to write a thesis statement, what is a thesis statement.

Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.

Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement?

• to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two
• to better organize and develop your argument
• to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument

In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores.

How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement?

Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic.

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned

Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. For example, if your assignment is, “Write a report to the local school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class,” turn the request into a question like, “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” After you’ve chosen the question your essay will answer, compose one or two complete sentences answering that question.

Q: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” A: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .”

A: “Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to improve . . .”

The answer to the question is the thesis statement for the essay.

[ Back to top ]

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned

Even if your assignment doesn’t ask a specific question, your thesis statement still needs to answer a question about the issue you’d like to explore. In this situation, your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about.

A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:

• take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree
• deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment
• express one main idea
• assert your conclusions about a subject

Let’s see how to generate a thesis statement for a social policy paper.

Brainstorm the topic . Let’s say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans. You find that you are interested in the amount of sugar Americans consume.

You start out with a thesis statement like this:

Sugar consumption.

This fragment isn’t a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject. Furthermore, your reader doesn’t know what you want to say about sugar consumption.

Narrow the topic . Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far more sugar than is healthy.

You change your thesis to look like this:

Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.

This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school children. Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who should do it. You should note that this fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader doesn’t know your conclusions on the topic.

Take a position on the topic. After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.

You revise your thesis statement to look like this:

More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children.

This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are vague.

Use specific language . You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices , so you write:

Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar.

This statement is specific, but it isn’t a thesis. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion.

Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:

Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

Notice how the thesis answers the question, “What should be done to reduce sugar consumption by children, and who should do it?” When you started thinking about the paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you became more involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights.

How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

1. a strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand..

Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate. Here are two thesis statements:

There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.

This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague.

Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.

This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.

2. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion.

Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:

My family is an extended family.

This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. Your reader won’t be able to tell the point of the statement, and will probably stop reading.

While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family.

This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view. A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.

3. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea.

Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. For example:

Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.

This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write:

Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.

This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because , since , so , although , unless , and however .

4. A strong thesis statement is specific.

A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:

World hunger has many causes and effects.

This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this:

Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.

This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.

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Tips on writing a thesis statement: composing compelling thesis statements.

College-level courses demand a solid grasp of writing concepts, and some students arrive at Intro to Composition unprepared to write a high-quality essay. Teachers tend to give a bit more slack at the high school level, but college professors are often much more exacting. That’s why excellent writing skills are crucial to the majority of college courses — even outside the English department. 

One of the most important elements to master is the thesis statement. A strong thesis statement is at the root of all writing, from op-eds to research papers. It’s an essential element of any persuasive piece; something we look for without even thinking about it. A convincing, attention-grabbing thesis statement keeps the reader engaged — and lets them know where the piece is headed. 

Having a few tips and tricks in your toolbox can help you to make a convincing academic argument every time.

What is a Thesis Statement?

First, the basics. A thesis statement is a sentence or two that states the main idea of a writing assignment. It also helps to control the ideas presented within the paper. However, it is not merely a topic. It often reflects a claim or judgment that a writer has made about a reading or personal experience. For instance: Tocqueville believed that the domestic role most women held in America was the role that gave them the most power, an idea that many would hotly dispute today. 

Every assignment has a question or prompt. It’s important that your thesis statement answers the question. For the above thesis statement, the question being answered might be something like this: Why was Tocqueville wrong about women? If your thesis statement doesn’t answer a question, you’ll need to rework your statement.

Where Will I Use Thesis Statements?

Writing an exceptional thesis statement is a skill you’ll need both now and in the future, so you’ll want to be confident in your ability to create a great one. Whether in academic, professional, or personal writing, a strong thesis statement enhances the clarity, effectiveness, and impact of the overall message. Here are some real-world examples that demonstrate the importance of composing an outstanding thesis statement:

• Academic writing. The success of academic research papers depends on an exceptional thesis statement. Along with establishing the focus of the paper, it also provides you with direction in terms of research. The thesis sets a clear intention for your essay, helping the reader understand the argument you’re presenting and why the evidence and analysis support it.
• Persuasive writing. Persuasive writing depends on an excellent thesis statement that clearly defines the author’s position. Your goal is to persuade the audience to agree with your thesis. Setting an explicit stance also provides you with a foundation on which to build convincing arguments with relevant evidence.
• Professional writing. In the business and marketing world, a sound thesis statement is required to communicate a project’s purpose. Thesis statements not only outline a project’s unique goals but can also guide the marketing team in creating targeted promotional strategies.

Where Do Thesis Statements Go? 

A good practice is to put the thesis statement at the end of your introduction so you can use it to lead into the body of your paper. This allows you, as the writer, to lead up to the thesis statement instead of diving directly into the topic. Placing your thesis here also sets you up for a brief mention of the evidence you have to support your thesis, allowing readers a preview of what’s to come.

A good introduction conceptualizes and anticipates the thesis statement, so ending your intro with your thesis makes the most sense. If you place the thesis statement at the beginning, your reader may forget or be confused about the main idea by the time they reach the end of the introduction. 

What Makes a Strong Thesis Statement?

A quality thesis statement is designed to both inform and compel. Your thesis acts as an introduction to the argument you’ll be making in your paper, and it also acts as the “hook”. Your thesis should be clear and concise, and you should be ready with enough evidence to support your argument. 

There are several qualities that make for a powerful thesis statement, and drafting a great one means considering all of them: 

A strong thesis makes a clear argument .

A thesis statement is not intended to be a statement of fact, nor should it be an opinion statement. Making an observation is not sufficient — you should provide the reader with a clear argument that cohesively summarizes the intention of your paper.

Originality is important when possible, but stick with your own convictions. Taking your paper in an already agreed-upon direction doesn’t necessarily make for compelling reading. Writing a thesis statement that presents a unique argument opens up the opportunity to discuss an issue in a new way and helps readers to get a new perspective on the topic in question. Again, don’t force it. You’ll have a harder time trying to support an argument you don’t believe yourself.

A strong thesis statement gives direction .

If you lack a specific direction for your paper, you’ll likely find it difficult to make a solid argument for anything. Your thesis statement should state precisely what your paper will be about, as a statement that’s overly general or makes more than one main point can confuse your audience. 

A specific thesis statement also helps you focus your argument — you should be able to discuss your thesis thoroughly in the allotted word count. A thesis that’s too broad won’t allow you to make a strong case for anything.

A strong thesis statement provides proof.

Since thesis statements present an argument, they require support. All paragraphs of the essay should explain, support, or argue with your thesis. You should support your thesis statement with detailed evidence that will interest your readers and motivate them to continue reading the paper.

Sometimes it is useful to mention your supporting points in your thesis. An example of this could be: John Updike's Trust Me is a valuable novel for a college syllabus because it allows the reader to become familiar with his writing and provides themes that are easily connected to other works. In the body of your paper, you could write a paragraph or two about each supporting idea. If you write a thesis statement like this, it will often help you to keep control of your ideas.

A strong thesis statement prompts discussion .

Your thesis statement should stimulate the reader to continue reading your paper. Many writers choose to illustrate that the chosen topic is controversial in one way or another, which is an effective way to pull in readers who might agree with you and those who don’t! 

The ultimate point of a thesis statement is to spark interest in your argument. This is your chance to grab (and keep) your reader’s attention, and hopefully, inspire them to continue learning about the topic.

Testing Your Thesis Statement

Because your thesis statement is vital to the quality of your paper, you need to ensure that your thesis statement posits a cohesive argument. Once you’ve come up with a working thesis statement, ask yourself these questions to further refine your statement: 

• Is it interesting ? If your thesis is dull, consider clarifying your argument or revising it to make a connection to a relatable issue. Again, your thesis statement should draw the reader into the paper.
• Is it specific enough ? If your thesis statement is too broad, you won’t be able to make a persuasive argument. If your thesis contains words like “positive” or “effective”, narrow it down. Tell the reader why something is “positive”. What in particular makes something “effective”?
• Does it answer the question ? Review the prompt or question once you’ve written your working thesis and be sure that your thesis statement directly addresses the given question.
• Does my paper successfully support my thesis statement ? If you find that your thesis statement and the body of your paper don’t mesh well, you’re going to have to change one of them. But don’t worry too much if this is the case — writing is intended to be revised and reworked.
• Does my thesis statement present the reader with a new perspective? Is it a fresh take on an old idea? Will my reader learn something from my paper? If your thesis statement has already been widely discussed, consider if there’s a fresh angle to take before settling.
• Finally, am I happy with my thesis ? If not, you may have difficulty writing your paper. Composing an essay about an argument you don’t believe in can be more difficult than taking a stand for something you believe in.

Quick Tips for Writing Thesis Statements

If you’re struggling to come up with a thesis statement, here are a few tips you can use to help:

• Know the topic. The topic should be something you know or can learn about. It is difficult to write a thesis statement, let alone a paper, on a topic that you know nothing about. Reflecting on personal experience and/or researching your thesis topic thoroughly will help you present more convincing information about your statement.
• Brainstorm. If you are having trouble beginning your paper or writing your thesis, take a piece of paper and write down everything that comes to mind about your topic. Did you discover any new ideas or connections? Can you separate any of the things you jotted down into categories? Do you notice any themes? Think about using ideas generated during this process to shape your thesis statement and your paper.
• Phrase the topic as a question. If your topic is presented as a statement, rephrasing it as a question can make it easier to develop a thesis statement.
• Limit your topic. Based on what you know and the required length of your final paper, limit your topic to a specific area. A broad scope will generally require a longer paper, while a narrow scope can be sufficiently proven by a shorter paper.

Writing Thesis Statements: Final Thoughts

The ability to compose a strong thesis statement is a skill you’ll use over and over again during your college days and beyond. Compelling persuasive writing is important, whether you’re writing an academic essay or putting together a professional pitch. 

If your thesis statement-writing skills aren’t already strong, be sure to practice before diving into college-level courses that will test your skills. If you’re currently looking into colleges, Gustavus Adolphus offers you the opportunity to refine your writing skills in our English courses and degree program . Explore Gustavus Adolphus’ undergraduate majors here .

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How to write a thesis statement + examples

What is a thesis statement?

Is a thesis statement a question, how do you write a good thesis statement, how do i know if my thesis statement is good, examples of thesis statements, helpful resources on how to write a thesis statement, frequently asked questions about writing a thesis statement, related articles.

A thesis statement is the main argument of your paper or thesis.

The thesis statement is one of the most important elements of any piece of academic writing . It is a brief statement of your paper’s main argument. Essentially, you are stating what you will be writing about.

You can see your thesis statement as an answer to a question. While it also contains the question, it should really give an answer to the question with new information and not just restate or reiterate it.

Your thesis statement is part of your introduction. Learn more about how to write a good thesis introduction in our introduction guide .

A thesis statement is not a question. A statement must be arguable and provable through evidence and analysis. While your thesis might stem from a research question, it should be in the form of a statement.

Tip: A thesis statement is typically 1-2 sentences. For a longer project like a thesis, the statement may be several sentences or a paragraph.

A good thesis statement needs to do the following:

• Condense the main idea of your thesis into one or two sentences.
• Answer your project’s main research question.
• Clearly state your position in relation to the topic .
• Make an argument that requires support or evidence.

Once you have written down a thesis statement, check if it fulfills the following criteria:

• Your statement needs to be provable by evidence. As an argument, a thesis statement needs to be debatable.
• Your statement needs to be precise. Do not give away too much information in the thesis statement and do not load it with unnecessary information.
• Your statement cannot say that one solution is simply right or simply wrong as a matter of fact. You should draw upon verified facts to persuade the reader of your solution, but you cannot just declare something as right or wrong.

As previously mentioned, your thesis statement should answer a question.

If the question is:

What do you think the City of New York should do to reduce traffic congestion?

A good thesis statement restates the question and answers it:

In this paper, I will argue that the City of New York should focus on providing exclusive lanes for public transport and adaptive traffic signals to reduce traffic congestion by the year 2035.

Here is another example. If the question is:

How can we end poverty?

A good thesis statement should give more than one solution to the problem in question:

In this paper, I will argue that introducing universal basic income can help reduce poverty and positively impact the way we work.

• The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina has a list of questions to ask to see if your thesis is strong .

A thesis statement is part of the introduction of your paper. It is usually found in the first or second paragraph to let the reader know your research purpose from the beginning.

In general, a thesis statement should have one or two sentences. But the length really depends on the overall length of your project. Take a look at our guide about the length of thesis statements for more insight on this topic.

Here is a list of Thesis Statement Examples that will help you understand better how to write them.

Every good essay should include a thesis statement as part of its introduction, no matter the academic level. Of course, if you are a high school student you are not expected to have the same type of thesis as a PhD student.

Here is a great YouTube tutorial showing How To Write An Essay: Thesis Statements .

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

9.1 Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement

Learning objectives.

• Develop a strong, clear thesis statement with the proper elements.
• Revise your thesis statement.

Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? You probably had trouble following his train of thought as he jumped around from point to point, either being too brief in places that needed further explanation or providing too many details on a meaningless element. Maybe he told the end of the story first, then moved to the beginning and later added details to the middle. His ideas were probably scattered, and the story did not flow very well. When the story was over, you probably had many questions.

Just as a personal anecdote can be a disorganized mess, an essay can fall into the same trap of being out of order and confusing. That is why writers need a thesis statement to provide a specific focus for their essay and to organize what they are about to discuss in the body.

Just like a topic sentence summarizes a single paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes an entire essay. It tells the reader the point you want to make in your essay, while the essay itself supports that point. It is like a signpost that signals the essay’s destination. You should form your thesis before you begin to organize an essay, but you may find that it needs revision as the essay develops.

Elements of a Thesis Statement

For every essay you write, you must focus on a central idea. This idea stems from a topic you have chosen or been assigned or from a question your teacher has asked. It is not enough merely to discuss a general topic or simply answer a question with a yes or no. You have to form a specific opinion, and then articulate that into a controlling idea —the main idea upon which you build your thesis.

Remember that a thesis is not the topic itself, but rather your interpretation of the question or subject. For whatever topic your professor gives you, you must ask yourself, “What do I want to say about it?” Asking and then answering this question is vital to forming a thesis that is precise, forceful and confident.

A thesis is one sentence long and appears toward the end of your introduction. It is specific and focuses on one to three points of a single idea—points that are able to be demonstrated in the body. It forecasts the content of the essay and suggests how you will organize your information. Remember that a thesis statement does not summarize an issue but rather dissects it.

A Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement contains the following qualities.

Specificity. A thesis statement must concentrate on a specific area of a general topic. As you may recall, the creation of a thesis statement begins when you choose a broad subject and then narrow down its parts until you pinpoint a specific aspect of that topic. For example, health care is a broad topic, but a proper thesis statement would focus on a specific area of that topic, such as options for individuals without health care coverage.

Precision. A strong thesis statement must be precise enough to allow for a coherent argument and to remain focused on the topic. If the specific topic is options for individuals without health care coverage, then your precise thesis statement must make an exact claim about it, such as that limited options exist for those who are uninsured by their employers. You must further pinpoint what you are going to discuss regarding these limited effects, such as whom they affect and what the cause is.

Ability to be argued. A thesis statement must present a relevant and specific argument. A factual statement often is not considered arguable. Be sure your thesis statement contains a point of view that can be supported with evidence.

Ability to be demonstrated. For any claim you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide reasons and examples for your opinion. You can rely on personal observations in order to do this, or you can consult outside sources to demonstrate that what you assert is valid. A worthy argument is backed by examples and details.

Forcefulness. A thesis statement that is forceful shows readers that you are, in fact, making an argument. The tone is assertive and takes a stance that others might oppose.

Confidence. In addition to using force in your thesis statement, you must also use confidence in your claim. Phrases such as I feel or I believe actually weaken the readers’ sense of your confidence because these phrases imply that you are the only person who feels the way you do. In other words, your stance has insufficient backing. Taking an authoritative stance on the matter persuades your readers to have faith in your argument and open their minds to what you have to say.

Even in a personal essay that allows the use of first person, your thesis should not contain phrases such as in my opinion or I believe . These statements reduce your credibility and weaken your argument. Your opinion is more convincing when you use a firm attitude.

On a separate sheet of paper, write a thesis statement for each of the following topics. Remember to make each statement specific, precise, demonstrable, forceful and confident.

• Texting while driving
• The legal drinking age in the United States
• Steroid use among professional athletes

Examples of Appropriate Thesis Statements

Each of the following thesis statements meets several of the following requirements:

• Specificity
• Ability to be argued
• Ability to be demonstrated
• Forcefulness
• The societal and personal struggles of Troy Maxon in the play Fences symbolize the challenge of black males who lived through segregation and integration in the United States.
• Closing all American borders for a period of five years is one solution that will tackle illegal immigration.
• Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet spoils the outcome for the audience and weakens the plot.
• J. D. Salinger’s character in Catcher in the Rye , Holden Caulfield, is a confused rebel who voices his disgust with phonies, yet in an effort to protect himself, he acts like a phony on many occasions.
• Compared to an absolute divorce, no-fault divorce is less expensive, promotes fairer settlements, and reflects a more realistic view of the causes for marital breakdown.
• Exposing children from an early age to the dangers of drug abuse is a sure method of preventing future drug addicts.
• In today’s crumbling job market, a high school diploma is not significant enough education to land a stable, lucrative job.

You can find thesis statements in many places, such as in the news; in the opinions of friends, coworkers or teachers; and even in songs you hear on the radio. Become aware of thesis statements in everyday life by paying attention to people’s opinions and their reasons for those opinions. Pay attention to your own everyday thesis statements as well, as these can become material for future essays.

Now that you have read about the contents of a good thesis statement and have seen examples, take a look at the pitfalls to avoid when composing your own thesis:

A thesis is weak when it is simply a declaration of your subject or a description of what you will discuss in your essay.

Weak thesis statement: My paper will explain why imagination is more important than knowledge.

A thesis is weak when it makes an unreasonable or outrageous claim or insults the opposing side.

Weak thesis statement: Religious radicals across America are trying to legislate their Puritanical beliefs by banning required high school books.

A thesis is weak when it contains an obvious fact or something that no one can disagree with or provides a dead end.

Weak thesis statement: Advertising companies use sex to sell their products.

A thesis is weak when the statement is too broad.

Weak thesis statement: The life of Abraham Lincoln was long and challenging.

Read the following thesis statements. On a separate piece of paper, identify each as weak or strong. For those that are weak, list the reasons why. Then revise the weak statements so that they conform to the requirements of a strong thesis.

• The subject of this paper is my experience with ferrets as pets.
• The government must expand its funding for research on renewable energy resources in order to prepare for the impending end of oil.
• Edgar Allan Poe was a poet who lived in Baltimore during the nineteenth century.
• In this essay, I will give you lots of reasons why slot machines should not be legalized in Baltimore.
• Despite his promises during his campaign, President Kennedy took few executive measures to support civil rights legislation.
• Because many children’s toys have potential safety hazards that could lead to injury, it is clear that not all children’s toys are safe.
• My experience with young children has taught me that I want to be a disciplinary parent because I believe that a child without discipline can be a parent’s worst nightmare.

Writing at Work

Often in your career, you will need to ask your boss for something through an e-mail. Just as a thesis statement organizes an essay, it can also organize your e-mail request. While your e-mail will be shorter than an essay, using a thesis statement in your first paragraph quickly lets your boss know what you are asking for, why it is necessary, and what the benefits are. In short body paragraphs, you can provide the essential information needed to expand upon your request.

Thesis Statement Revision

Your thesis will probably change as you write, so you will need to modify it to reflect exactly what you have discussed in your essay. Remember from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” that your thesis statement begins as a working thesis statement , an indefinite statement that you make about your topic early in the writing process for the purpose of planning and guiding your writing.

Working thesis statements often become stronger as you gather information and form new opinions and reasons for those opinions. Revision helps you strengthen your thesis so that it matches what you have expressed in the body of the paper.

The best way to revise your thesis statement is to ask questions about it and then examine the answers to those questions. By challenging your own ideas and forming definite reasons for those ideas, you grow closer to a more precise point of view, which you can then incorporate into your thesis statement.

Ways to Revise Your Thesis

You can cut down on irrelevant aspects and revise your thesis by taking the following steps:

1. Pinpoint and replace all nonspecific words, such as people , everything , society , or life , with more precise words in order to reduce any vagueness.

Working thesis: Young people have to work hard to succeed in life.

Revised thesis: Recent college graduates must have discipline and persistence in order to find and maintain a stable job in which they can use and be appreciated for their talents.

The revised thesis makes a more specific statement about success and what it means to work hard. The original includes too broad a range of people and does not define exactly what success entails. By replacing those general words like people and work hard , the writer can better focus his or her research and gain more direction in his or her writing.

2. Clarify ideas that need explanation by asking yourself questions that narrow your thesis.

Working thesis: The welfare system is a joke.

Revised thesis: The welfare system keeps a socioeconomic class from gaining employment by alluring members of that class with unearned income, instead of programs to improve their education and skill sets.

A joke means many things to many people. Readers bring all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives to the reading process and would need clarification for a word so vague. This expression may also be too informal for the selected audience. By asking questions, the writer can devise a more precise and appropriate explanation for joke . The writer should ask himself or herself questions similar to the 5WH questions. (See Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” for more information on the 5WH questions.) By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more accurately defines his or her stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay.

3. Replace any linking verbs with action verbs. Linking verbs are forms of the verb to be , a verb that simply states that a situation exists.

Working thesis: Kansas City schoolteachers are not paid enough.

Revised thesis: The Kansas City legislature cannot afford to pay its educators, resulting in job cuts and resignations in a district that sorely needs highly qualified and dedicated teachers.

The linking verb in this working thesis statement is the word are . Linking verbs often make thesis statements weak because they do not express action. Rather, they connect words and phrases to the second half of the sentence. Readers might wonder, “Why are they not paid enough?” But this statement does not compel them to ask many more questions. The writer should ask himself or herself questions in order to replace the linking verb with an action verb, thus forming a stronger thesis statement, one that takes a more definitive stance on the issue:

• Who is not paying the teachers enough?
• What is considered “enough”?
• What is the problem?
• What are the results

4. Omit any general claims that are hard to support.

Working thesis: Today’s teenage girls are too sexualized.

Revised thesis: Teenage girls who are captivated by the sexual images on MTV are conditioned to believe that a woman’s worth depends on her sensuality, a feeling that harms their self-esteem and behavior.

It is true that some young women in today’s society are more sexualized than in the past, but that is not true for all girls. Many girls have strict parents, dress appropriately, and do not engage in sexual activity while in middle school and high school. The writer of this thesis should ask the following questions:

• Which teenage girls?
• What constitutes “too” sexualized?
• Why are they behaving that way?
• Where does this behavior show up?
• What are the repercussions?

In the first section of Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , you determined your purpose for writing and your audience. You then completed a freewriting exercise about an event you recently experienced and chose a general topic to write about. Using that general topic, you then narrowed it down by answering the 5WH questions. After you answered these questions, you chose one of the three methods of prewriting and gathered possible supporting points for your working thesis statement.

Now, on a separate sheet of paper, write down your working thesis statement. Identify any weaknesses in this sentence and revise the statement to reflect the elements of a strong thesis statement. Make sure it is specific, precise, arguable, demonstrable, forceful, and confident.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

In your career you may have to write a project proposal that focuses on a particular problem in your company, such as reinforcing the tardiness policy. The proposal would aim to fix the problem; using a thesis statement would clearly state the boundaries of the problem and tell the goals of the project. After writing the proposal, you may find that the thesis needs revision to reflect exactly what is expressed in the body. Using the techniques from this chapter would apply to revising that thesis.

Key Takeaways

• Proper essays require a thesis statement to provide a specific focus and suggest how the essay will be organized.
• A thesis statement is your interpretation of the subject, not the topic itself.
• A strong thesis is specific, precise, forceful, confident, and is able to be demonstrated.
• A strong thesis challenges readers with a point of view that can be debated and can be supported with evidence.
• A weak thesis is simply a declaration of your topic or contains an obvious fact that cannot be argued.
• Depending on your topic, it may or may not be appropriate to use first person point of view.
• Revise your thesis by ensuring all words are specific, all ideas are exact, and all verbs express action.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

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What Is a Thesis Statement?

Best way to write a thesis statement, tips for writing a thesis statement, what makes a thesis statement strong, frequently asked questions about writing a thesis statement.

Think about the last time you made an argument in favor of or against something/someone. Think about your stance and how you delivered your message to your audience. Were your points valid? Did they make sense? Did you get your message across concisely and thoroughly? Now, did you realize that your argument ended with a thesis statement? Yep, it's true, and it can be that simple for your academic essays, as well.

Today's topic is all about the thesis statement: the different types of thesis statements, what makes a thesis statement good, what to include in a thesis statement, and how a thesis statement can be used in the future . I'll also give you some tips on how to write a thesis statement, as well as how to prepare a thesis statement, so if you have papers coming due, mid-terms or simply want to know how to write a good thesis statement, look no further. I got you!

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Before we get started, I think it's important to go over what exactly a thesis statement is , so we don't get it confused with anything else.

A thesis statement is a summary of the main point, central idea, or claim of an essay, research paper, or any other piece of academic writing . It usually appears at the end of the introduction and prepares the reader on what to expect in the rest of your paper.

When I was in school, I remember struggling when it came to sorting out my thoughts and putting my ideas, thesis statement and supporting evidence down on paper. If you're someone who deals the same obstacles, one thing that worked for me was thinking of it like a real-life argument. Ask yourself what the main point you're trying to make is and boom. You got yourself a compelling thesis statement.

Types of thesis statements

However, things can get tricky if you don't know what kind of thesis statement you're writing. There are several types of thesis statements that can be used depending on the purpose and structure of your paper. Let's talk about them:

• Analytical thesis statement : This type of thesis breaks down an issue or idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
• Expository thesis statement : This type of thesis explains something to the audience, presenting information in a clear and concise manner.
• Argumentative thesis statement : This type of thesis makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence and reasoning.
• Narrative thesis statement : This type of thesis tells a story or recounts an event, providing a narrative structure to the academic work.

So, before you start your paper, I suggest carefully going over your essay guidelines to figure out what kind of thesis statement you're aiming to write . Whether it be for expository and argumentative essays or persuasive essays, if your thesis statement adheres to the rules of the essay, you'll be good to go.

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What to Include in a Thesis Statement

Now, I don't want to give the impression that writing a solid thesis statement is all you need to be compelling in your argument because it's not. There are several components you should include in your thesis statement to really make it stand out to your audience. These components are (but are not limited to):

1. Knowing the main topic/subject of your paper . Clearly state what the paper is about to provide context for the reader.

2. Having a specific claim or argument . Make a clear and concise statement that outlines your main point or position on the topic.

3. Showcasing the scope of your paper : Provide a preview of the main points or arguments that will be discussed in the paper to give the reader an idea of what to expect.

4. The significance of your argument : Explain why your claim is important/relevant to the topic being discussed.

While these are a few key elements you should have in your thesis statement, they're also not the end-all-be-all. You want to make sure that your main point is strong and backed with supporting evidence and clear opinions on the topic at hand, as well.

Like most things, writing a thesis statement takes the right amount of concentration and dedication . This means zero distractions and 100% focus. I know—zero distractions can be difficult, but it’s completely doable! All you need is a fresh piece of paper, a pen, and discipline. Here, let’s go over some of the best ways to write a thesis statement.

First, you’re going to want to get rid of any distractions . Yes, that means your cellphone (don’t hate me!). Along with your cellphone, you want to make sure you remove any other devices like TVs, radios, etc. from your vicinity to remain focused. This can also mean people and places, as well. Make sure you set yourself up in a quiet, no-traffic area to make sure there is nothing and no one around that can deter you from the task at hand.

You also want to make sure you prioritize your time and block out a piece of your day to get this done. By setting aside time for your academic essays, you are setting yourself up for success . And if you don’t have a lot of time to spare, that’s totally okay.

You have to figure out what works best with your schedule, so even if it’s 30 minutes to write down your topic sentence, central ideas, or even a working final thesis statement, that helps! Anything counts. You just want to make sure you don’t waste the time you have.

And don’t neglect yourself from breaks . I know that being in a role can be exhilarating—your brain is working, your thoughts are flowing, and work is getting done, but you don’t want to burn yourself out too fast.

Make sure you take 5-to-10-minute breaks every 30 minutes to an hour to keep your momentum. Just don’t get lost in the break! Train yourself to have enough discipline to give yourself some grace but still be able to pick up right where you left off.

Preparing Your Thesis Statement

There’s something about hearing the words ‘thesis statement’ that immediately overwhelms you, but it doesn’t have to. If you have a plan, coming up with a solid thesis statement can be as easy as 1, 2, 3 . That’s why preparing your thesis statement can help you effectively convey the main point or argument of your work. Here are some steps to help you prepare a strong thesis statement:

• Understand the assignment : It sounds silly to say, but you want to make sure you fully understand the requirements and expectations of your assignment before working your thesis statement. If you need to, ask questions to clarify any confusion you may have.
• Choose a topic : Writing can be boring for some, so you want to choose a topic that interests you and is relevant to the assignment. Consider the scope of the topic and how you can narrow it down to your specific focus of interest.
• Conduct research : It’s important to gather any relevant information and evidence there is to support your thesis statement, even if you aren’t working on a research paper. It can be tedious, but trust me, it will help you develop a strong argument.
• Brainstorm ideas : Take the time to brainstorm different angles or perspectives on your topic. I’m a huge believer in details, so think of any background context or supporting evidence for your topic. Consider different approaches to your argument that you can use in your thesis statement, as well.
• Draft your thesis statement : Based on your research and brainstorming, draft a preliminary thesis statement that clearly states the main point or argument of your paper.
• Revise and refine : Review your thesis statement and revise it as many times as necessary. Step away from your work and revisit it if you need to. This will help you make sure it is specific, arguable, clear, and focused.
• Seek feedback : Consider sharing your thesis statement with peers, instructors, or writing tutors to get feedback and suggestions for improvement. Constructive feedback always helps

I know these are just tips I like to follow, but they are meant to set you up for success, as well. By taking them into consideration, you can effectively prepare a strong and well-crafted thesis statement for your academic work.

While there is no one way of knowing how to write a thesis statement, there are some rules you can follow to make it easier on yourself. To write a good, working thesis statement, follow these steps :

• Identify the topic : First thing, determine the topic/subject of your paper. (I found this is best done in the form of an outline)
• Narrow down the focus : Narrow down your topic to a specific aspect or angle that you want to explore in your paper.
• Make a claim : Form a clear and concise statement that presents your main argument or position on the topic.
• Provide reasons : Include reasons or evidence that support your claim and give context to your argument.
• Revise and refine : Again, edit, edit, edit. Review your thesis statement multiple times if necessary to ensure it is clear and focused. Revise as needed to strengthen your statement and deepen your argument.
• Place the thesis statement : Typically, the thesis statement is placed at the end of the introduction paragraph to guide the reader on what to expect in the rest of the paper.

I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I can assure you that these are the key elements you need for a strong thesis . Follow me, and I’ll lead you to more academic success.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, especially when it comes to learning, and if I want anything, it's to help set you up with the clearest, most organized way to write a thesis statement. Here are some tips I like to follow when writing a thesis statement . I hope they work for you, too.

• Be specific : Your thesis statement should clearly state the main point or argument of your paper in a concise and specific manner.
• Create an Outline :
• Have an argument : Your thesis statement should present a claim that can be debated or challenged by others. Avoid stating facts or obvious statements.
• Be clear : Your thesis statement should provide a clear direction for the reader and what they should expect to be in the rest of the paper.
• Stay focused : Your thesis statement should address a single main idea or topic. Avoid including multiple ideas in one thesis statement.

Feel free to add or put your own twist on tips for thesis statements . It's important that you create or find your own way of doing these things so they can help you in the future.

A strong thesis statement possesses many factors. It isn't summed up in a single sentence or general statement. The tone you set in your first paragraph is the tone for the entirety of your paper. For instance, specificity. Being clear and precise makes the main point or argument of the paper that much more impactful . It also provides clarity on the subject, which makes it easy to understand and provides a clear direction for the reader.

Your argument is also key . It presents a straightforward claim that can be debated or challenged by others. A good argument can help compare and contrast ideas and which only strengthens your thesis. Your argument should also be relevant and directly relate to the topic of the paper and guide the reader on what to expect, as well as focused and supported by evidence, reasoning, or analysis throughout the paper.

But most importantly, your thesis should be original . Having a unique main idea presents interesting, out-of-the-box perspectives on the topic, which can leave a lasting impression as an academic. This will keep your reader engaged and interested in your work.

Using Thesis Statements in the Future

There is no way of telling when you'll be using thesis statements in your future, especially once you graduate from school, but I promise you you will, without realizing it, for instance, in a regular discussion with a friend, family member, colleague, or peer.

We don't notice how the conversations and discussions we have with others are just essays in verbal form . They, too, include main ideas, specific details, and an argument, all leading up to a thesis statement.

Aside from essays, thesis statements can be found in presentations and reports in professional settings, as well. When giving presentations or reviewing reports, a thesis statement will help structure your content and communicate your main message effectively to your audience. It will articulate the main findings or recommendations of your work.

Example Thesis Statements

It's only fair that I leave examples of thesis statements for you to review and gain ideas from. They can also be used as blueprints for any future essays you have.

Example 1: "Studying abroad is one of the most valuable experiences one can have in college. It is the only way to get completely immersed in another language and learn how other cultures and countries are different from your own."

Example 2 : "Learning how to manage money at a young age can not only set you up for financial success, it can also help you build a life of financial freedom for your future."

Example 3 : "The quality of TV series today has grown so much over the last few years and sometimes matches the one of a full-length film, even though the two forms have some dramatic differences."

Be sure to do more research on thesis statement examples in order to sharpen your skills , as well as thought processes for upcoming essays or presentations you may have in the future. You have all the tools for success. Now it's time to put them to use!

Do you love writing? Are you pursuing a degree in writing? Check out these writing scholarships now!

What makes a thesis statement good?

A good thesis statement is made up of different elements, like identifying a topic, making an argument, and supporting your claims with specific examples and evidence. Make sure you don't derail from your topic, and remember to stay focused on the argument at hand.

What is something to keep in mind when writing a thesis statement?

When writing a thesis statement, keep in mind that you will need 100% of your focus in order to form a solid thesis statement. Disconnect yourself from social media, electronics, and any other devices you may have that keep you distracted. Find yourself a quiet place you can work from and watch how the ideas pour out of you like water!

When will you use thesis statements?

You may stop writing essays once you graduate from college, but that doesn't mean forming a quality thesis statement is going to leave you. Though I can't say when and where, I can guarantee you will use thesis statements in your everyday life, like when you are having a discussion with others, presenting a professional report at work, or simply engaging in debates with others. The writing stops, but knowing how to make a good argument stays with you for life.

Interested in learning more from Bold.org ? Visit our Scholarship Blog to stay up to date on everything you need to know about college topics and apply for scholarships today.

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Thesis and Dissertation: Getting Started

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The resources in this section are designed to provide guidance for the first steps of the thesis or dissertation writing process. They offer tools to support the planning and managing of your project, including writing out your weekly schedule, outlining your goals, and organzing the various working elements of your project.

Weekly Goals Sheet (a.k.a. Life Map) [Word Doc]

This editable handout provides a place for you to fill in available time blocks on a weekly chart that will help you visualize the amount of time you have available to write. By using this chart, you will be able to work your writing goals into your schedule and put these goals into perspective with your day-to-day plans and responsibilities each week. This handout also contains a formula to help you determine the minimum number of pages you would need to write per day in order to complete your writing on time.

Setting a Production Schedule (Word Doc)

This editable handout can help you make sense of the various steps involved in the production of your thesis or dissertation and determine how long each step might take. A large part of this process involves (1) seeking out the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding specific document formatting requirements, (2) understanding research protocol limitations, (3) making note of deadlines, and (4) understanding your personal writing habits.

Creating a Roadmap (PDF)

Part of organizing your writing involves having a clear sense of how the different working parts relate to one another. Creating a roadmap for your dissertation early on can help you determine what the final document will include and how all the pieces are connected. This resource offers guidance on several approaches to creating a roadmap, including creating lists, maps, nut-shells, visuals, and different methods for outlining. It is important to remember that you can create more than one roadmap (or more than one type of roadmap) depending on how the different approaches discussed here meet your needs.

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What is a thesis | A Complete Guide with Examples

Table of Contents

A thesis is a comprehensive academic paper based on your original research that presents new findings, arguments, and ideas of your study. It’s typically submitted at the end of your master’s degree or as a capstone of your bachelor’s degree.

However, writing a thesis can be laborious, especially for beginners. From the initial challenge of pinpointing a compelling research topic to organizing and presenting findings, the process is filled with potential pitfalls.

Therefore, to help you, this guide talks about what is a thesis. Additionally, it offers revelations and methodologies to transform it from an overwhelming task to a manageable and rewarding academic milestone.

What is a thesis?

A thesis is an in-depth research study that identifies a particular topic of inquiry and presents a clear argument or perspective about that topic using evidence and logic.

Writing a thesis showcases your ability of critical thinking, gathering evidence, and making a compelling argument. Integral to these competencies is thorough research, which not only fortifies your propositions but also confers credibility to your entire study.

Furthermore, there's another phenomenon you might often confuse with the thesis: the ' working thesis .' However, they aren't similar and shouldn't be used interchangeably.

A working thesis, often referred to as a preliminary or tentative thesis, is an initial version of your thesis statement. It serves as a draft or a starting point that guides your research in its early stages.

As you research more and gather more evidence, your initial thesis (aka working thesis) might change. It's like a starting point that can be adjusted as you learn more. It's normal for your main topic to change a few times before you finalize it.

While a thesis identifies and provides an overarching argument, the key to clearly communicating the central point of that argument lies in writing a strong thesis statement.

What is a thesis statement?

A strong thesis statement (aka thesis sentence) is a concise summary of the main argument or claim of the paper. It serves as a critical anchor in any academic work, succinctly encapsulating the primary argument or main idea of the entire paper.

Typically found within the introductory section, a strong thesis statement acts as a roadmap of your thesis, directing readers through your arguments and findings. By delineating the core focus of your investigation, it offers readers an immediate understanding of the context and the gravity of your study.

Furthermore, an effectively crafted thesis statement can set forth the boundaries of your research, helping readers anticipate the specific areas of inquiry you are addressing.

Different types of thesis statements

A good thesis statement is clear, specific, and arguable. Therefore, it is necessary for you to choose the right type of thesis statement for your academic papers.

Thesis statements can be classified based on their purpose and structure. Here are the primary types of thesis statements:

Argumentative (or Persuasive) thesis statement

Purpose : To convince the reader of a particular stance or point of view by presenting evidence and formulating a compelling argument.

Example : Reducing plastic use in daily life is essential for environmental health.

Analytical thesis statement

Purpose : To break down an idea or issue into its components and evaluate it.

Example : By examining the long-term effects, social implications, and economic impact of climate change, it becomes evident that immediate global action is necessary.

Expository (or Descriptive) thesis statement

Purpose : To explain a topic or subject to the reader.

Example : The Great Depression, spanning the 1930s, was a severe worldwide economic downturn triggered by a stock market crash, bank failures, and reduced consumer spending.

Cause and effect thesis statement

Purpose : To demonstrate a cause and its resulting effect.

Example : Overuse of smartphones can lead to impaired sleep patterns, reduced face-to-face social interactions, and increased levels of anxiety.

Compare and contrast thesis statement

Purpose : To highlight similarities and differences between two subjects.

Example : "While both novels '1984' and 'Brave New World' delve into dystopian futures, they differ in their portrayal of individual freedom, societal control, and the role of technology."

When you write a thesis statement , it's important to ensure clarity and precision, so the reader immediately understands the central focus of your work.

What is the difference between a thesis and a thesis statement?

While both terms are frequently used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings.

A thesis refers to the entire research document, encompassing all its chapters and sections. In contrast, a thesis statement is a brief assertion that encapsulates the central argument of the research.

Here’s an in-depth differentiation table of a thesis and a thesis statement.

Now, to craft a compelling thesis, it's crucial to adhere to a specific structure. Let’s break down these essential components that make up a thesis structure

15 components of a thesis structure

Navigating a thesis can be daunting. However, understanding its structure can make the process more manageable.

Here are the key components or different sections of a thesis structure:

Your thesis begins with the title page. It's not just a formality but the gateway to your research.

Here, you'll prominently display the necessary information about you (the author) and your institutional details.

• Title of your thesis
• Your full name
• Your department
• Your institution and degree program
• Your submission date
• Your Supervisor's name (in some cases)
• Your Department or faculty (in some cases)
• Your University's logo (in some cases)
• Your Student ID (in some cases)

In a concise manner, you'll have to summarize the critical aspects of your research in typically no more than 200-300 words.

This includes the problem statement, methodology, key findings, and conclusions. For many, the abstract will determine if they delve deeper into your work, so ensure it's clear and compelling.

Acknowledgments

Research is rarely a solitary endeavor. In the acknowledgments section, you have the chance to express gratitude to those who've supported your journey.

This might include advisors, peers, institutions, or even personal sources of inspiration and support. It's a personal touch, reflecting the humanity behind the academic rigor.

Table of contents

A roadmap for your readers, the table of contents lists the chapters, sections, and subsections of your thesis.

By providing page numbers, you allow readers to navigate your work easily, jumping to sections that pique their interest.

List of figures and tables

Research often involves data, and presenting this data visually can enhance understanding. This section provides an organized listing of all figures and tables in your thesis.

It's a visual index, ensuring that readers can quickly locate and reference your graphical data.

Introduction

Here's where you introduce your research topic, articulate the research question or objective, and outline the significance of your study.

• Present the research topic : Clearly articulate the central theme or subject of your research.
• Background information : Ground your research topic, providing any necessary context or background information your readers might need to understand the significance of your study.
• Define the scope : Clearly delineate the boundaries of your research, indicating what will and won't be covered.
• Literature review : Introduce any relevant existing research on your topic, situating your work within the broader academic conversation and highlighting where your research fits in.
• State the research Question(s) or objective(s) : Clearly articulate the primary questions or objectives your research aims to address.
• Outline the study's structure : Give a brief overview of how the subsequent sections of your work will unfold, guiding your readers through the journey ahead.

The introduction should captivate your readers, making them eager to delve deeper into your research journey.

Literature review section

Your study correlates with existing research. Therefore, in the literature review section, you'll engage in a dialogue with existing knowledge, highlighting relevant studies, theories, and findings.

It's here that you identify gaps in the current knowledge, positioning your research as a bridge to new insights.

To streamline this process, consider leveraging AI tools. For example, the SciSpace literature review tool enables you to efficiently explore and delve into research papers, simplifying your literature review journey.

Methodology

In the research methodology section, you’ll detail the tools, techniques, and processes you employed to gather and analyze data. This section will inform the readers about how you approached your research questions and ensures the reproducibility of your study.

Here's a breakdown of what it should encompass:

• Research Design : Describe the overall structure and approach of your research. Are you conducting a qualitative study with in-depth interviews? Or is it a quantitative study using statistical analysis? Perhaps it's a mixed-methods approach?
• Data Collection : Detail the methods you used to gather data. This could include surveys, experiments, observations, interviews, archival research, etc. Mention where you sourced your data, the duration of data collection, and any tools or instruments used.
• Sampling : If applicable, explain how you selected participants or data sources for your study. Discuss the size of your sample and the rationale behind choosing it.
• Data Analysis : Describe the techniques and tools you used to process and analyze the data. This could range from statistical tests in quantitative research to thematic analysis in qualitative research.
• Validity and Reliability : Address the steps you took to ensure the validity and reliability of your findings to ensure that your results are both accurate and consistent.
• Ethical Considerations : Highlight any ethical issues related to your research and the measures you took to address them, including — informed consent, confidentiality, and data storage and protection measures.

Moreover, different research questions necessitate different types of methodologies. For instance:

• Experimental methodology : Often used in sciences, this involves a controlled experiment to discern causality.
• Qualitative methodology : Employed when exploring patterns or phenomena without numerical data. Methods can include interviews, focus groups, or content analysis.
• Quantitative methodology : Concerned with measurable data and often involves statistical analysis. Surveys and structured observations are common tools here.
• Mixed methods : As the name implies, this combines both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

The Methodology section isn’t just about detailing the methods but also justifying why they were chosen. The appropriateness of the methods in addressing your research question can significantly impact the credibility of your findings.

Results (or Findings)

This section presents the outcomes of your research. It's crucial to note that the nature of your results may vary; they could be quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both.

Quantitative results often present statistical data, showcasing measurable outcomes, and they benefit from tables, graphs, and figures to depict these data points.

Qualitative results , on the other hand, might delve into patterns, themes, or narratives derived from non-numerical data, such as interviews or observations.

Regardless of the nature of your results, clarity is essential. This section is purely about presenting the data without offering interpretations — that comes later in the discussion.

In the discussion section, the raw data transforms into valuable insights.

Start by revisiting your research question and contrast it with the findings. How do your results expand, constrict, or challenge current academic conversations?

Dive into the intricacies of the data, guiding the reader through its implications. Detail potential limitations transparently, signaling your awareness of the research's boundaries. This is where your academic voice should be resonant and confident.

Practical implications (Recommendation) section

Based on the insights derived from your research, this section provides actionable suggestions or proposed solutions.

Whether aimed at industry professionals or the general public, recommendations translate your academic findings into potential real-world actions. They help readers understand the practical implications of your work and how it can be applied to effect change or improvement in a given field.

When crafting recommendations, it's essential to ensure they're feasible and rooted in the evidence provided by your research. They shouldn't merely be aspirational but should offer a clear path forward, grounded in your findings.

The conclusion provides closure to your research narrative.

It's not merely a recap but a synthesis of your main findings and their broader implications. Reconnect with the research questions or hypotheses posited at the beginning, offering clear answers based on your findings.

Reflect on the broader contributions of your study, considering its impact on the academic community and potential real-world applications.

Lastly, the conclusion should leave your readers with a clear understanding of the value and impact of your study.

References (or Bibliography)

Every theory you've expounded upon, every data point you've cited, and every methodological precedent you've followed finds its acknowledgment here.

In references, it's crucial to ensure meticulous consistency in formatting, mirroring the specific guidelines of the chosen citation style .

Proper referencing helps to avoid plagiarism , gives credit to original ideas, and allows readers to explore topics of interest. Moreover, it situates your work within the continuum of academic knowledge.

To properly cite the sources used in the study, you can rely on online citation generator tools  to generate accurate citations!

Here’s more on how you can cite your sources.

Often, the depth of research produces a wealth of material that, while crucial, can make the core content of the thesis cumbersome. The appendix is where you mention extra information that supports your research but isn't central to the main text.

Whether it's raw datasets, detailed procedural methodologies, extended case studies, or any other ancillary material, the appendices ensure that these elements are archived for reference without breaking the main narrative's flow.

For thorough researchers and readers keen on meticulous details, the appendices provide a treasure trove of insights.

Glossary (optional)

In academics, specialized terminologies, and jargon are inevitable. However, not every reader is versed in every term.

The glossary, while optional, is a critical tool for accessibility. It's a bridge ensuring that even readers from outside the discipline can access, understand, and appreciate your work.

By defining complex terms and providing context, you're inviting a wider audience to engage with your research, enhancing its reach and impact.

Remember, while these components provide a structured framework, the essence of your thesis lies in the originality of your ideas, the rigor of your research, and the clarity of your presentation.

As you craft each section, keep your readers in mind, ensuring that your passion and dedication shine through every page.

Thesis examples

To further elucidate the concept of a thesis, here are illustrative examples from various fields:

Example 1 (History): Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the ‘Noble Savage’ on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807 by Suchait Kahlon.

Example 2 (Climate Dynamics): Influence of external forcings on abrupt millennial-scale climate changes: a statistical modelling study by Takahito Mitsui · Michel Crucifix

Checklist for your thesis evaluation

Evaluating your thesis ensures that your research meets the standards of academia. Here's an elaborate checklist to guide you through this critical process.

Content and structure

• Is the thesis statement clear, concise, and debatable?
• Does the introduction provide sufficient background and context?
• Is the literature review comprehensive, relevant, and well-organized?
• Does the methodology section clearly describe and justify the research methods?
• Are the results/findings presented clearly and logically?
• Does the discussion interpret the results in light of the research question and existing literature?
• Is the conclusion summarizing the research and suggesting future directions or implications?

Clarity and coherence

• Is the writing clear and free of jargon?
• Are ideas and sections logically connected and flowing?
• Is there a clear narrative or argument throughout the thesis?

Research quality

• Is the research question significant and relevant?
• Are the research methods appropriate for the question?
• Is the sample size (if applicable) adequate?
• Are the data analysis techniques appropriate and correctly applied?
• Are potential biases or limitations addressed?

Originality and significance

• Does the thesis contribute new knowledge or insights to the field?
• Is the research grounded in existing literature while offering fresh perspectives?

Formatting and presentation

• Is the thesis formatted according to institutional guidelines?
• Are figures, tables, and charts clear, labeled, and referenced in the text?
• Is the bibliography or reference list complete and consistently formatted?
• Are appendices relevant and appropriately referenced in the main text?

Grammar and language

• Is the thesis free of grammatical and spelling errors?
• Is the language professional, consistent, and appropriate for an academic audience?
• Are quotations and paraphrased material correctly cited?

Feedback and revision

• Have you sought feedback from peers, advisors, or experts in the field?
• Have you addressed the feedback and made the necessary revisions?

Overall assessment

• Does the thesis as a whole feel cohesive and comprehensive?
• Would the thesis be understandable and valuable to someone in your field?

Ensure to use this checklist to leave no ground for doubt or missed information in your thesis.

After writing your thesis, the next step is to discuss and defend your findings verbally in front of a knowledgeable panel. You’ve to be well prepared as your professors may grade your presentation abilities.

Preparing your thesis defense

A thesis defense, also known as "defending the thesis," is the culmination of a scholar's research journey. It's the final frontier, where you’ll present their findings and face scrutiny from a panel of experts.

Typically, the defense involves a public presentation where you’ll have to outline your study, followed by a question-and-answer session with a committee of experts. This committee assesses the validity, originality, and significance of the research.

The defense serves as a rite of passage for scholars. It's an opportunity to showcase expertise, address criticisms, and refine arguments. A successful defense not only validates the research but also establishes your authority as a researcher in your field.

Here’s how you can effectively prepare for your thesis defense .

Now, having touched upon the process of defending a thesis, it's worth noting that scholarly work can take various forms, depending on academic and regional practices.

One such form, often paralleled with the thesis, is the 'dissertation.' But what differentiates the two?

Dissertation vs. Thesis

Often used interchangeably in casual discourse, they refer to distinct research projects undertaken at different levels of higher education.

To the uninitiated, understanding their meaning might be elusive. So, let's demystify these terms and delve into their core differences.

Here's a table differentiating between the two.

Wrapping up

From understanding the foundational concept of a thesis to navigating its various components, differentiating it from a dissertation, and recognizing the importance of proper citation — this guide covers it all.

As scholars and readers, understanding these nuances not only aids in academic pursuits but also fosters a deeper appreciation for the relentless quest for knowledge that drives academia.

It’s important to remember that every thesis is a testament to curiosity, dedication, and the indomitable spirit of discovery.

Good luck with your thesis writing!

Frequently Asked Questions

A thesis typically ranges between 40-80 pages, but its length can vary based on the research topic, institution guidelines, and level of study.

A PhD thesis usually spans 200-300 pages, though this can vary based on the discipline, complexity of the research, and institutional requirements.

To identify a thesis topic, consider current trends in your field, gaps in existing literature, personal interests, and discussions with advisors or mentors. Additionally, reviewing related journals and conference proceedings can provide insights into potential areas of exploration.

The conceptual framework is often situated in the literature review or theoretical framework section of a thesis. It helps set the stage by providing the context, defining key concepts, and explaining the relationships between variables.

A thesis statement should be concise, clear, and specific. It should state the main argument or point of your research. Start by pinpointing the central question or issue your research addresses, then condense that into a single statement, ensuring it reflects the essence of your paper.

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > How AI can help you improve your thesis statement

How AI can help you improve your thesis statement

Creating a thesis statement can be a challenging undertaking. Thankfully, today’s writers can use AI to assist in the creation process. While writing with AI can feel intimidating, the right tools and knowing how to use them can enhance your thesis statement and guide you through the creation process. From generating ideas to polishing your final draft, here’s how to use AI to create a quality thesis.

Selecting a topic

AI-powered tools have access to vast databases of academic papers, journals, and other scholarly materials. If you’re trying to choose a thesis topic or questioning the viability of your current topic, AI can assist by brainstorming ideas and highlighting relevant research you can use as evidence for your claims.

Creating an initial draft

AI tools can help you create a preliminary draft of your thesis statement, which you can continue to build on as your argument and research evolve. You can request a fresh draft at any stage in the writing process, as AI only requires basic information about your topic and area of research to get started. Based on your input, the AI tool will utilize its database of knowledge to generate a thesis statement.

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Refining your thesis with AI feedback

Once you have a solid draft, utilize AI feedback to refine your writing. Ask for an analysis of your thesis statement for clarity, coherence, grammar, and more. By highlighting areas for improvement, AI can help refine your thesis statement so it accurately conveys your research focus and argument. There are a few ways this process not only improves the quality of your statement but also enhances your understanding of what makes an effective thesis:

• Efficiency. AI tools can significantly speed up the brainstorming and drafting phases, giving you more time to focus on researching and outlining your thesis. This is especially useful for tight deadlines.
• Objectivity. AI feedback is based on data and algorithms that can provide a largely unbiased perspective on the quality of your thesis statement. This objective analysis can help you improve your thesis and overall writing.
• Consistency. AI tools can help you align the rest of your paper with your initial thesis statement to ensure consistency throughout your work.

Choosing the right AI tool for academic writing

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‘Load Up,’ Says Raymond James About These 2 Buy-rated Stocks

March 31, 2024 — 05:26 am EDT

Written by Michael Marcus for TipRanks  ->

The good feelings engendered by last year’s bull market are still with us, and are helping to power more gains. Since their October low points, the S&P 500 is up 27.5% and the NASDAQ is up 29.5%. The gains put stocks well into bull market territory, and mark the latest installment of a secular bullish trend that has lasted more than a decade so far.

It’s clearly a positive environment for stock investors; the chief difficulty being how to locate the right stocks to buy. Last year, the gains were driven by Big Tech corporations. This year, those gains are finding a broader footing. In a recent note, Raymond James’ Chief Investment Officer Larry Adam looks at the current market strength and adds some context: “The S&P 500 is off its best start to the year since 2019, climbing ~10% and hitting its 20th record high YTD… Resilient economic data, strong earnings (2024 earnings have bucked the typical downward revision trend), AI optimism and increased investor optimism have been the key drivers. Historically, a strong start has been a positive signal for the market, with the S&P 500 up an additional ~7% on average the rest of year when Q1 performance is greater than 10%. While we remain optimistic longer term, caution is warranted in the near term.”

While Adam advocates a careful approach right now, that’s not says there aren’t good opportunities available. Going forward, Raymond James’ analysts are selecting Buy-rated stocks where they see solid potential for gains. The firm advises investors to ‘load up’ now – and we’ve opened up the databanks at TipRanks to get a better picture of two of their picks. Let’s take a closer look.

Weave Communications ( WEAV )

The first stock we’ll look at is Weave Communications. This tech company provides a software platform optimized to streamline the way that small- and mid-sized healthcare businesses locate, contact, and interact with their patients and customers. The company operates in the US healthcare sector, and its platform can support office phone lines, messaging systems, digital forms and online assistants, email marketing and patient scheduling, and data analysis and customer insights.

The company boasts that its platform helps ensure that users – mainly medical and dental clinics – miss fewer phone calls, save work hours, and operate with greater efficiency. Smoother office communications can have a ripple effect into other areas of operations – medical clinics using Weave report better patient compliance with scheduling and billing due to text message reminders, a feature that can be automated through the system.

On the financial front, both revenues and earnings have been trending upwards for the past couple of years. This was clearly visible in the last reported quarter, Q4 2023. Weave showed a top line of $45.7 million, for a year-over-year increase of 21% and beating the forecast by $1.5 million. Like many emerging tech firms, Weave operates at a net loss; in the last quarter of 2023, that loss came to $0.8 million, or 1 cent per share. This was a strong improvement from the 6-cent EPS loss recorded in Q4 2022, and it beat the forecast by two cents per share.

Over the last 12 months, the shares are up by 131% although they have retreated a bit since the print. As such, Raymond James analyst Alexander Sklar thinks investors should take advantage. He writes up an upbeat reaction to the company’s recent earnings and its prospects: “We believe recent momentum in the business will continue in 2024 and the pullback in shares following its 4Q23 report… creates an even more favorable risk/reward setup. Our positive fundamental thesis is centered around the belief that its growth acceleration exiting 2023 can be maintained in 2024 (with a medium-term compounding opportunity) that is not reflected in shares that trade at ~4x our 2024E revenue.”

Getting into some details, Sklar adds his outline of where Weave is going, and how it will benefit investors, saying , “We see several contributors to support higher growth in 2024 including: 1) Higher take rates of its largest bundle (ARPU up); 2) Improved rep tenure/ productivity and growth in reps; 3) A broader lead-gen motion (digital, live events, partners, etc.); 4) A formal focus on large specialty medical vertical (now its 3rd largest customer base); 5) Continued product enhancements (integrations, multi-office functionality, new offerings). With an improving profitability profile, an attractive beat and raise setup, and the potential for a ~20% growth profile to continue into 2024, we believe a Strong Buy rating is warranted.”

That Strong Buy rating is backed by a $15 price target that shows his confidence in a 30.5% upside potential on the one-year time horizon. (To watch Sklar’s track record, click here .)

Overall, WEAV shares get a Moderate Buy rating from the Street consensus, based on 7 recent analyst reviews that include 5 Buys and 2 Holds. The shares are trading for $11.48 and their $14.57 average target price implies a one-year upside of 27%. (See Weave’s stock forecast .)

GoDaddy, Inc. ( GDDY )

Next up, GoDaddy, is an internet company, a firm offering web domain and hosting services. GoDaddy is based in Arizona, and its services include web hosting and domain registration for a wide-ranging customer base of private individuals and corporate entities. The company stands among the top web hosting firms by market share and hosts more than 84 million domain names with over 21 million entrepreneurs among its customer base.

Among the services domain registrants can access are free installs for up to 150 apps, an easy-to-use management dashboard, 24/7 customer service, and a guarantee of 99.9% uptime reliability. The company will give its customers one free domain name during the first year of the paid hosting subscription, and plenty of choices in monthly subscription service and payment options. It’s all designed to make GoDaddy the one-stop shop for web domain hosting.

The online world is changing rapidly, as AI makes inroads into virtually every digital activity – and GoDaddy is adapting to the new circumstances. The company has introduced a suite of tools, GoDaddy Airo, designed to harness AI technology and capabilities for website domain maintenance, site construction, email marketing, and more. The tools aim to make AI-based automation available to site builders and managers, in the interest of streamlining online operations.

Turning to the financials, we find that GoDaddy’s revenue has been consistently strong for the past several years, at or near $1 billion per quarter. In the last quarterly report, covering 4Q23, the company reported a result in line with expectations, at $1.1 billion for the period. This figure was up nearly 6% year-over-year. The bottom-line result, GoDaddy’s $7.85 GAAP EPS, came in $6.80 above the forecast – this was reportedly due to a one-time ‘release of valuation allowance on U.S. and state deferred tax assets.’

In other metrics, the company reported total bookings, a measure of future business, at $1.1 billion, up 7% y/y, and a free cash flow of $305.1 million, up 51% y/y.

This company’s solid performance and smart moves into AI have caught the attention of Josh Beck, one of Raymond James’ 5-star analysts. Beck, who ranks in the top 2% of Street stock pros, writes of GoDaddy, “Our ‘SMB GenAI Tailwind’ thesis is based on GoDaddy leveraging the innovative Airo GenAI stack to effectively lower adoption hurdles from products beyond core domains such as logo creation, presence, commerce/GPV that should lead to a rising mix of 2+ product customers (>50% currently). Over time, we believe GoDaddy could effectively ‘outsource’ customer care expertise and deep data set (20M+ customers and 14M interactions including a unique Conversations corpus across SMB email, messages, and social media accounts) to produce a more autonomous SMB agent to help respond to customer requests and generate a meaningfully autonomous SaaS component.”

Quantifying his stance, Beck rates the shares as a Strong Buy, with a $150 price target that implies a solid upside of 26% for the next 12 months. (To watch Beck’s track record, click here .)

This stock also gets a Moderate Buy rating from the Street’s consensus, resting it on 16 analyst recommendations that break down to 11 Buys and 5 Holds. The current trading price of $118.68 and the average target price of $130.64 together indicate a 10% share gain for the year ahead. (See GoDaddy’s stock forecast .)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’   Best Stocks to Buy , a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment .

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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HP PCs - How to reset your computer to factory settings (Windows 11, 10)

Resetting your computer to factory settings might be necessary if the operating system is damaged, the hard drive is corrupted, the computer is infected by a virus, or you are transferring ownership of the computer. HP System Recovery removes all hard drive data and reinstalls the original operating system.

HP Cloud Recovery is available for HP PCs manufactured in 2016 and later. HP Cloud Recovery allows you to download recovery software to a USB flash drive. If your computer is not supported by HP Cloud Recovery, go to HP PCs - Reset the computer for more information.

Preparing for system recovery in Windows

Before performing a system recovery, review the topics that might prevent the need to run a recovery or might help to ensure a successful recovery.

Correct startup or boot issues

Many startup or boot issues are caused by minor problems that are easily corrected. Before recovering your computer, try to determine if other, non-destructive, corrective actions will fix the problem.

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Back up important files

HP recommends that you back up your files on an external drive or CD/DVD on a regular basis. Scheduled backups can help you recover some, if not all, of your information in the event that something happens to the original files on your computer.

Factory resetting your computer destroys all the files on the hard drive . If you did not back up your files before running a factory reset, the computer might display a prompt to make a backup copy of your files before the reset performs any action that erases or deletes files.

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KB5037426: Update to address a known issue that affects LSASS in Windows Server 2012 R2

This update addresses a known issue that affects the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). It might leak memory on domain controllers (DCs). This issue occurs after you install KB5035885 (March 12, 2024). The leak occurs when on-premises and cloud-based Active Directory DCs process Kerberos authentication requests. This substantial leak might cause excessive memory usage. Because of this, LSASS might stop responding, and the DCs will restart when you do not expect it.

Known issues in this update

We are currently not aware of any issues that affect this update.

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Install this update

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To install Windows Server 2012 R2 updates, we recommend that you have installed the latest SSU update for Windows Server 2012 R2. For more information, see  ADV990001 | Latest Servicing Stack Updates .

File information

For a list of the files that are provided in this update, download the file information for update KB5037426 .

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Plan to watch the April 2024 total solar eclipse? Scientists need your help.

Scientists are putting out a call for people across the country to help them observe the effects of one of the largest natural wonders of the year – the total eclipse of the sun that will cover much of the United States on April 8 .

People inside or near the totality can sign up to take part in at least four different projects, from watching animal behavior to photographing the sun's corona , weather permitting , to recording the soundscape of the eclipse. There are also state-level projects being organized in Indiana, Ohio and elsewhere.

Here are ways to take part in a national effort to gather information from this rare celestial event.

Watch how animals respond to the eclipse

For the 2017 solar eclipse, Adam Hartstone-Rose, a professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University, set up an experiment to observe zoo animals as darkness fell. To their surprise, more than two-thirds of the animals exhibited changed behavior, some of it extreme .

For 2024 he's going national. The project is called SolarEclipseSafari.org . Taking part won’t interfere with the eclipse experience but will help scientists collate information about how animals react both inside the totality and in areas where there’s only partial darkness.

Volunteers will be asked to observe and report on animals near them, including pets, farm and wild animals, and record how they behave during the eclipse. Do they look towards the sky, do they group together, do they get ready for sleep or wake up?

By signing up , volunteers will get information about how to collect animal behavior data either on a phone or tablet or using printed data collection sheets.

“So far we’ve gotten over 1,000 people signed up but we’re hoping for thousands,” said Hartstone-Rose.

People can go out into nature to observe wildlife, watch their pets at home or head to local farms to observe the stock.

“I'm super keen to hear about farm animals," said Hartstone-Rose. "What will the cows, sheep and chickens do? Will roosters start crowing?”

Help NASA study the sun through photography

This one's for people who plan to photograph the eclipse with cameras on tripods.

Photographers can help NASA scientists study the Sun’s outer atmosphere – the corona – which is revealed during totality. The corona is the birthplace of the solar wind, the stream of particles and material flowing from the Sun that can impact the Earth, and the best time to observe it is during a total solar eclipse.

But the full eclipse, or totality, only lasts for four-and-a-half minutes at a maximum in any one place, which isn't long enough to watch the coronal change. NASA hopes to gather photographs from across the 90 minutes during which the Moon’s shadow crosses from Mexico to Canada.

These will then be combined into movies that will reveal otherwise difficult-to-observe activity in the corona.

You can sign up to be part of the Eclipse Megamovie here .

Listen to the sudden silence of the eclipse

One of the striking experiences of an eclipse is how animals, birds and insects fall silent as the darkness approaches. "As the moon's shadow engulfs the sun in a total solar eclipse, a unique symphony unfolds – a symphony not of sight, but of silence and surprise," is how the researchers put it.

They're asking the public to help them record what happens during the eclipse across North America, part of an effort that revisits an eclipse study from 90 years ago that showed that animals and insects are affected by solar eclipses.

The Eclipse Soundscapes project will be collecting observations and recorded sound data to help understand the impact of the 2024 solar eclipses on various U.S. ecosystems. To participate, observers will need to sign up in advance to get.

Get out your ham radio

This one's for the more than half-a-million ham radio operators in the United States.

On the ground during an eclipse darkness temperatures drop and wind patterns change but high above – 100 to 400 miles up in the ionosphere – these effects are amplified as much as a hundred times.

The NASA-funded Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation asks ham radio operators across the country to attempt to send and receive signals to one another before, during, and after the eclipse.

Amateur radio (ham radio) bounces radio signals off the Earth’s ionosphere to communicate with other operators beyond the horizon. By measuring the strength of those signals information about the height, density and dynamics of the ionosphere can be collected.

The data collected will help assess how widespread the changes in the ionosphere are and compare the results to computer models. It's being led Nathaniel Frissell, a professor of physics and Engineering at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.

How open primarys could help SD; a thank you from a veteran: Your letters

Your letters to the editor for March 31, 2024:

Open primaries would empower independent voters

South Dakota Open Primaries is a statewide group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents dedicated to reshaping our election system to make it fairer and more competitive. We are gathering 50,000 signatures to be filed by May 7th. South Dakotans have been receptive to this idea once they hear our proposal.Our top-two primaries constitutional proposal eliminates separate ballots for each party. All registered South Dakota voters would get the same primary election ballot. It would cover the three congressional offices, the governor, the legislature and county offices. It would be a South Dakota primary, not a Republican or Democrat primary. Candidates will have more competition to get into office, and they’ll have to tailor their message to appeal to large numbers of South Dakotans, not just a partisan few.There are currently 150,000 independent or unaffiliated voters in South Dakota. That’s over a quarter of the state’s registered voters. Many have disengaged from the highly charged partisanship that characterizes today’s politics. Their taxes pay for the primaries they can’t vote in and the salaries of the people they have no part in electing. Open primaries would empower them with a meaningful role in the political process.

− Joe Kirby, Sioux Falls

Thank you for taking care of me, Sioux Falls VA.

Being a resident of Sioux Falls since 1946 I have watched this amazing city grow from 45,000 to its current 215,000. After 3 years 3 months in the US Army and 6 years in the US Navy Seabees, I have had the privilege of having any and all my medical needs addressed at the finest military hospital in the country, between Western and Garfield Ave, 22nd and 26th street in Sioux Falls SD. From the valet parking, to every room or desk at that facility the staff is exceptional by the way everything is explained and respect for our military commitment is obviously displayed. The coordination between the various departments pertaining to issues us old people deal with is admirable. I believe I have reached the age of 83 because of the last 30 years being treated by that very fine hospital. Thank each and every one of you for all you do at the Sioux Falls SD Veterans Hospital.

− Paul Dysart, Tea

More: How to define student success; Leah Anderson deserves an apology: Your letters

Is South Dakota still the land of the free and for whom?

What you are about to read may shock you and it sure as heck should stir up about as much outrage, blind-sidedness, and deception that a SD born and raised landowner can take! First, those outrageous, false tv ads about protecting landowner rights have purposefully aired as total misinformation to intentionally sway folks to believe that SD landowner rights are being held in the state government's, Summit Carbon's and its supporter's best interests. Second, our state government majority leaders, backed by Governor Noem have outright betrayed us all by touting and reinforcing these same untruths everywhere in the media and in the legislature. 

On March 6, 2024, the " Summit Carbon Bill of Rights" legislation in the form of HB 1185, HB 1186, & SB 201 coalesced exactly as Summit and supporters wanted. Through the tireless work of Summit's allies and lobbyists, Rep. Will Mortenson and Sen. Casey Crabtree, SD landowners and counties are now some of the worst protected in the country when it comes to eminent domain and having any chance against huge private pipeline corporations hungry to force their will upon landowners and counties.

None of this legislation protects landowners from the abuses of Summit. Eminent domain and invasive destructive land surveys against property owner's will were both ignored. Each of the so-called landowner rights describes what landowners can already obtain, Summit has already agreed to do, or the law already allows. The bills are 100% pro-pipeline as they effectively kill local control, destroy the discretion of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and handcuff them from doing their job as they have since 1975.

In 2023, SD landowners and counties pulled off two historic fair and square PUC victories against hazardous Co2 pipelines. After that, corporate lobbyists and legislators rallied and decidedly changed the rules in the middle of the game. Losing on merit and under laws since statehood, they "gamed" the system and laws in their favor, creating the above-mentioned bills. We now have less  landowner protections than Iowa or Minnesota. Governor Noem, is SD still the land of the free? Or free, meaning just for big corporations she's backing under "SD We're Open for Business" all at the expense of SD landowner rights? How could this happen in SD? Landowners' voices were simply shut out - when they made suggestions and offered solutions, they were ignored. Every committee hearing was just a formality with the outcome predetermined, leaving landowners frustrated, receiving nothing they asked for. The real "work" occurred in secret meetings orchestrated by Summit's lobbyists and hand-picked friendly legislators. For more eye-opening truths and the rest of the story, Google this powerful YouTube video "Fighting the Eminent Domain Takeover of Farms and Ranches" with SD's Amanda Radke. 

− RJ and Lisa Wright, Brandon

More: Noem should stay away from the border; how to stop election-deniers: Your letters

Humility is important in leadership, even in high school sports

I read the article about the Class A boy's basketball championship game in the Monday Argus Leader. I am amazed that the Sioux Falls Christian boy's coach, who was quoted throughout the article never once made a reference to the Sioux Falls Christian opponents in that game. Never once did he pay his respects to the team than beat them on Saturday night.Having once been a coach and teacher, I realize the pain that his entire team must have felt after that game was over. I am from the Hamlin district. I grew up in Hayti, and believe me, we had some pretty fair basketball teams up in that area during the '50's and 60's. Every coach we ever had in Hayti would have paid their respects to a victorious opponent in defeat.It speaks volumes that Coach Scouten didn't in this article. Hamlin played a very good game. It was exciting to watch. The two best teams in the tournament played each other for all the marbles, and the best team on that night won. Sioux Falls Christian has an outstanding team. They showed guts coming back the way they did. Hamlin showed determination holding them off and the team that won was the team that made the least mistakes at critical moments.It is unfortunate that someone had to lose that game, but they don't allow them to end up in ties. A little acknowledgement of your opponent in defeat would have been appropriate. It would have been a really good example if for no one else, for his players.Now if Coach Schouten did acknowledge the efforts of his opponents that led to the victory and congratulated them during the course of the interview that led up to the article, then the responsiblility for the omission of respect that should have been paid to the victor that is missing from the article lies elsewhere.Humility in a leader is not a bad thing when dealing with young people. It is a wonderful trait for a coach to exemplify.I hope to see these two teams meet again next season. I hope both coaches coach their best game and both teams play their best game, but most importantly I hope the next time they meet that both the winners and the losers pay the respect to their opponents that is due them.

− Randy Amundson, Sioux Falls

Not voting is still a vote for Trump

Dace Potas of USA Today stomped his foot recently as a Guest Columnist in the Argus – a prolonged whine about the dearth of desirable candidates in the upcoming presidential election. What’s a poor, principled young conservative to do? He concludes with this pronouncement – “If neither party will give us candidates worth voting for, I simply won’t.”

I beg Mr. Potas to  Grow Up . The plea extends sincerely to all of us, left and right, who are frustrated with the choice that is almost certain to evolve: Biden vs. Trump. 

I would not try to convince a Trump supporter to consider otherwise at the polls. That ship has sailed - into a different universe. If I could find it, I would not go there.

But, Mr Potas - this is definitely not an election where you get to vote for your candidate, the best guy, the one you truly support. This is an election where you suck it up and vote for the candidate most likely to defeat Donald Trump. Period. Any shred of critical thinking should lead to the same conclusion regarding this election: It will be close, maybe  very  close, and not voting is simply voting for Donald Trump with your middle finger. If you are OK with that possible outcome, shame. If not – grow up and cast a meaningful ballot.

This is possibly a Lincoln moment. Self-indulgent nihilism is not allowed; juvenile pouts deserve no haven; understandable and righteous frustration needs be checked at the door. That’s hard – especially this time around. But the  Democracy  part of a Democratic Republic may be at stake. Deep breath. Clench hard and vote  against  a candidate - and do it  effectively . Please!

−Jeffery Smith, Sioux Falls

How to submit a letter to the editor: 

Letters need to be roughly 300 to 500 words, and will need to include first and last name, address, city and title. Addresses won’t be publicized, of course, but it’s a way for us to make sure those who submit a letter are who they say they are.

Letters will run on Sundays in print and online as we receive them. There may be moments, however, when we don't have any as we work to solicit interest and actively rebuild this part of our coverage for readers. 

You can submit those to News Director Shelly Conlon by emailing [email protected] or submit them through our online form  here , which also is sent directly to the news director.