2.1: Purpose- Topics and Thesis Statements

Why are you writing? What do you hope to accomplish with your essay? Are you arguing for a particular course of action? Do you seek to inform your audience about a specific topic? Do you want them to know something about you or your life? Do you want to make them laugh? Cry? No matter the case, all writing (like most forms of communication) needs a purpose. The first question you need to ask yourself is, Why? Knowing why you are writing will give direction to your essay and meaning to your writing and will help prevent the essay from seeming like a random collection of facts and ideas.

Central Idea: Subject/Topic

An essay focuses on a central idea or concept. The main idea can be nearly anything but often needs to be narrowed down to a specific topic. For example, let’s say you are writing a paper for a Psychology class. A general subject for an essay might be “abnormal psychology.” Now, unless you are writing an entire book, there’s no way you can explore this idea with any level of depth in just a few pages, so you need to narrow it down to a more specific topic. What, specifically, within that subject of “abnormal psychology” would you like to explore? School shootings and the motivations behind them have been a current topic. A psychological examination of school shooters could be a fascinating essay, and the topic is now sufficiently narrowed.

Consider as well the resume example we mentioned earlier. The general subject of the resume would be “get a job.” The narrower topic would be “to get a specific job.” Imagine you are a hiring manager and you have two resumes (or cover letters) in front of you. One has a generic statement of purpose, and the other has a specific statement tailored for that position and company and how the applicant would be the perfect fit. Which person would you call for an interview?

An academic essay is no different. A specific identified topic lets your reader know what they are getting and give you, as the author, a clear idea to start from. A thesis statement is just a clarification of your narrowed topic and how you will apply it. The prompts you are given for assignments will also help you establish your topics for paper, so be sure to read them attentively.

Thesis Statement

Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? You probably had trouble following their train of thought as they 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 they told the end of the story first, then moved to the beginning and later added details to the middle. Their ideas were probably scattered, and the story did not flow very well. When the story was over, you may have been left with more questions than answers.

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. 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. Early on in the writing process, you should have a thesis statement, but be prepared to modify it as you get further into the planning and then drafting of your essay—especially if you sense that your thinking about the subject is shifting away from what you originally thought.

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 a no. You have to form a specific opinion and 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 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?” Answering that 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 you can demonstrate 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.

See this video for a step-by-step tutorial on building a 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 aspect of that topic, such as options for individuals without health care.

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 people 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 those limited effects, such as whom they affect and what their cause(s) is/are.

Ability to be argued. A thesis statement must present a relevant and specific argument. A factual statement—“The sky is blue”—often is not considered arguable. “The sky is bluer in Kansas than it is in Texas,” however, is 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. A sky’s blueness is certainly observable by any sighted person, but is it also measurable? 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 reader’s sense of your confidence because those phrases imply that you are the only person who feels the way you do, or they can sound almost apologetic: “It’s just my opinion!” In other words, your reader will feel that 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.

For example, a thesis statement like, “Colleges should abolish grades, because they do not show students’ true abilities” states a clear opinion and gives a reason for that opinion. A reader now knows the basic point this paper will argue.

A thesis statement should never be a question, although it’s fine to begin your introduction with a question that leads your reader into your ideas. A thesis does not have to be argumentative or persuasive, but it must contain the main idea of your paper.

Pro-Tip: A note on style While some instructors do not mind if you telegraph your ideas with a phrase such as “In this paper I will prove. . .”, others find that unnecessarily wordy. There is no need to announce your plans to make a point: the entire paper is evidence that you plan to make some point. Just state your opinion. And speaking of opinions, there is also no need to introduce your thesis with “in my opinion.” The paper is yours: your instructor will hope and assume that any opinions therein are also yours unless you use a signal phrase and a citation to show that they belong to someone else. For this same reason, many instructors will tell you not to use 1st-person forms of address in your paper: your reader already knows this writing is expressing what you think.