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As a college student, you will be doing a lot of research and writing, even if you are not majoring in English. College level writing assignments differ from high school, as college professors are looking for strong and solid thesis statements within your writing. Usually a thesis statement can make or break your paper, so it is best that you perfect the art of crafting a well-written thesis statement.
What is a thesis statement?
Thesis statements are basically the main idea of your paper. Your thesis statement can range anywhere from one sentence (recommended) to a short paragraph depending on professor requirements. It should contain the preface of what is to come in the rest of the paper. It should be insightful, well researched and interesting enough to make your audience want to continue on to the rest of the paper.
How do you write a solid statement?
Usually solid thesis statements engage the reader by giving them an idea of what the paper is about. In order to write a good thesis statement, you need to gather up your main topic of your paper, and craft it into one sentence. If your paper is about balancing the federal budget, then you should state that in a well-written statement at the beginning of your paper. Your thesis should be focused and should state not only the main idea or topic, but should be a bit more specific to your individual paper. You should be prepared to defend and back your thesis statement throughout the rest of your paper.
How do you know if you have a good thesis statement?
Your thesis statement is the most important part of your paper. Since it “makes” the paper, it is important that you spend time writing a good statement. So how can you be sure your statement makes the grade?
- Be specific: Your statement should not be general. It should be a specific idea based off of your general topic.
- Defend: If you are writing an argumentative essay, then your thesis statement should set the groundwork and you should be ready to use the rest of your essay to defend your thesis.
- Personal opinion: Try to leave out personal opinion in your thesis, and instead derive your statement on fact. The only time you may be able to get away with any type of personal belief in your thesis is if you are writing an opinionated essay; even then you should use that first sentence or two to lay the groundwork and then use the rest of the paper for your opinion and defense.
- Support: Be sure to back your thesis up with facts as this will make your thesis stronger and more worthy of respect.
Since the thesis is a very important part of your paper, be sure you spend time coming up with one that is catchy, informative, and thoughtful. When in doubt, you can always ask your professor for help or even visit the writing center on your college campus. This way you can have someone evaluate your thesis and point out areas where you can improve, if necessary.
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