Developing a Thesis Statement
Now that you've learned about your topic through research and developed your topic into a research question, you are ready to formulate a solid thesis statement. The thesis statement can be looked at as the answer to your research question. It guides the focus of your research and the direction of your arguments, and also prevents any unnecessary tangents within your project. A strong thesis statement will always make it easier to maintain a clear direction when writing your paper.
Thesis statements are one sentence long and are focused, clear, declarative, and written in third person voice.
- FOCUS on a single position or point of view in your thesis statement. You cannot effectively address multiple perspectives within a single paper, as you want to make coherent points to support your position.
- Present your argument or position clearly and precisely. A CLEAR thesis statement will avoid generalizations and make your position known.
- Present your position or point of view as a statement or DECLARATIVE sentence. Your research question helped guide your initial searching so you could learn more about your topic. Now that you have completed that step, you can extract a thesis statement based on the research you have discovered.
- Write your thesis statement in THIRD PERSON voice. Rather than addressing "I," "we," "you," "my," or "our" in your thesis, look at the larger issues that affect a greater number of participants. Think in terms like "citizens," "students," "artists," "teachers," "researchers," etc.