Thesis Statement

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement is a clear sentence that provides the reader with the focus of
your essay. It states the specific topic and may list subtopics or subdivisions of
the main topic or subtopics. The thesis statement may also give an indication of
the pattern of organisation of your essay. In academic writing, the thesis
statement is most often placed as the last sentence in the introduction (although
this is not a must).

A thesis statement does not only help your reader to understand your essay
better. A good thesis will also serve as a guide when you are developing your
writing. If you find that you are writing ideas, which do not fit with the thesis
statement that you have presented, this means that you are going out of the
topic. If you find that after a few paragraphs, you have nothing else to write that
will fit into your topic, this means that your thesis statement is too restricting and
does not allow room for development.

Elements of a good thesis statement

A good thesis statement

 is a clear statement of your focus or the main idea that you want to
present in your writing,
 tells readers what you want them to believe, and
 provides a direction of how you intend to convince them, i.e. it may
provide the points you intend to use to support your main idea or just the
general direction.

What is not a thesis statement?

A thesis statement cannot be:

 a statement of fact – facts cannot be argued

Example 1

A person who intends to become a chartered accountant in Malaysia must

have a recognised accountancy qualification and relevant experience.

This is a fact – all you need to do is verify your source of information. It is

either true or false. Once the correct answer is proven, there is nothing
else that you can add on. You will have a very short essay.

Example 2

The Malaysian Institute of Accountants has legitimate reasons for making

it mandatory for chartered accountants to have an accountancy
qualification.

This is an opinion based on a fact. Your essay can be developed by

pointing out what those reasons are and why you consider those reasons
to be legitimate.

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 a question

Example 1

Should the government profit from student loans?

This does not help your readers to determine the direction of your essay.
Your answer may be yes; it may be no. Your readers may be in the same
position as well. If their answer to this question is a yes, they may expect
you to develop your arguments along the same line. When you don’t, the
readers may end up confused.

Example 2

Should the government profit from student loans?

In actual fact, the government has made the wrong decision by
charging interest because it creates many problems after the
student graduates.

opinion general direction

In the above example, the question is still being used but it is not the
thesis statement. The question is considered to be part of your
introduction. The answer that follows is the thesis statement, which
presents an opinion on the matter and a general direction of how the main
idea will be developed in the essay.

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How to write a thesis statement

To create a basic thesis statement, using this formula may help you:

TOPIC + OPINION = THESIS STATEMENT

e.g. The boycott of McDonalds in Malaysia + is something that should never have
happened.

topic opinion

To refine the thesis statement, add the subdivisions of your essay.

topic opinion

e.g. The boycott of McDonalds in Malaysia + is something that should never

have happened
+ as it is unfair to the workers + and does not help to solve the existing
problem.

subdivision 1 subdivision 2

It is clear from the thesis statement above that your essay will first discuss how
the incident is unfair to the workers before moving on to explain how it does not
contribute to a solution to the problem.

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Thesis Statement Exercise

Exercise 1: Forming Thesis Statements

Write possible thesis statements for the following questions so that they will
become effective for a 700 word essay.

1. Should Barbie be banned?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Textbooks should be replaced by iPads and online resources.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Should people be allowed to make "designer babies?"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Cell phones control our relationships.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Why do so many celebrities have terrible life problems?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6. What is the cause of the increase in child obesity?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

7. How can the rights of artists and writers be protected on the Internet?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

8. Should age discrimination be made legal in the workplace?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

9. Should civil servants be paid according to their performance?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

10. Should parents limit teenagers' use of social media?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………