Writing a good thesis statement can be a challenging task, but it is crucial to the success of an academic paper. Here are some tips on how to write a good thesis statement:
To write a good thesis statement, you should follow these steps:
Once you have written a thesis statement, read it over carefully to make sure that it is clear, concise, specific, arguable, and relevant to your paper.
In academic writing, the "thesis" statement is known as the "purpose statement"—and its job is to tell readers, in broad but strong language, what the paper will do. Will it compare, analyze, investigate, present a new theory, etc.? The purpose statement must be very carefully worded, because it gives the paper's general argument (the most important thing in the paper) and will appear, word for word, in both the abstract (usually) and the introduction. In most papers in the social sciences and humanities, for example, it must appear no later than the start of the 4th paragraph, with double-spacing, 2.5 cm. margins, and no paragraph longer than 14 lines of type.
In other words, assuming that the abstract is on a separate page, the purpose statement appears roughly in the middle of the 2nd double-spaced page. English readers expect the purpose statement to appear no later than that position. If they have to keep on reading longer to find out what the purpose is, they will consider the paper badly written and stop reading.
Moreover, once you give the purpose statement, the remainder of that paragraph must be only about more specifics of your paper.
For more information, see American linguist John Swales' work on what he calls CARS ("Create a Research Space").
A thesis statement serves as a succinct summary of the core idea in your paper or essay, typically located towards the conclusion of your introduction. Effective thesis statements share these characteristics:
- Brevity: An ideal thesis statement is concise, avoiding unnecessary verbosity. It articulates your point directly and clearly in one or two sentences.
- Controversial: Your thesis should go beyond common knowledge and present a claim that necessitates additional evidence or analysis for support.
- Logical: Every element within your thesis statement should receive justification and elaboration within the subsequent sections of your paper.
Here is an example of a thesis template: https://researchbrains.com/a-thesis-format-for-phd-research/
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