How to come up with an operational thesis statement

Writing in college is some form of persuasiveness or the ability to convince that you have an exciting and logical perspective that anchors on a specific subject. Persuasion is a skill that you practice day in day out, for instance, when you persuade your parent to use their car when you convince your friend to clean up the room and so on.  As such, in college writing, you have to persuade the reader to your point of view. This is what is called academic argument, which follows a predictable format of writing.  Once you write a brief introduction to your topic, you give your perspective on it often in one or two sentences.  This is what is called a thesis statement which summarises the argument that you are about to make in the entire academic paper.

Defining your thesis statement

Before we delve into the technicalities of how to write a thesis statement, let us first understand what a thesis statement is? A thesis statement is a sentence that tells the readers your interpretation and significance of the subject that you are discussing. It is the blueprint for the paper, which tells the audience what to expect from the entire discussion. A thesis statement answers the question of you. In other words, it is an interpretation of the questions on the subject as opposed to the subject itself.

For instance, a subject may be about World War 2, but your thesis statement is supposed to be a way to understand the war. It must make a claim that might be disputed by others. In most cases, a single sentence appears at the end of your introduction to the paper presenting your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper has the responsibility of ensuring that the reader is convinced by the logic of your interpretation.

Depending on the assignment that you have, you can take a position on the issue or develop a claim about it. As such, you may need to convey that claiming a thesis statement at the beginning of your drat. Sometimes the assignment may not explicitly say you need a thesis statement, but your instructor may expect you to come up with one. If you are not velar on this, it is always good to seek clarity.

If your assignments demand that you analyze, interpret, compare, and contrast, demonstrate cause and effect or take a stand on a subject, you are likely being required to formulate a thesis statement and support it persuasively.

It does no matter if you are writing a dissertation, a short essay, or a research paper, but the development of a thesis statement can get tricky at times.  Fortunately, there are some rudiments that you can follow to ensure that you come up with an effective thesis statement. Not it is time to get into the technicalities of how to write a thesis statement, now that you know what a thesis statement is.

Formulating a great thesis statement

One of the ways of how to write a thesis statement is to:

Start with a question, then making your answer your thesis

Irrespective of how complicated the subject seems to be, you can construct your thesis to answer the question.

Tailor your thesis to the type of paper that you are handling

Not every essay teaches and not every essay persuades. As such, your goal here is to find the best thesis statement through the goals of your paper. Your thesis statements can be analytical, where you break down something to better examine and understand it. It can also be expository where you teach and illuminate a point. Your thesis statement can be argumentative in that you make a claim, back up an opinion with a target to change the minds of the audience.

Take a stance and make your thesis more powerful

Another way of how to write a thesis statement is to take a stand on an issue and address it.  This must be done in detail to make sure you support our points fully in the body of the paper.

Make an argument you have never seen before

You can find the best theses in a novel and an exciting way to approach it because it is dynamic and fresh, giving the same energy to your essay.

Your thesis should be provable

Do not come up with a thesis statement that you will end up looking it up later. Your thesis statement is your end of your paper, and you need to know how to write a thesis statement that you will back up with enough evidence.

Getting the right thesis statement

If you know how to write a thesis statement, you understand that getting it right is important. This is how you ensure you have the right thesis statement.

Stating your thesis statement correctly

The reader knows the points or argument that you wish to make in the paper through your thesis statement. The roadmap tells the reader the direction of your paper or analysis and your interpretation of the importance of the subject.  Simply put, your thesis statement answers the “what?” question in your paper. More so, it asserts instead of observing or giving a mere fact. The support of your thesis statement comes from your facts.

A thesis statement takes a stand, announcing your stand on the subject. It is the main idea that explains your intentions in the paper. It answers a specific question and explains how you are going to support your argument. Your thesis statement ought to be debatable. Someone ought to argue an alternate position, or on the other hand, support your claim on the subject.

Get the sound right

Ensure that your thesis statement is identifiable as it is supposed to be. To achieve this, you must approach it with a particular ton using different kinds of specific phrases and words. You cause the words like “because” and a firm and definitive language. Your tone ought to be frank.

Know exactly where to place it

If you know how to write a thesis statement, then you ought to know where to place it. Since a thesis statement has a role to play, it must come at the end of the first paragraph of your paper. Although sometimes the audience looks for your thesis statement at the end of your first paragraph, where it appears is contingent on some factors. The length of the introduction matters before you can introduce your thesis statement.  The length of your paper also matters a lot, and it affects where you put your thesis statement.

Put it in a maximum of two sentences

One of the significant aspects on knowing how to write a thesis statement is to limit its length.  You can put it inone or two sentences because a thesis statement is supposed to be clear and direct to the point. This helps the reader identify the topic and direction of your paper and your position on the subject. As such, you ought to make it simple and short.

Finding the perfect this statement

You need not just know how to write a thesis statement; you need to know how you can come up with the perfect thesis statement. To do this, you need to:

Select a topic that piques your interest

Every time you are writing an academic paper, this must be the first step when you are trying to figure out what your thesis statement will be. The direction of the entirepaper depends on the king of thetopic you are handling. However, this step becomes redundant if the topic has already been chosen for you.

Explore the topic

Before you can even think of how to write a thesis statement, you have to narrow your topic to a subject about which you can make your argument. For instance, the topic of computers. There are many aspects that you can expand on some of which include software, hardware, and programming. However, these are vague topics, and you would rather deal with some of the contributions of notable people to the computer industry.

The type, purpose and the audience of your paper are crucial

The instructor usually assigns these. However, if you are choosing them, understand that these factors will affect your thesis statement greatly.  If you are handling a persuasive paper, you must prove something to a specific audience. Your descriptive paper must describe something to a specific audience. Each of these aspects must be evident in your thesis statement.

Follow a rigid structure

If you know the basic formula, you will be able to keep your thesis statement within the acceptable length, and also, you will be able to see how you are going to organise your entire argument. Your thesis statement ought to have two parts, which include:

• A clear topic or subject matter
• A summary of what you intend to say
• An alternate way of looking at  your thesis as a formula or a pattern that  comfortably holds your ideas

Write down your thesis statement

So far, you have the idea of how to come up with a thesis statement. If you are able to write down a preliminary thesis, you are in the right direction and are ae to think and develop, your ideas further, thereby clarifying the contents of your paper. You are able to think about the contents of your paper and your thesis statement logically, clearly and concisely.

You can employ two schools of thoughts in thesis timing. There are those who do not buy the idea of writing a paper without a thesis statement even if you have to alter it slightly as you finish. Others argue that you probably do not know about your direction until you get there so you cannot write your thesis statement until you clearly know where your paper is headed. However, you ought to do what seems best for you.

If you think you have a final working version, you can analyse your thesis statement

The point here is to ensure you donot make mistakes that can make your thesis statement weak.  If you want a better idea of what to do and what not to do, consider the following:

• Do not frame your thesis statement as a question because it is supposed to answer the question
• Do not make it a list because too many variables will veer off the topic. it should be brief and concise
• Do not mention a new topic  you do not intend to discuss in the paper
• Never write your thesis statement  in the first person
• Do not sound combative because you want to convince someone of your position on the subject. The idea here is to make the audience listen to you,and you achieve this by using an open-minded tone that allows for common ground between conflictingideas.

Know that your thesis statement is not supposed to be absolute

You ought to consider it a working thesis that is subject to change.  As you write your paper, you will discover changes in your opinion or the direction you have taken on the subject has slightly veered off. As such, you need to continue re-reading your thesis statement-making comparisons with your paper and making the necessary changes to ensure the two match. After you have finished your paper, revisit your thesis statement and determine if it needs another revision.

Writing your thesis statement becomes easy if you follow these steps. Remember that the success of your paper pegs on how well you express your thesis statement and how well you defend it. The more you understand the technicalities of how to write a thesis statement, the more conversant you become with it. Your writing skills are also evident in the way you express your opinion based on the type of thesis statement that you come up with. Lastly, keep practicing on how you can write better thesis statements.