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The thesis of an essay is its main or controlling idea, the point the writer is trying to make. The thesis is often expressed in a one- or two-sentence statement, although sometimes it is implied or suggested rather than stated directly. The thesis statement determines the content of the essay developed in every paragraph.

Because everything you say in your composition must be logically related to your thesis, the thesis statement controls and directs the choices you make about the content of your essay. This does not mean that your thesis statement is a straitjacket. As your essay develops, you may want to modify your thesis statement to accommodate your new thinking. This urge is not only acceptable but also normal.

A thesis statement should be

the most important point you make about your topic;

debatable, or open to an opposing argument;

more general than the ideas and facts used to support it; and

appropriately focused for the length of your paper.

A thesis statement is not a question but an assertion — a claim made about a debatable issue that can be supported with evidence. The word “debatable” is important here. If your argument has no opposing argument, it is not itself an argument.

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Strategies for Developing A Thesis Deciding on a direction for your essay and writing a thesis can be a daunting task, but below are some strategies that will help you brainstorm a working thesis. For more information on thesis statements, including steps to develop them, see Chapter 1, pages 13–19.

Ask a Question

One way to develop a working thesis is to determine what question you are trying to answer in your essay. A one- or two-sentence answer to this question often produces a tentative thesis statement. For example, a student wanted to answer a question about gendered speaking styles, and after a working answer and two drafts, she modified her thesis statement:

QUESTION: Do men and women have different conversational speaking

styles?

PRELIMINARY

ANSWER:

Men and women appear to have different objectives when

they converse.

MODIFIED

THESIS:

Very often, conversations between men and women become

situations in which the man gives a mini- lecture and the woman unwittingly turns into a captive audience.

Complete the Sentence

Another effective strategy for developing a thesis statement is to begin by writing “What I want to say is that . . .”

What I want to say is that unless the university administration enforces a strong anti-hazing

policy, the well-being of many of its student-athletes will be endangered.

Later, when you delete the formulaic opening, you will be left with a thesis statement:

Unless the university administration enforces a strong anti-hazing policy, the well-being of many

of its student- athletes will be endangered.

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Location of the Thesis Usually the thesis is presented early in the essay, sometimes in the first sentence. Here are some examples of strong thesis statements:

Mutual respect is the most important ingredient in a healthy marriage.

Mark Twain’s great contribution to American literature is his use of vernacular English, and this is no more

pronounced than in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Professional sports organizations need to address the long-term effects of player concussions with rule changes and

more technologically advanced equipment.

Many people believe that the American legal system is flooded with frivolous lawsuits, but there is little agreement

on what is meant by “frivolous.”

Each of these sentences does what a good thesis statement should do: it identifies the topic and makes an assertion about it.

Often writers prepare readers for the thesis statement with one or several sentences that establish a context. Notice in the following example how the author eases the reader into his thesis about the stages of life instead of presenting it abruptly in the first sentence:

There used to be four common life phases: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Now, there are at

least six: childhood, adolescence, odyssey, adulthood, active retirement, and old age. Of the new ones, the least

understood is odyssey, the decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood.

—David Brooks, “The Odyssey Years”

On occasion a writer may even purposely delay the presentation of a thesis until the middle or the end of an essay. If the thesis is controversial or needs extended discussion and illustration, the writer might present it later to make it easier for the reader to understand and accept it. Appearing near or at the end of an essay, a thesis also gains prominence. For example, after an involved discussion about why various groups put pressure on school libraries to ban books, a student ended an essay with her thesis:

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Some kinds of writing do not need thesis statements. These include descriptions, narratives, and personal writing such as letters and diaries. But any essay that seeks to explain or prove a point has a thesis that is usually set forth in a formal thesis statement.

For more information on thesis statements, see Chapter 1, pages 13–19.

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Lucy and Her Friends

Laura Lee

Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1969, Laura Lee is a producer of ballet education tours as well as a writer on diverse topics

of general interest. Her publications include over a dozen nonfiction works, including The Name’s Familiar (1999), Bad

Predictions (2000), The Pocket Encyclopedia of Aggravation (2001), and Broke Is Beautiful (2010); a novel, Angel (2015); and a

children’s nonfiction book, Child’s Introduction to Ballet: The Stories, Music, and Magic of Classical Dance (2007), with

Meredith Hamilton. Lee’s father, Albert Lee, wrote a book about weather, Weather Wisdom (1976), which gave her the

idea for updating the book and expanding upon it. The result is Blame It On the Rain (2006), from which this excerpt is

taken.

In this selection, Lee explores the connection between weather and one of the most famous finds in archeology: the

discovery of the bones of an ancient hominid who came to be called “Lucy.” As you read, pay attention to how Lee uses

other examples to support her thesis that weather can be the friend of the archaeologist.

Reflecting on What You Know

Think of a time when you came upon an unexpected discovery of your own. It could be that you learned something new

about a subject you thought you already understood, or maybe it was about a person in your life. What circumstances led

to your discovery? How did this discovery change your understanding of that subject or person?

The entire field of archaeology1 owes a debt to Mother Nature. The same flash floods and storms that bury and preserve bones and fossils uncover them centuries later, giving scientists and historians a new window into the past. While many archaeological discoveries are the result of painstaking research, some involve a great deal of luck—and fortunate weather.

Take for example Lucy. In November 1974 anthropologist Donald Johanson and his graduate student, Tom Gray, were fossil hunting in Hadar, Ethiopia. As they searched along a gully, they spotted a bone sticking out of some soil that had been eroded by a recent flash flood. The bone, hidden for millions of years in sediment and volcanic ash, was just the beginning. After three weeks of excavation, Johanson and his team found several hundred