Thesis Statements

Thesis Statements
WHAT IS A THESIS?
Probably the most common requirement for papers in the humanities and social sciences is that they have a
thesis. The thesis is often defined as a paper’s “main claim” or “argument,” but what one looks like varies
from discipline to discipline (and even paper to paper). However, there are some common guidelines to
writing a solid thesis statement.
A thesis should not be:
 The topic of your paper
 A commonly-accepted fact
 Your unsupported opinion on the subject matter
A thesis should be:
 Contestable: the claim or assertion in your thesis should be something a reasonable person could
disagree with.
 Appropriate: The thesis should respond your instructor’s assignment prompt. If the prompt asks an
open-ended question, your thesis should answer it. If the prompt asks you to pick a topic, your thesis
should not only identify your topic, but make a specific and focused argument about it (see
“Contestable,” above).
 Focused: Your thesis should account for the scope of your paper. Your thesis should be specific enough
to be thoroughly proven in the length of your paper.
The following are examples of poor thesis statements:

1. “This paper discusses the cost of higher education.’”
2. “The industrial revolution caused many changes in British society.”
3. “Slaughterhouse-Five is a very funny book.”

1 and #2 are not contestable. #3 is contestable, but is not focused enough to guide a paper (it’s also not an

appropriate answer to a college-level prompt). If we were to revise these thesis statements, they might look
something like:

1. “The financial benefits of a post-secondary degree are no longer worth the high cost of college.” (A
   reasonable person could argue that financial (or other) benefits are worth the cost of college).
2. “The vast urban slums that sprung up during the British industrial revolution caused a moral panic
   among the upper classes, who developed a system of social institutions – schools, prisons, and hospitals –
   to control the ‘vices’ of this new working class population.” (A reasonable person could argue that these
   institutions were developed for other reasons/purposes).
3. “Slaughterhouse-Five most effectively uses black humor when it satirizes America’s attitude towards foreign
   wars.” (The revised thesis specifies and expands on the place and purpose of the novel’s humor).
   WHERE DOES A THESIS GO?
   Common practice dictates that your thesis is the last sentence in your introduction, but this is not a hard-andfast rule. Sometimes, it makes sense to give the reader several paragraphs of background information before
   introducing your thesis. Longer, complex theses often take up a whole (short) paragraph. In some types of
   writing, the thesis does not come until the very end of the piece. No matter where your thesis falls, though,
   your introduction should make the direction of your paper clear.