Thesis Statement Goals

A thesis statement should always seek to meet certain goals to be successful. No thesis statement will BE exactly the same, but they will always seek to DO the same things.

Goals:

Clearly written

• oA thesis statement should be written clearly and confidently. If too complex, the claim could be too challenging or misinterpreted and lost.

• Arguable and debatable

• oA thesis statement cannot be a worthy claim if it is just a fact. The ability for someone to disagree with you can make the conversation valuable.

• Concise

• oA thesis statement should only be 1-2 sentences. If it is too long, then you may overwhelm yourself or your reader.

• Argue how and/or why

• oTo avoid making a thesis too general or vague, ask yourself how and/or why you are making the claim. What are the specifics?

○ “Generality is the enemy of art.” – Konstantin Stanislavski

Create a roadmap and structure

• oWithout focus, the paper will be weak and aimless.
• oThe paper should reflect the thesis. This means that if you mention a few different topics in your thesis, then they should appear in the same order in the paper.
• oOnly include relevant points and information.

• Inform the reader

• oGive the readers expectations so the paper makes more sense.
• oThe thesis can tell the reader exactly what you believe or, at least, what you want to prove or disprove.
• oDo not mislead the reader by intentionally misinterpreting the research.