THESIS STATEMENTS:
The thesis statement is the most
important sentence in your entire essay. It controls the essay and acts
as a promise to the reader of what is to come. It is like an envelope that
all further statements must fit into. It must be broad enough to incorporate
all of the ideas that come after it. The thesis statement, without
exception, appears last in your introductory paragraph. All of
your topic sentences that lead off the body paragraphs must flow directly
from the THESIS in such a way that if I took your THESIS statement and
the first sentence from each body paragraph, and added your last sentence
from the conclusion paragraph, they would all fit together into a cohesive
paragraph. That's how closely they relate to one another, so as you edit
your essays, try that technique to make sure your essay is UNIFIED. Your
thesis statement is just that, a statement. It is never a
question. It never gives both sides of an issue. It is a statement of opinion
(also called controlling idea), never a statement of fact. Facts cannot
be disputed, so they do not belong as THESIS statements. You cannot give
a personal preference as a THESIS because I cannot dispute that either.
Never announce your topics like you're giving a speech by saying "I'm going
to write about..." or "I am going to discuss..." or "In my paper, I will..."
or "In my opinion...". Lastly, NEVER use pronouns for your topic in your
thesis statement. It must stand alone in describing your essay.
Never put your thesis anywhere besides
the last sentence of your Intro.
Never use a question as your thesis.
Never "talk" to the reader by saying
"I will show", "I think", and so on.
Never use a fact as a thesis.
Never give two topics in a thesis;
stick to one focused viewpoint.
Never give a personal preference.
You can say that rock music is better than country music, but you can't
say "I like
rock music better than country." See the difference?
Never use pronouns for your topic
in your thesis.
Here are some examples of
wrong THESIS statements and explanations.
| WRONG: | REASON | EXPLANATION |
| I prefer rock music to classical. | personal preference | cannot be disputed |
| Why do people continue to eat animals? | question form | no controlling idea, no statement |
| Some people are Democrats, and some are Republican. | fact | two issues, no controlling idea |
| There are advantages and disadvantages to marrying young. | two issues | choose one viewpoint, not both |
| I am going to write about cars. | don't announce topic | no controlling idea |
| It was the worst day of my life. | Pronoun for topic | doesn't stand alone |
| He was the best friend I ever had. | Pronoun for topic | doesn't stand alone. |
CORRECTED THESIS STATEMENTS:
Rock music has advantages over
classical music.
People should stop eating animals.
Republicans are too concerned about
taxes.
It is better for people to marry
after the age of thirty.
Japanese cars are made better than
American cars.
The day my husband died was the
worst day of my life.
Joshua Brown was the best friend
I ever had.
PARAGRAPHING and TOPIC SENTENCES:
The breakdown of a good paragraph is the same as the breakdown of a good essay, and vice versa. A paragraph begins with a TOPIC SENTENCE, which gives the main idea, called the topic, AND it contains AN OPINION about that topic, just like the THESIS statement of an essay. You can't have a fact as a topic sentence; there must be some kind of opinion or COMMENT about the topic that might be argued against. Take the simple quiz below, and see if you have determined which topic sentences are acceptable and which are not. Then, we'll go on...
Changing the oil in cars is an easy process. Acceptable: opinion Coastline College is a terrific place to get an education Acceptable: opinion The annual rainfall in Hawaii is over three hundred inches. Not acceptable: fact My father's name is John. Not acceptable: fact I graduated in May of 1987. Not acceptable: fact The comments were underlined in the correct sentences above. The sentences that come after the topic sentence are the body of the paragraph, like the the three paragraphs in an essay are the essay's body. They are your facts, statistics, examples, all the items of proof that you can give to convince the reader of the truth of your topic sentence. There should be a minimum of three supporting sentences in the paragraph's body, and then you conclude your paragraph by tying up its loose ends and/or linking it to the next paragraph with transition words. The MINIMUM number of sentences for a paragraph, then, including the Introduction and conclusion, is five, but I would not write just to the minimum because it will likely fall under the 1,000 word minimum words and not have enough detail.