What to Know about Writing a Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is one of the most important parts of any writing assignment. Whether it is a one page descriptive essay, a five page research paper, or a twenty page dissertation, every writing assignment you do in your academic career will need a thesis statement. With as important as this one sentence in your paper is, many students have trouble writing a strong thesis statement. Here are some things you need to know about writing a thesis statement for your next writing assignment.

1. This important statement is one sentence that summarizes the entirety of your paper. If you had to tell someone what your paper will cover and what you talk about in it with just one sentence that would be your thesis statement.
2. Thesis statements belong in the first paragraph of your paper. They can be anywhere in the paragraph but most often are the last sentence of the paragraph; sometimes they are the first sentence.
3. This statement needs to mention the main points you are going to talk about in your body paragraphs. If you have five main points, they need to be mentioned in the thesis statement and they will have one paragraph each in your paper.
4. Your thesis statement acts like a road map and will help you keep your paper on track and focused. If something does not relate back to the thesis and the points you outline in it, then it does not need to be in your paper.
5. If you have a strong thesis you will have a better chance of having a strong paper. You need to put the time and effort into making a strong thesis. Without a good thesis statement, your paper will be weak, unorganized, and hard to read.

With these tips and pointers in mind, you are well on your way to writing a strong and focused thesis statement. Once you have this essential part of your paper written and fine tuned, you are ready to begin working on the meat of your paper. Remember how important this one sentence is. It sets the stage and tone for your entire paper, so make sure you give it the attention it deserves. If you skimp on the thesis statement, your entire paper will suffer as a result. So do yourself a favor and make sure you take care of the thesis statement so your paper can be the best that it possibly can be.