Thesis Sentences

On Thesis Sentences:

a. What does a thesis sentence do?

• • Roadmap for essay

    • • A good thesis sentence organizes your paper for you

  • Important (for now) to make it into ONE sentence because it forces your ideas to interact with one another

  • Formula, in case you're stuck:

• • • "Although . . . nevertheless . . . therefore/because"

• • Observation: good thesis sentences often have two or even three clauses.

• • • Each clause represents an idea. Hence, good thesis sentences tend to be longer than the average sentence.

• • I like students to make the thesis sentence the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.

• • • For now, however, you don't need to write a whole introduction—just the thesis sentence will suffice.

• • Be specific! Be longer rather than shorter

  • Pur: precise, unified, restricted. (Thanks to Katherine Gumbert for this one!)

b. How do topic sentences relate to the thesis sentence?

• • Each topic sentence develops an aspect of the thesis sentence

  • In the above formula, your first topic sentence might develop the "although" and "nevertheless" part of the thesis, your second topic sentence might develop the "therefore" or "because" part of the thesis sentence; remember that this formula is simply an example—a thesis sentence does not have to conform to this structure.

c. Tip: often, a good thesis sentence will have, as its main verb, a strong action verb rather than a linking verb like "is." Strong verbs tend to show the relationship between the subject of the main clause and the object.

d. Tip: the subject of your thesis sentence should be the subject of your essay. It can often be hard to figure out what the real subject of your thesis sentence is—work on it!

e. Tip: it's hard to write good thesis sentences. This might require several re-writes both before and after writing the body paragraphs. Remember that having a clear thesis sentence means that the main idea of your essay is clear; hence, it's worth the effort to get your thesis sentence right.

II. Sample: Show how Smith is both honest and cunning.

a. Sample theses:

• • Smith is both honest and cunning because he knows the true definitions of both words. (not so good)

  • Although Smith considers himself cunning—able to outwit the in-laws—he is nonetheless also honest, since honesty to him means following his own moral code, not that established by the in-laws. (better)

*** Remember: Be specific. Also, good thesis sentences often have more than one clause.