Crafting a Thesis Statement

The purpose of the research and thinking you have done has been to answer an inquiry question. Your answer to that inquiry question will become your a thesis statement.

Surely after doing so much research, reading, and thinking on this topic, you have some ideas about what's working and what's not working. Of course, though, you may be finding that it is difficult to figure out how to work these ideas into a structured sentence. So, let's think about the sentence structure of a thesis statement. A thesis statement should have two parts: 1) an independent clause and 2) a dependent clause (usually begins with a preposition such as through, while, as, since, etc.).

This type of sentence structure applies to all kinds of thesis statements. What varies among thesis statements, though, is the relationship between the ideas that the two clauses clarify. Outlined below are some of the types of relationships that can exist between ideas in a thesis statement and some examples of structurally sound thesis statements.

Point + Counterpoint

Although Blackwater is guilty of being too secretive, the company has been unfairly criticized in the media for acting with excessive force.

Cause + Effect

When the US military withdraws from Iraq, provincial and sectarian leaders will assert their individual authority, come into conflict with one another, and plunge the people of Iraq into civil war.

Because the Department of Defense failed to provide adequate safeguards in the handling of Iraqi detainees, abuses were allowed to develop at Abu Ghraib.

Problem + Solution

Because women are already being forced into combat roles in Iraq, the US government should drop any pretense that women are being shielded from active combat duty.