Thesis Statement

You have heard the term thesis statement hundreds of times by the time they reach high school, yet have only a vague understanding of what one is.

• A thesis statement presents your opinions or thoughts on a subject or an issue. You cannot write an essay without one.

• A thesis statement must contain a subject + an opinion.

• A thesis statement answers the topic question (the one you created or the one presented to you by the Teacher).

TIP: A thesis statement should never contain the following: in my opinion, I think, I believe, etc. However, it may be helpful for you to begin your thesis statement rough draft with, in my opinion, I believe, or I think to make sure they are expressing their thoughts or opinion on a specific subject or issue. When writing the final thesis statement, simply eliminate those phrases.How to Plan Your Thesis StatementBefore writing a thesis statement, the writer must be aware of his or her audience and purpose. Why is the reader reading your work?

• • You must begin with a topic question. If your instructor has assigned an essay question to answer, this step has been done for you. If you are doing a research paper, take time to come up with a good topic question.You must form an opinion and state it clearly. Your reader will be looking for evidence to your opinion.

  • Be sure you have approached your evidence fairly, without bias.

  • Consider both sides of a controversial issue. This makes you less opinionated. 

  • Once you've established the topic question, a clear position, and objectivity, you're ready to write a thesis statement.

Lets Download: Thesis Statements Practice and give it a try.