How to Form a Thesis Statement

1. How to Form a Thesis Statement A thesis statement is an assertion about a topic that you believe to be true and will attempt to prove in your paper. Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury

2. 1. Choose a Topic A topic is a subject, a field, a body of knowledge, a situation, a work of literature. Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury

3. 2. Define a Problem Within Your Topic How? • Look for a difficulty worth thinking (and writing) about. • Identify a key issue or conflict that you and your reader care about. Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury

4. 3. Explore/ Analyze the Problem How? • Think through the problem. • Use prewriting techniques (like a discovery draft, an outline, a freewrite, a map) to come to your own definition, overview, opinion or theory about the problem or issue. Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury

5. 4. Find Evidence that Supports Your Thesis How? • Prewriting • Reading • Research • Thinking Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury

6. 5. Form Your Thesis Statement • Your thesis statement should summarize the main idea of your paper. • It is the nut from which your paper grows, the engine that drives your paper. • Place it as the last sentence in your introductory paragraph. Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury

7. 6. Organize Your Writing Around Your Thesis Statement How? Every paragraph should have a main idea with a topic sentence that relates to your thesis statement. Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury

8. Functions of a Thesis Statement • Establishes a boundary around the subject that keeps the writer from wandering from the subject--about this--not about that. • Can chart an orderly course for the paper and make it easier to write--not just about this--but HOW it is --about this. • Gives the reader an idea of what to expect, makes it easier for the reader to follow. Mary Ellen Bertolini CTLR Middlebury