8/12/2019 Purdue OWL_ Creating a Thesis Statement

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2/11/2014 Purdue OWL: Creating a Thesis Statement

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Tips and Examples for Writing ThesisStatementsSummary:

This resource provides tips for creating a thesis statement and examples of different ty pes of thesis st atements.

Contributors: Elyssa T ardiff, Allen Brizee

Last Edited: 2013-02-21 10:11:07

Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1.Determine what kind of p aper you are writing:

An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component p arts, evaluates t he issue or idea, and

presents t his breakdown and evaluation to the audience.

An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.

An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claimcould be an opinion, a policy prop osal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The

goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence

provided.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in

the first paragraph could st ill be helpful to y our reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specificit should cover only what y ou will discuss in your paper and should be

sup port ed with specifi c evide nce.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your top ic may change as you write, so y ou may need to revise your thesis statement t o reflect exactly what you

have discussed in the p aper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

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8/12/2019 Purdue OWL_ Creating a Thesis Statement

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2/11/2014 Purdue OWL: Creating a Thesis Statement

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/ 2/2

An analysis of the college admission process reveals one challenge facing

counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with

strong extracurricular backgrounds.

The paper that follows should:

Explain the analysis of the college admission process

Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis st atement:

The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent

studying, attending class, and socializing with peers.

The paper that follows should:

Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue

community service projects before entering college in order to increase

their maturity and global awareness.

The paper that follows should:

Present an argument and give evidence to support t he claim that st udents should pursue community projects

before entering college