Forming a Strong Thesis Statement
What is a thesis?
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A thesis is a critical, reasoned, well-researched opinion on the topic about which you are
writing. It is the main claim, the argument that you will develop and support throughout
the essay.
A thesis should be phrased as a statement (not a question), and should consist of your own
words. While you may choose to include a quote as part of your thesis, a quote cannot be
your thesis.
Your thesis should be specific enough to signal what, in particular, your paper is about, but
broad enough to encompass all of the major elements of your argument.
When developing a thesis, think carefully about the assignment. Is there a particular question you are
supposed to answer or connections you are supposed to be making? If you are being asked to develop
your own topic for your thesis, look back on the brainstorming strategies you utilized (annotation,
clustering, listing, etc.) and determine which idea seemed most intriguing, and why the topic matters.
When developing a thesis, you must always ask yourself: So what?
For instance, if I had to write a paper on Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, I might begin forming my
thesis by writing:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shows a dystopian world where books are
burned instead of read.
That might be a good start, but so far it is only giving a summary of the book, and a broad one at that.
Next, I might try to make it more specific:
In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, people burn books
instead of reading them, feel isolated from one another, and go to war
without even thinking about it.
That’s more specific, but the question remains: so what? I haven’t yet said anything that isn’t already
clear from reading the book itself. Remember, a thesis is a well-reasoned argument. Try to help the reader
think about your subject in a new way, or understand something about it that they may not have known
before.
In the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, the abandonment of books and
introspective thought creates an uncaring and oblivious society that takes
both love and war lightly. Ray Bradbury’s novel shows us that our society
must continue to value the exchange of knowledge and ideas in order to
retain its humanity.
That is a more complete thesis. Remember, your thesis may change over the course of writing your paper.
As you continue to think and write about your topic, your opinions may change, or your evidence may
overwhelmingly point to some conclusion other than the one you previously reached. It’s ok to change
your thesis.
Writing Resource Center