the good earth thesis statement

Experience the Joy of Learning

Just Great DataBase
Study Guides
The Good Earth

The Good Earth Essays

Introduction How much do we currently know about China? Is it a country full of controversies and social complexities, or is it a country that we, as foreigners, cannot never fully understand? In her book The Good Earth Pearl S. Bucks sheds the light onto the most complex and unknown facets of...

1 904 words

In The Good Earth, by Pearl S, Wang Lung the main character is a poor peasant who buys a wife and moves up in the social ladder during the peasants' revolution. This story displays many major ideas of ancient Chinese culture, such as the social order, the treatment of women, and the role of the...

The following in a report on the themes and action of The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck as it relates to food and culture. This novel tells the story of Wang Lung. He is a man who rises from being a poor farmer to a very wealthy man because of his faith in the good earth. In the beginning of the...

1 937 words

The Good Earth Type Two Journal? The Good Earth? Wang Lung, Olan, Lotus, Uncle "Are we not to see the moth-browed bride? "Pg. 24Tactless- The uncle is tactless because everyone already expects a farmer's wife to be unattractive and he has no remorse to mock his nephew. "This woman is well enough...

1 258 words

Throughout the course of the novel, The Good Earth, Wang Lung and his family rise from a life of poverty to a life of wealth. This dramatic change in social status and life style causes Wang Lung and his family to gradually disconnect from the land. In addition, the Wang family slowly loses their...

Theme Analysis of "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck In "The Good Earth", Pearl S. Buck takes you through the life cycle of a farmer who feels an immense dependency for the land. Wang-Lung, the main character, must endure the challenges and struggles against society, the environment, and fatality...

1 034 words

"The Good Earth" Ap Human Geography Project I. Description. The book I am reading is called "The Good Earth". It is written by the wonderful author Pearl S. Buck. The book is three hundred and fifty seven pages long. The book is about Wang Lung who is a young and poor farmer who is living in China...

1 518 words

The Conflicts of Wang Lung that are Influenced by Setting Have you every wonder how farmers were like in the past? Farmers depended heavily on the ground to produce crops. With their crops, they sold it to try and make a small profit. Toiling hard, back breaking labor on the land describes how...

The Good Earth Style Pearl Buck's style in The Good Earth has been compared to old Chinese novels. Actually, it is a simple, direct narrative style. There are no complicated techniques such as cut-back or stream of consciousness. The narrative moves along smoothly towards its conclusion. By the...

Thesis: In The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck conveys how wealth leads to loss of traditional values, loss of self, and loss of morals. Paragraph 1: Traditional values are lost under the influence of wealth. - "But he could not because of some shame in him when O-lan was there before him, and his shame...

Ms. Davis Magnet World Literature 14 November Character Analysis The protagonist of The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Wang Lung, is a proud, and ambitious family man who begins life in poverty, living in rural, 19th century China. He is sent to be married by his father when the book starts. Through...

Taylor McClure Period 3 September 1st, 2010 T. G. E. Paragraph Final Draft The relationship between O-lan and Wang Lung is stabilized by O-lan’s hard work and resourcefulness, based largely upon a woman’s inferiority, and threatened by superficial tendencies. Their affiliation also ends...

Are you sympathetic or unsympathetic towards a character’s dilemma or difficult decision? Why? I am extremely sympathetic towards the dilemma that was going on with the Chinese people in the famine. I feel bad for them because they didn’t have any money or food. They were so hungry that they ate...

1 594 words

Mahatma Gandhi once said,“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. ” In Pearl S. Buck's novel, The Good Earth, a poverty-stricken Chinese farmer, Wang Lung, climbs his way to new wealth, and in turn, loses his good morals. The book begins with an innocent Wang...

Writers often reveal character traits of their protagonists through the actions of the characters as the plot develops. The character of Wang Lung, in Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, exemplifies painful naivete, internal confliction, and strict determination. Wang Lung's naivete becomes less evident...

It is early dawn with the sun barely rising, in his small house. Wang sets out to the small village near his farmland to make his marriage day good. He is nervous to arrive at the great House of Hwang. plot Event # 1, P. 1-3 Wang’s Marriage Day - Wang Lung is a poor farmer who lives with his dad...

1 608 words

Outline for “The Good Earth” research paper I. Central Idea: One Man’s survival and triumph over the land and nature leads to a prosperous life. Thesis: Man’s triumph over the land and nature rewards with wealth and profit and respect from other. II. Introduction- How Wang Lang is connected to the...

The Good Earth The Good Earth depicts a famer’s journey to prosper from his land while undergoing many struggles and hardships. Farmer Wang Lung lives in a civilized village where he and the villagers work and live off the land, but when a famine strikes, this forces Wang and his family to move...

1 201 words

It is no secret that Chinese women have long been prevented from experiencing many of the freedoms women in the west generally have; even during the time periods western women would say their freedoms were limited, at best. Women truly were and perhaps still are treated as second class citizens in...

1 402 words

Danielle Duncan Mrs. Felix English 4 Adv. 10 October 2012 Corrupted by Wealth Pearl S. Buck’s novel The Good Earth, originally published in 1931 by Simon and Schruster and published again in 2009, takes place in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in China. Wang Lung is a hardworking, traditional...

The Good Earth: Women in My Own Perspective This novel is one of the well written classics that I had read. This is a novel of Pearl S. Buck, it was published in 1931. She was awarded with Pulitzer Prize for the Novel. One of the elements of this complex tale is the power and force of Women. Even...

2 662 words

The Good Earth novel Report Title: The Good Earth Background of the Author: Pearl Buck was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents were Christian missionaries, and Buck was raised in China, attending a boarding school in Shanghai. In 1910, she went to America to attend...

1 374 words

Filthy Rich “When the rich are too rich there are ways, and when the poor are too poor there are ways” (Buck, 118). Pearl Buck, in her novel The Good Earth, shows how wealth can corrupt a man if there is too much of it. The fatal flaw for the main character, Wang Lung, was held in his wants and...

The Good Earth In the book The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, the setting is very essential, as it is with most all books. The setting shapes the entire book, and it could not have been set in a different time or place and still have had the same effect. Throughout the book there are hardships as...

The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck Essential Questions: • How does Buck portray the theme of contentment vs. greed? Can wealth destroy traditional values? • What does it take to make one truly happy? • How does literature show the effects of social class and oppression? • How does the novel explore...

Characters Roles In The Good Earth In The Good Earth, the introduction states that “The Good Earth endures because it reminds, once again, that despite our differences- in language, culture, and religion- there are certain qualities that we share as humans. ” (Buck viii) The Good Earth written by...

The Good Earth

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Pearl Buck's The Good Earth . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Good Earth: Introduction

The good earth: plot summary, the good earth: detailed summary & analysis, the good earth: themes, the good earth: quotes, the good earth: characters, the good earth: symbols, the good earth: theme wheel, brief biography of pearl buck.

Historical Context of The Good Earth

Other books related to the good earth.

Full Title: The Good Earth
When Written: 1929
Where Written: Nanjing, China
When Published: 1931
Literary Period: Modernism
Genre: Historical fiction
Setting: Early nineteenth century China (Anhwei and Kiangsu)
Climax: Wang Lung sitting in the Old Mistress’s chair and deciding to rent the House of Hwang
Antagonist: Wang Lung’s uncle’s family, nature
Point of View: Third person limited

Extra Credit for The Good Earth

Divorced for a day. Buck married her second husband, Richard Walsh, on the very same day that she divorced her first, John Buck.

A connection transcending life. Buck designed her own gravestone, which sits in Pennsylvania and displays her name in Chinese characters.

The Good Earth

Introduction to the good earth.

The Good Earth was written by Pearl S. Buck, with the setting of the early 20 th century in China. It also has two more volumes as the sequel to the rural Chinese story . The first book was published in 1931 under the title of The Good Earth. The series also won the Pulitzer as well as Noble Prize, for the author in quick succession. The novel proved a huge success after it was transformed into various movies and plays. The story revolves around a family facing hardships and the transformation of the rural setting.

Summary of The Good Earth

The story is about a young man, Wang Lung, in rural China who preparing to find a bride. His father advises him to visit the local Hwang family mansion to ask for a slave girl. After having some money and spending it lavishly on his maintenance and food, he visits the Hwangs and asks them for a slave girl. They propose that he take O-lan. Eventually, he marries her and takes her home after both agree to marry despite a slight disability in O-lan’s feet.

Both husband and wife start their agricultural work on their land. They also have a son, giving them happiness and resolution to work harder. On the other side, the Hwang family faces difficult times due to their patriarch being a womanizer and the matriarch being an addict. Soon Wang Lung is able to purchase some of the Hwang fields and enjoys farming with considerable income. Although they have another son, Wang Lung’s relatives start borrowing money from him and he is forced to lend. Meanwhile, he continues exploiting the Hwang, purchasing more of their fertile land. When their daughter is born, Wang Lung also faces acute drought , leading to a severe famine that causes severe disruption in the family.

During the famine, O-lan kills the second girl, still, food is hard to come by and the family continues facing hardships and is unable to feed the children. When winter becomes too unbearable, he migrates to a southern city where they become beggars. Wang Lung rents a rickshaw to earn his living. They get enough to eat, but they hardly make both ends meet. When Wang Lung has some money, he tells his family and plans to return to their estate.

Later, they try to sell their daughter when riots erupt in the city and they also join the other people and plunder the wealth of a rich man. Wang Lung lays his hands upon the gold coins while his wife plunders jewels after which all of them return to their estate. Soon they purchase all the fields from the Hwang family after which they start to settle down, having two more children. Now as a landlord, Wang Lung has laborers to work on his fields with a good harvest every year and more money in his reserves. Sadly there’s a flood, which disrupts his income, making him feel the dreariness of life, but routine again settles on him.

He is fed up with O-lan and starts finding fault in her after seeing a local prostitute, Lotus, a beautiful woman. He uses his money to purchase her. He regrets spending the money when O-lan falls sick. Wang finds his uncle and aunt in his house after which he moves to another house, leaving the big Hwang house for his relatives. During this time, his wife dies after which his sons decide not to farm their lands. After O-lan’s death, Wang’s father dies as well. He entrusts the land to his second son as the quarrel also deepens enmity among the brothers and soon causes a rift wider enough for them to sell the family land and divide the money.

Major Themes in The Good Earth

Man and Earth: The Good Earth shows man’s natural relationship with the earth and farming. Not only man is dependent on the earth in terms of food and security but also he is linked with the earth in his social relations, morality, and status in the area. At first, Wang Lung is loyal to his father and has good relationships, he depends on the land for the livelihood that he earns during the harvesting season. The Hwang family, having large tracts of land, is stable because of having more land in the area than any other person. In contrast to them, others have fewer lands or none that force them to work in their fields, making them have less contact with the earth. This leads to moral as well as social decadence. Finally, their removal from the social fabric while having more land raises Wang to have a good status after he replaces the Hwang family by purchasing their lands.
Wealth and Values: The Good Earth presents the story of a traditional Chinese rural setting in which the increase of wealth is shown as causing the elimination of traditional values. Wang Lung is courteous, humble, and down-to-earth sincere before he becomes a rich man, replacing the Hwang family. However, when he becomes a rich man, he wins Lotus, the local prostitute, and becomes arrogant ignoring his wife as well as children. Soon he becomes aware that as his children have grown up in luxury, have become lazy and disobedient. He also sees his status slipping from his hands before his eyes because his children have left their traditions and values of hard work after gaining wealth.
Gender Oppression: Gender oppression is seen through the character of O-lan and Lotus. Although it is not clear about the condition of the Hwang family in terms of gender discrimination and oppression, beyond that mansion everything is against femininity. Wang Lung marries O-lan only because she is a slave and has bound feet. However, when he has achieved the status of the Hwang family, he is attracted to Lotus, a local prostitute. This leads to the disintegration of the family, and his relations with Lotus also deteriorate. It shows that female characters are at the receiving end.
Migration and Prosperity: The Good Earth also shows the theme of prosperity associated with migration and vice versa . When Wang Lung does not see any future in his own land due to drought, he migrates to a southern city. Although whatever he gets in terms of wealth, is plundered. Yet he becomes rich enough to return as a wealthy person after the riots in the south. Migration and reverse migration, thus, show prosperity associated with it.
Progress : The progress is seen through Wang Lung as he wants to prosper and works very hard to purchase a piece of land. His family grows and he faces an uncertain future in the wake of a drought. He goes for green pastures to the southern town, begs, works very hard, and finally falls upon the plundering mansion to collect gold coins while his wife gathers all the jewels. When this progress is achieved, they return home and live a comfortable life for a while. However, he finds himself in love with a prostitute, Lotus, a sign of newly acquired wealth while his children go astray as they grow older. The newly won prosperity soon takes its toll on the entire family until it is too late for Wang to turn back.
Significance of Simple Living: The novel presents the theme of simple living as pious and morally good. When Wang Lung is a poor young man, he had to struggle hard to earn his bread , he is sincere, patient, and hard-working. Even when he marries, he stays loyal to his wife, O-lan, who also stays loyal to him. However, as soon as they get wealth from the southern town and purchase the Hwang family mansion, they start a lavish lifestyle as well as inhabit to the point that Wang Lung keeps a prostitute, Lotus, while his sons marry and start living recklessly. The second son tries to fulfill his father’s dream. This shows the value of simplicity in rural China.
Decadence of Aristocracy: The novel shows the theme of the decadence of aristocracy through extravagant life. Although the Hwang is a traditional family and has been almost ruling the farming community , when Wang Lung becomes rich, he also turns to the same extravagant habits and starts destroying the wealth he has earned with hard work as well as savings that took from the plunder in the southern town. It shows that he is on the same path as the rural aristocracy.
Family Life: The theme of family life is seen at first through Wang Lung’s plan to marry after his father’s insistence. The reason is that his father has married to have a family and knows that if his son does not marry, he will not see his grandchildren, and the traditional family life will come to an end. That is why Wang Lung goes to the Hwang family mansion to get a slave girl to have a family life. The family stays together through thick and thin, but by the end, the unearned wealth plays havoc with the family life and disintegrates it. Wang Lung brings Lotus, while his sons split apart to have their own families.
Social Position: The theme of social position is through Wang Lung who is poor and has no money to get a good girl at the start. That is why he stays contented on his feet-bound wife, O-lan. However, as soon as his social status rises with his hard work and d plundered wealth from the southern town, he starts showing his true colors.

Major Characters of The Good Earth

Wang Lung: The protagonist , Wang Lung is not a traditional hero in the classical sense but a common rural farmer in China whose main ambition is to do what his father demanded. He agrees to marry a slave girl his father tells him. With his economic and social standing in the village, he marries O-lan, a slave girl from the Hwang family, who is the only aristocratic family in the village. He has children and is hard-working with good stamina. Soon he becomes prosperous enough to bear some months of drought. During the severe famine, he migrates to the southern town where he works as a rickshaw driver and beggar until he gets gold and jewelry from the plunder. Then returns to their land as a rich man. When he takes over the Hwang family mansion, he wins Lotus, the village concubine, and loses his control over his sons who have separate families. Soon he learns that it is the land that keeps the family united which he has built with much effort. Now that they have stopped tilling the land, the family is witnessing disintegration.
O-lan: Wang Lung’s wife, O-lan contributes significantly to his wealth in terms of hard work and children. She stays with him through thick and thin when he is poor and yet has to tolerate his brief period of infidelity when he contacts Lotus. Despite having no beauty and having bound feet, she fulfills her duty as a mother and wife in every way. She also takes care of his mansion, his land, and his family. Also, as opposed to the wayward behavior of Wang Lung on some occasions, she remains pragmatic. For example, when the occasion demands, she does not hesitate from sacrificing her own child for the greater good of the family.
Wang Lung’s Father: A relic of the past and glory of the rural setting’s simplicity, Wang Lung’s father is very old and is treated as a burden on him. Despite his fragility and constant cough, he values the presence of a woman and married life in the rural setup. That is why he constantly pushes his son to have a family. He scolds at his disappointment when his son has an affair with Lotus, the local concubine, and dies shortly after O-lan’s death.
Wang Lung’s Uncle: A very greedy and ethically disobedient person, Wang Lung’s father’s brother. He sees the extended family’s fall and rise, and comes to him to borrow money, believing it his familial right. His careless attitude could be seen in his clothes as described and when it becomes too awkward for him to carry on with the invading drought, he shifts to Wang Lung’s house, showing his presence in the house as a security against the robbers. Soon Wang Lung seeing his addiction tries to get rid of him.
Nang En: Nang En is the eldest son of Wang Lung, he is the favorite of his parents who want him to be a scholar to assist them in future contracts about their produces from the fields. However, he soon turns to reckless life after finding himself in the Hwang mansion and rich quite early than expected and easily loses control of his temper. His obsession to look more prominent in the family costs Wang Lung good fortune.
Nung Wen: Nung Wen is Wang Lung’s second son with ambitions of becoming a successful merchant. He is the only son who wants a good and hard-working wife. Finally, Wang Lung puts him in charge of the land to keep him busy and help him achieve his dream.
Youngest Son: Like his elder brother, he is also arrogant and lazy. He, later, announces to join the armed forces, leaving his lascivious brothers behind to enjoy life.
Eldest Daughter: The loving one but unaware of her circumstances, she faces tragic situations without knowing due to her mental health condition. Wang Lung desires to be with her to see her happy and safe.
Second Daughter: The second daughter is very beautiful and wise as she realizes the reason for her mother’s illness. She understands that her father is not paying attention to her mother because of her bound feet.

Writing Style of The Good Earth

Like her other novels about foreign lands, this book is also very simple in language as well as style . Pearl S. Buck has used short, crispy, and concise sentences with occasional use of repetitions and ellipses. The diction , too, is very simple, sometimes formal and sometimes informal, yet appropriate and direct. For literary devices , the author turns metaphors and similes, making the book a simple read.

Analysis of the Literary Devices in The Good Earth

Action: The main action of the novel comprises the life of Wang Lung and his family until he takes over the Hwang mansion and becomes the rich man of the village. The rising action occurs when Wang Lung returns to his village as a rich man, while the falling action occurs when he hands over the full house to his uncle.
Anaphora : The following sentences show the use of anaphora , i. At night he knew the soft firmness of her body. But in the day her clothes, her plain blue cotton coat and trousers, covered all that he knew, and she was like a faithful, speechless serving maid, who is only a serving maid and nothing more. (Chapter -2) ii. Out of this body of his, out of his own loins, life! (Chapter -2) iii. For my father it is not fitting to enter your room–for myself, I have never even seen a cow give birth. (Chapter -3) These examples show the repetitious use of “serving maid”, “out of this body” and “for my.”
Allusion : The use of allusions is given in the below examples, i. Yesterday he had said to his father that if this brazen, glittering sunshine continued, the wheat could not fill in the ear. Now it was as if Heaven had chosen this day to wish him well. (Chapter -1) ii. But what sort of schools these were he had no way of knowing, beyond the fact that they were called such names as “The Great School of Western Learning” or as “The Great School of China,” for he never went beyond the gates, and if he had gone in well he knew someone would have come to ask him what he did out of his place. (Chapter -12) The mention of Heaven, China, and Western learning in the above examples are some notable allusions.
Conflict : The novel shows both external and internal conflicts. The external conflict is going on between the circumstances and Wang Lung, while the internal conflict is going on in his mind about his situation and the situation of his relatives when they come to borrow money from him.
Characters: The novel, The Good Earth, shows both static as well as dynamic characters. The young man, Wang Lung, is a dynamic character as he shows a considerable transformation in his behavior and conduct by the end of the novel. However, all other characters are static as they do not show or witness any transformation such as O-lan, his father, the Poor Fool, and his uncle.
Climax : The climax in the novel occurs when Wang Lung comes back to his village having a lot of wealth.
Imagery : The use of imagery is given in the following sentences, i. The children’s bellies were swollen out with empty wind, and one never saw in these days a child playing upon the village street. At most the two boys in Wang Lung’s house crept to the door and sat in the sun, the cruel sun that never ceased its endless shining. Their once rounded bodies were angular and bony now, sharp small bones like the bones of birds, except for their ponderous bellies. The girl child never even sat alone , although the time was past for this, but lay uncomplaining hour after hour wrapped in an old quilt. (Chapter -9) ii. Beneath their feet the mud was thick and speared through with needles of ice and the little boys could make no headway and O-lan was laden with the girl and desperate under the weight of her own body. Wang Lung staggered through with the old man and set him down and then went back and lifted each child and carried him through, and then when it was over at last his sweat poured out of him like rain , spending all his strength with it, so that he had to lean for a long time against the damp wall, his eyes shut and his breath coming and going quickly, and his family stood shivering and waiting about him. (Chapter -10) iii. Running about the streets every day and all day long, he learned to know the city after a fashion, and he saw this and that of its secret parts. He learned that in the morning the people he drew in his vehicle if they were women, went to the market, and if they were men, they went to the schools and to the houses of business. (Chapter -12) These examples show images of movement, color, feelings, and sights.
Metaphor : The following sentences are good examples of metaphors, i. A small soft wind blew gently from the east, a wind mild and murmurous and full of rain. (Chapter -1) ii. But between all these thoughts which were in his mind every day there ran weaving and interweaving the new thought of what his life now was, and it occurred to him, suddenly, thinking of the night, to wonder if she liked him. (Chapter -2) iii. All else at that New Year sank into insignificance beside this visit. (Chapter -5) iv. And as family after family finished its store in the small village and spent its last coin in the scanty markets of the town, and the winds of winter came down from the desert, cold as a knife of steel and dry and barren, the hearts of the villagers grew distraught with their own hunger. (Chapter -8) v. At times it seized him like a frenzy so that he rushed out upon his barren threshing floor and shook his arms at the foolish sky that shone above him, eternally blue and clear and cold and cloudless. (Chapter -9) These examples show that several things have been compared directly in the novel such as the first shows wind compared with something soft, the second shows thought as a wave, the third shows a year with something trivial, the fourth shows winds as a knife, and the fifth shows the sky as something cold and clear.
Mood : The Good Earth shows a very pleasant mood in the beginning but turns out tragic, sorrowful as well as ironic, and didactic or moralizing in some places.
Motif : Most important motifs of The Good Earth, are birth, religion, death, and life.
Narrator : The novel is narrated in the third-person point of view , who is the author, Pearl S. Buck.
Paradox : The following sentences are good examples of paradoxes, i. When the rich are too rich there are ways, and when the poor are too poor there are ways. (Chapter -14) ii. But men must work on, and Wang Lung worked as he had before, although the lengthening warm days and the sunshine and sudden rains filled everyone with longings and discontents. (Chapter -15) Both of these examples show paradoxical ideas expressed within the same sentence .
Parallelism : The use of parallelism is given in the following sentences, i. And then he lay in his bed warm and satisfied while in the kitchen the woman fed the fire and boiled the water. (Chapter -1) ii. Wang Lung saw that she was afraid of him and he was pleased and he answered before she finished, “I like it–I like it,” and he drew his tea into his mouth with loud sups of pleasure. (Chapter -2) iii. He put his hoe upon his shoulder and he walked to his plots of land and he cultivated the rows of grain, and he yoked the ox to the plow and he ploughed the western field for garlic and onions. (Chapter -2) iv. He thought of this at first with joy and then with a pang of fear. (Chapter -4) v. And what he did for the farm implements, his wife, O-lan, did for the house implements. (Chapter -5) These examples show the parallel structure of the sentences, having phrases and clauses of equal length.
Personification : The following examples of personifications are given below, i. A small soft wind blew gently from the east, a wind mild and murmurous and full of rain. (Chapter -1) ii. There were already other huts clinging to the wall behind them, but what was inside the wall none knew and there was no way of knowing. (Chapter -11) These examples show that the wind and wall, have life and emotions of their own.
Protagonist : Wang Lung is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with his entry into the story from the very first chapter and ends with him.
Setting : The setting of the novel, The Good Earth, is someplace in rural China.
Simile : The following sentences are good examples of similes, i. But out of the woman’s great brown breast the milk gushed forth for the child, milk as white as snow , and when the child suckled at one breast it flowed like a fountain from the other, and she let it flow. (Chapter -4) ii. And as family after family finished its store in the small village and spent its last coin in the scanty markets of the town, and the winds of winter came down from the desert, cold as a knife of steel and dry and barren, the hearts of the villagers grew distraught with their own hunger. (Chapter -8) iii. But nothing could stop the mass of hungry men and women and they foughtlike beasts until all were fed. (Chapter -11) These are similes as the use of the words “like” and “as” show the comparison between terraced walls with a broad setup and the gleaming water with lamps.

Mother Earth
The Ends of the Earth
Earth Mother Archetype
The Big Wave

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement: 4 Steps + Examples

What’s Covered:

What is the purpose of a thesis statement, writing a good thesis statement: 4 steps, common pitfalls to avoid, where to get your essay edited for free.

When you set out to write an essay, there has to be some kind of point to it, right? Otherwise, your essay would just be a big jumble of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. An essay needs a central point that ties into everything else. That main point is called a thesis statement, and it’s the core of any essay or research paper.

You may hear about Master degree candidates writing a thesis, and that is an entire paper–not to be confused with the thesis statement, which is typically one sentence that contains your paper’s focus.

Read on to learn more about thesis statements and how to write them. We’ve also included some solid examples for you to reference.

Typically the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, the thesis statement serves as the roadmap for your essay. When your reader gets to the thesis statement, they should have a clear outline of your main point, as well as the information you’ll be presenting in order to either prove or support your point.

The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence , which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though.

Since the thesis statement is the most important sentence of your entire essay or paper, it’s imperative that you get this part right. Otherwise, your paper will not have a good flow and will seem disjointed. That’s why it’s vital not to rush through developing one. It’s a methodical process with steps that you need to follow in order to create the best thesis statement possible.

Step 1: Decide what kind of paper you’re writing

When you’re assigned an essay, there are several different types you may get. Argumentative essays are designed to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays present information to the reader. Analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. Thesis statements can look and sound different based on the type of paper you’re writing. For example:

Argumentative: The United States needs a viable third political party to decrease bipartisanship, increase options, and help reduce corruption in government.
Informative: The Libertarian party has thrown off elections before by gaining enough support in states to get on the ballot and by taking away crucial votes from candidates.
Analytical: An analysis of past presidential elections shows that while third party votes may have been the minority, they did affect the outcome of the elections in 2020, 2016, and beyond.

Step 2: Figure out what point you want to make

Once you know what type of paper you’re writing, you then need to figure out the point you want to make with your thesis statement, and subsequently, your paper. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question about something, such as:

What impact did reality TV have on American society?
How has the musical Hamilton affected perception of American history?
Why do I want to major in [chosen major here]?

If you have an argumentative essay, then you will be writing about an opinion. To make it easier, you may want to choose an opinion that you feel passionate about so that you’re writing about something that interests you. For example, if you have an interest in preserving the environment, you may want to choose a topic that relates to that.

If you’re writing your college essay and they ask why you want to attend that school, you may want to have a main point and back it up with information, something along the lines of:

“Attending Harvard University would benefit me both academically and professionally, as it would give me a strong knowledge base upon which to build my career, develop my network, and hopefully give me an advantage in my chosen field.”

Step 3: Determine what information you’ll use to back up your point

Once you have the point you want to make, you need to figure out how you plan to back it up throughout the rest of your essay. Without this information, it will be hard to either prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. If you decide to write about the Hamilton example, you may decide to address any falsehoods that the writer put into the musical, such as:

“The musical Hamilton, while accurate in many ways, leaves out key parts of American history, presents a nationalist view of founding fathers, and downplays the racism of the times.”

Once you’ve written your initial working thesis statement, you’ll then need to get information to back that up. For example, the musical completely leaves out Benjamin Franklin, portrays the founding fathers in a nationalist way that is too complimentary, and shows Hamilton as a staunch abolitionist despite the fact that his family likely did own slaves.

Step 4: Revise and refine your thesis statement before you start writing

Read through your thesis statement several times before you begin to compose your full essay. You need to make sure the statement is ironclad, since it is the foundation of the entire paper. Edit it or have a peer review it for you to make sure everything makes sense and that you feel like you can truly write a paper on the topic. Once you’ve done that, you can then begin writing your paper.

When writing a thesis statement, there are some common pitfalls you should avoid so that your paper can be as solid as possible. Make sure you always edit the thesis statement before you do anything else. You also want to ensure that the thesis statement is clear and concise. Don’t make your reader hunt for your point. Finally, put your thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph and have your introduction flow toward that statement. Your reader will expect to find your statement in its traditional spot.

If you’re having trouble getting started, or need some guidance on your essay, there are tools available that can help you. CollegeVine offers a free peer essay review tool where one of your peers can read through your essay and provide you with valuable feedback. Getting essay feedback from a peer can help you wow your instructor or college admissions officer with an impactful essay that effectively illustrates your point.

A PhD Student’s Thesis: The Earth is Flat (What Do You Believe?)

“The Earth is flat and young, and it stands immobile at the centre of the universe, which is made of only one galaxy.” This was one of the core ideas that Tunisian PhD student posited in her five-years-in the making research study.

As expected, the research has stirred up a high-level of controversy in Tunisia, and on the Internet in general. According to a recent Gulf News article , the thesis of the research also rejected the physics of Newton and Einstein, the astronomy of Copernicus and Kepler, and the Big Bang theory. This has left many in the science community scratching their heads.

This study reinforces the rise of the “Flat-Earthism” trend that has garnered massive amounts of attention on social media and from certain celebrities.

In March, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal admitted that he believes that the Earth is flat. O’Neal follows Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving, who was the first NBA player to reveal his flat-Earth beliefs. According to this recent Yahoo! Sports article, Denver Nuggets wing Wilson Chandler and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green also endorsed Irving’s flat-Earth theory.

Rapper BoB first stirred up social media controversy around this topic in 2016, when he tweeted his Flat Earth beliefs. His main theory is that if the Earth were indeed curved, evidence of that would be apparent when looking at the horizon in the distance and distant cities would be hidden from view because of curvature.

According to this recent Metro article , here are the five reasons why Flat Earthers believe that the Earth is flat:

The Earth curved in NASA photos – but not in amateur ones.
Engineers make everything straight, not curved.
Planes don’t have to fly downward.
It should be much more difficult for planes to fly East.
Flying a kite proves that the Earth is at rest.

Even Popular Science weighed in on the theory by publishing an article that offers “10 ways to prove that the Earth is not flat.” From the varying star constellations to the lunar eclipse to the reason why boats and ships slowing emerge on the horizon, the article offers a number of strong insights to disprove the Flat Earth theory.

It seems that this controversial thinking continues to gain traction, which many believe is a sign of the times: today’s war against science. Though fortunately, as we have seen from the “March for Science,” there are many who believe in the true value of science for the survival of humanity.

We will be keeping an eye on how this theory plays out over the next several years during President Trump’s time in office.

In the meantime, don’t forget – running through May 31 st , our registrar partners are offering special pricing for one-year registrations of standard .Earth domain names starting at $8.90 USD. Click here to take advantage of this special offer.

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
makes a claim that others might dispute.
is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

Do I answer the question? Yes!
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

nature = peaceful
war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
need for time and space to mourn the dead
war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
_______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
Question each part of your draft thesis
Clarify vague phrases and assertions
Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

Essay Database
world trade center
Greek Food and Culture
The Future Portrayed I…
Intercultural Communications
In Heart of Darkness, …
Things Fall Apart by C…
In J.M. Coetzee's Wait…
The Criminals Of Profe…
Socialization of Children
The Poet of Nature, Wi…
Leonhard Euler
Articles of Confederat…
About all Sharks
Vietnam Poetry

the good earth

What is paper-research.

Custom Writing Service
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Biographies

Argumentative Essay Writing

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change

Make Your Case: A Guide to Writing an Argumentative Essay on Climate Change

Published on: Mar 2, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 31, 2024

What is an Argumentative Essay about Climate Change?

The main focus will be on trying to prove that global warming is caused by human activities. Your goal should be to convince your readers that human activity is causing climate change.

To achieve this, you will need to use a variety of research methods to collect data on the topic. You need to make an argument as to why climate change needs to be taken more seriously.

Argumentative Essay Outline about Climate Change

An argumentative essay about climate change requires a student to take an opinionated stance on the subject.

The outline of your paper should include the following sections:

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change Introduction

The first step is to introduce the topic and provide an overview of the main points you will cover in the essay.

This should include a brief description of what climate change is. Furthermore, it should include current research on how humans are contributing to global warming.

An example is:

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

Thesis Statement For Climate Change Argumentative Essay

The thesis statement should be a clear and concise description of your opinion on the topic. It should be established early in the essay and reiterated throughout.

For example, an argumentative essay about climate change could have a thesis statement such as:

Climate Change Argumentative Essay Conclusion

The conclusion should restate your thesis statement and summarize the main points of the essay.

It should also provide a call to action, encouraging readers to take steps toward addressing climate change.

For example,

How To Write An Argumentative Essay On Climate Change

Writing an argumentative essay about climate change requires a student to take an opinionated stance on the subject.

Following are the steps to follow for writing an argumentative essay about climate change

Do Your Research

The first step is researching the topic and collecting evidence to back up your argument.

You should look at scientific research, articles, and data on climate change as well as current policy solutions.

Pick A Catchy Title

Once you have gathered your evidence, it is time to pick a title for your essay. It should be specific and concise.

Outline Your Essay

After selecting a title, create an outline of the main points you will include in the essay.

This should include an introduction, body paragraphs that provide evidence for your argument, and a conclusion.

Compose Your Essay

Finally, begin writing your essay. Start with an introduction that provides a brief overview of the main points you will cover and includes your thesis statement.

Then move on to the body paragraphs, providing evidence to back up your argument.

Finally, conclude the essay by restating your thesis statement and summarizing the main points.

Proofread and Revise

Once you have finished writing the essay, it is important to proofread and revise your work.

Check for any spelling or grammatical errors, and make sure the argument is clear and logical.

Finally, consider having someone else read over the essay for a fresh perspective.

By following these steps, you can create an effective argumentative essay on climate change. Good luck!

Examples Of Argumentative Essays About Climate Change

Climate Change is real and happening right now. It is one of the most urgent environmental issues that we face today.

Argumentative essays about this topic can help raise awareness that we need to protect our planet.

Below you will find some examples of argumentative essays on climate change written by CollegeEssay.orgâs expert essay writers.

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change And Global Warming

Persuasive Essay About Climate Change

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change In The Philippines

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change Caused By Humans

Geography Argumentative Essay About Climate Change

Check our extensive blog on argumentative essay examples to ace your next essay!

Good Argumentative Essay Topics About Climate Change

Choosing a great topic is essential to help your readers understand and engage with the issue.

Here are some suggestions:

Should governments fund projects that will reduce the effects of climate change?
Is it too late to stop global warming and climate change?
Are international treaties effective in reducing carbon dioxide emissions?
What are the economic implications of climate change?
Should renewable energy be mandated as a priority over traditional fossil fuels?
How can individuals help reduce their carbon footprint and fight climate change?
Are regulations on industry enough to reduce global warming and climate change?
Could geoengineering be used to mitigate climate change?
What are the social and political effects of global warming and climate change?
Should companies be held accountable for their contribution to climate change?

Check our comprehensive blog on argumentative essay topics to get more topic ideas!

We hope these topics and resources help you write a great argumentative essay about climate change.

Now that you know how to write an argumentative essay about climate change, itâs time to put your skills to the test.

Overwhelmed with assignments and thinking, "I wish someone could write me an essay "?

Our specialized writing service is here to turn that wish into reality. With a focus on quality, originality, and timely delivery, our team of professionals is committed to crafting essays that align perfectly with your academic goals.

And for those seeking an extra edge, our essay writer , an advanced AI tool, is ready to elevate your writing to new heights.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good introduction to climate change.

An introduction to a climate change essay can include a short description of why the topic is important and/or relevant.

It can also provide an overview of what will be discussed in the body of the essay.

The introduction should conclude with a clear, focused thesis statement that outlines the main argument in your essay.

What is a good thesis statement for climate change?

A good thesis statement for a climate change essay should state the main point or argument you will make in your essay.

You could argue that “The science behind climate change is irrefutable and must be addressed by governments, businesses, and individuals.”

Cathy A. (Medical school essay, Education)

For more than five years now, Cathy has been one of our most hardworking authors on the platform. With a Masters degree in mass communication, she knows the ins and outs of professional writing. Clients often leave her glowing reviews for being an amazing writer who takes her work very seriously.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Keep reading

Legal & Policies

Privacy Policy
Cookies Policy
Terms of Use
Refunds & Cancellations
Our Writers
Success Stories
Our Guarantees
Affiliate Program
Referral Program
AI Essay Writer

Disclaimer: All client orders are completed by our team of highly qualified human writers. The essays and papers provided by us are not to be used for submission but rather as learning models only.

Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?)

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.

Steps in Constructing a Thesis

First, analyze your primary sources. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)

Once you have a working thesis, write it down. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction. A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

Anticipate the counterarguments. Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

Some Caveats and Some Examples

A thesis is never a question. Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.

A thesis is never a list. "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational. An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim. "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible. Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."

Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department is stuck in the past

The tortured poets department is a solid but underwhelming effort from a pop star at the peak of her powers.

Taylor Swift has cultivated a daunting amount of lore to sift through. The casual fan doesn’t need to know the entire backstory to enjoy The Tortured Poets Department , the artist’s 11th album, but do casual fans of Taylor Swift even exist anymore? Over the past three years, she’s gone from megafamous to ultrafamous to something we may not even have words for yet , accumulating yet more fans who are here, not just for the music, but for the full Taylor Swift Experience. That includes the romance, the Easter eggs , and how her music connects like red string on an evidence board.

the good earth thesis statement

IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS

The Good Earth Essays

The Good Earth

The Good Earth: Introduction

Historical Context of The Good Earth

Extra Credit for The Good Earth

The Good Earth

Summary of The Good Earth

Major Themes in The Good Earth

Major Characters of The Good Earth

Writing Style of The Good Earth

Analysis of the Literary Devices in The Good Earth

Related posts:

Post navigation

What are your chances of acceptance?

Your chancing factors

How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement: 4 Steps + Examples

What’s Covered:

Step 1: Decide what kind of paper you’re writing

Step 2: Figure out what point you want to make

Step 3: Determine what information you’ll use to back up your point

Step 4: Revise and refine your thesis statement before you start writing

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

A PhD Student’s Thesis: The Earth is Flat (What Do You Believe?)

Thesis Statements

Introduction

What is a thesis statement?

How do I create a thesis?

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

Works consulted

What is a thesis statement?

Identify a topic

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Sample assignment 1

Sample assignment 2

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Derive a main point from topic

Look for patterns in your evidence

Purpose statement

Derive purpose statement from topic

Compose a draft thesis statement

Question-to-Assertion

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Refine and polish the thesis statement

Sample Assignment

Complete the final thesis statement

Writing Process and Structure

Getting Started with Your Paper

Creating an Argument

Working with Sources

Drafting Your Paper

Revising Your Paper

Finishing Your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

the good earth

Make Your Case: A Guide to Writing an Argumentative Essay on Climate Change

What is an Argumentative Essay about Climate Change?

Argumentative Essay Outline about Climate Change

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change Introduction

Thesis Statement For Climate Change Argumentative Essay

Climate Change Argumentative Essay Conclusion

How To Write An Argumentative Essay On Climate Change

Do Your Research

Pick A Catchy Title

Outline Your Essay

Compose Your Essay

Proofread and Revise

Examples Of Argumentative Essays About Climate Change

Good Argumentative Essay Topics About Climate Change

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good thesis statement for climate change?

Keep reading

Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department is stuck in the past

Related Content

IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS