UCLA History Department

Thesis Statements

What is a thesis statement.

Your thesis statement is one of the most important parts of your paper.  It expresses your main argument succinctly and explains why your argument is historically significant.  Think of your thesis as a promise you make to your reader about what your paper will argue.  Then, spend the rest of your paper–each body paragraph–fulfilling that promise.

Your thesis should be between one and three sentences long and is placed at the end of your introduction.  Just because the thesis comes towards the beginning of your paper does not mean you can write it first and then forget about it.  View your thesis as a work in progress while you write your paper.  Once you are satisfied with the overall argument your paper makes, go back to your thesis and see if it captures what you have argued.  If it does not, then revise it.  Crafting a good thesis is one of the most challenging parts of the writing process, so do not expect to perfect it on the first few tries.  Successful writers revise their thesis statements again and again.

A successful thesis statement:

  • makes an historical argument
  • takes a position that requires defending
  • is historically specific
  • is focused and precise
  • answers the question, “so what?”

How to write a thesis statement:

Suppose you are taking an early American history class and your professor has distributed the following essay prompt:

“Historians have debated the American Revolution’s effect on women.  Some argue that the Revolution had a positive effect because it increased women’s authority in the family.  Others argue that it had a negative effect because it excluded women from politics.  Still others argue that the Revolution changed very little for women, as they remained ensconced in the home.  Write a paper in which you pose your own answer to the question of whether the American Revolution had a positive, negative, or limited effect on women.”

Using this prompt, we will look at both weak and strong thesis statements to see how successful thesis statements work.

While this thesis does take a position, it is problematic because it simply restates the prompt.  It needs to be more specific about how  the Revolution had a limited effect on women and  why it mattered that women remained in the home.

Revised Thesis:  The Revolution wrought little political change in the lives of women because they did not gain the right to vote or run for office.  Instead, women remained firmly in the home, just as they had before the war, making their day-to-day lives look much the same.

This revision is an improvement over the first attempt because it states what standards the writer is using to measure change (the right to vote and run for office) and it shows why women remaining in the home serves as evidence of limited change (because their day-to-day lives looked the same before and after the war).  However, it still relies too heavily on the information given in the prompt, simply saying that women remained in the home.  It needs to make an argument about some element of the war’s limited effect on women.  This thesis requires further revision.

Strong Thesis: While the Revolution presented women unprecedented opportunities to participate in protest movements and manage their family’s farms and businesses, it ultimately did not offer lasting political change, excluding women from the right to vote and serve in office.

Few would argue with the idea that war brings upheaval.  Your thesis needs to be debatable:  it needs to make a claim against which someone could argue.  Your job throughout the paper is to provide evidence in support of your own case.  Here is a revised version:

Strong Thesis: The Revolution caused particular upheaval in the lives of women.  With men away at war, women took on full responsibility for running households, farms, and businesses.  As a result of their increased involvement during the war, many women were reluctant to give up their new-found responsibilities after the fighting ended.

Sexism is a vague word that can mean different things in different times and places.  In order to answer the question and make a compelling argument, this thesis needs to explain exactly what  attitudes toward women were in early America, and  how those attitudes negatively affected women in the Revolutionary period.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution had a negative impact on women because of the belief that women lacked the rational faculties of men. In a nation that was to be guided by reasonable republican citizens, women were imagined to have no place in politics and were thus firmly relegated to the home.

This thesis addresses too large of a topic for an undergraduate paper.  The terms “social,” “political,” and “economic” are too broad and vague for the writer to analyze them thoroughly in a limited number of pages.  The thesis might focus on one of those concepts, or it might narrow the emphasis to some specific features of social, political, and economic change.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution paved the way for important political changes for women.  As “Republican Mothers,” women contributed to the polity by raising future citizens and nurturing virtuous husbands.  Consequently, women played a far more important role in the new nation’s politics than they had under British rule.

This thesis is off to a strong start, but it needs to go one step further by telling the reader why changes in these three areas mattered.  How did the lives of women improve because of developments in education, law, and economics?  What were women able to do with these advantages?  Obviously the rest of the paper will answer these questions, but the thesis statement needs to give some indication of why these particular changes mattered.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution had a positive impact on women because it ushered in improvements in female education, legal standing, and economic opportunity.  Progress in these three areas gave women the tools they needed to carve out lives beyond the home, laying the foundation for the cohesive feminist movement that would emerge in the mid-nineteenth century.

Thesis Checklist

When revising your thesis, check it against the following guidelines:

  • Does my thesis make an historical argument?
  • Does my thesis take a position that requires defending?
  • Is my thesis historically specific?
  • Is my thesis focused and precise?
  • Does my thesis answer the question, “so what?”

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How to Write a Thesis Statement

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About this tutorial

Monique Tudon

Contributors

Kian Ravaei , Neha Gupta , Chris Lopez , Renee Romero

https://uclalibrary.github.io/research-tips/research-tips/how-to-write-a-thesis-statement/

Learning Outcomes

  • identify the requisite steps to writing a thesis statement
  • recognize examples of effective and ineffective thesis statements
  • identify the components of a well structured thesis statement
  • recognize that the thesis writing process is flexible, nonlinear, and susceptible to change

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Thesis and Dissertation Writing Programs

In addition to one-on-one writing appointments, the Graduate Writing Center has a number of programs and workshops that offer support to dissertators and thesis writers.

During the academic year, the GWC offers single-session overview workshops on master's theses, dissertation proposals, and dissertation writing. Click our current schedule or browse past workshops to see when these topics may be offered. We also encourage you to look at relevant workshop videos .

Writing Groups

The Graduate Writing Center sometimes organizes writing groups of various types (online writing groups, facilitated writing groups, or independent writing groups). We are also happy to help groups of graduate students self-organize into writing groups. For best practices on setting up writing groups, see our writing groups resource page . For information about writing groups currently being offered or organized by the GWC, see our writing groups web page.

Master's Thesis Mentoring Program

The Graduate Writing Center offers a program to support graduate students who are working on master's theses (or other master's capstone projects) and doctoral qualifying papers. The program provides workshops and one-on-one writing appointments. For more information, read Master's Thesis Mentoring Program .

Spring Break Writing Retreats

The Graduate Writing Center offers writing retreats for graduate students who are working on master's theses, dissertation proposals, dissertations, and other writing projects. These programs are usually offered in spring break and summer. Retreats are open to all graduate and professional students. For more information and registration instructions for spring break writing retreats, scroll to the bottom of this web page and click on the relevant program. For programs offered during to the summer, go to the summer boot camp and thesis retreat page.

Summer Dissertation Boot Camps and Thesis Retreats

The Graduate Writing Center holds a number of programs during the summer to help graduate students who are at the dissertation and dissertation proposal stages. We also offer dissertation/thesis retreats during the summer. See our most current summer dissertation boot camp and program offerings for more information.

Spring Break Writing Retreat (All Fields) with Online and In Person Options

This program is for graduate or professional students who are writing large-scale projects like master's theses or capstones, doctoral dissertations or proposals, or manuscripts for publication. The program provides dedicated time to focus on your writing and has online and in-person options. For STEM students, it additionally offers workshops related to scientific writing issues. To read more and register, please see the program description below. Deadline to register is Monday, March 18th.

CLICK HERE for application and program details for spring break writing retreat.

SCHEDULE, March 25th – 27th (in person); March 25th – March 28th (online):

Daily Schedule: 9:00-10:00: Online productivity workshops & discussion 10:00-12:00: Online writing groups or individual work (in person) 12:00-1:00: Lunch break 1:00-2:00: Online Workshops or individual work 2:00-4:00: Online writing groups or individual work (in person)

Morning Online Productivity Workshops (9-10 am) Morning workshops will address project organization, time management, and productivity tips.

Online Writing Group or Individual Work If you are doing the retreat online, you will join online writing groups via Zoom at the designated times. If you are at the in-person location, you may work independently or join the online writing groups via Zoom.

How to Sign Up for the Writing Retreat : Fill out the web form (linked here) by Monday, March 18th . We don't anticipate any capacity issues, but if we have any, we will accept registrants on a first-come, first-served basis.

Morning Productivity Writing Workshops (9-10 am)

Monday, March 25th, 9:00–10:00 AM — Project Organization for Writing In this workshop, we will discuss how to set up an organized system for a large-scale research and writing project, especially the writing components.

Tuesday, March 26th, 9:00–10:00 AM—Time Management and Productivity Tips for Writing In this workshop, we will discuss effective strategies for time management, goal setting, and productivity when conducting large-scale research and writing projects, especially for the writing components.

Wednesday, March 27th, 9:00–10:00 AM — Demos of Tools Writing consultants will demo a couple of organizational tools and how they use these tools to support writing.

Afternoon Scientific Writing Workshops (1-2 pm)

Monday, March 25th, 1:00–2:00 PM — Strategies for Writing Effective Scientific Papers This workshop will address basic principles for writing scientific papers and offer strategies for avoiding common pitfalls. We will also introduce key points from Joshua Schimel's book Writing Science on developing good narrative structure and clarity to make writing engaging and impactful.

Tuesday, March 26th, 1:00–2:00 PM — Creating Effective Figures and Visual Aids This workshop focuses on strategies for designing effective figures and visual materials. The workshop will also introduce different software packages that can be used to create high-quality figures and offer further resources for learning these programs.

Wednesday, March 27th, 1:00–2:00 PM — Thesis and Dissertation Writing in STEM Fields (Final Stages) This workshop will give an overview of the final components and writing stages of a STEM thesis or dissertation.

Further Resources

Advice for Thesis Writing If you haven’t seen a final thesis or dissertation in your field, we recommend looking one from your department in the ProQuest Dissertation database available through the UCLA Library. This database allows you to search by institution, advisor, and manuscript type (master's thesis versus dissertation).

Optional Reading: Joan Bolker. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes A Day . 1998. Paul Silvia. How to Write a Lot . 2007.

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How to write a thesis statement + examples

Thesis statement

What is a thesis statement?

Is a thesis statement a question, how do you write a good thesis statement, how do i know if my thesis statement is good, examples of thesis statements, helpful resources on how to write a thesis statement, frequently asked questions about writing a thesis statement, related articles.

A thesis statement is the main argument of your paper or thesis.

The thesis statement is one of the most important elements of any piece of academic writing . It is a brief statement of your paper’s main argument. Essentially, you are stating what you will be writing about.

You can see your thesis statement as an answer to a question. While it also contains the question, it should really give an answer to the question with new information and not just restate or reiterate it.

Your thesis statement is part of your introduction. Learn more about how to write a good thesis introduction in our introduction guide .

A thesis statement is not a question. A statement must be arguable and provable through evidence and analysis. While your thesis might stem from a research question, it should be in the form of a statement.

Tip: A thesis statement is typically 1-2 sentences. For a longer project like a thesis, the statement may be several sentences or a paragraph.

A good thesis statement needs to do the following:

  • Condense the main idea of your thesis into one or two sentences.
  • Answer your project’s main research question.
  • Clearly state your position in relation to the topic .
  • Make an argument that requires support or evidence.

Once you have written down a thesis statement, check if it fulfills the following criteria:

  • Your statement needs to be provable by evidence. As an argument, a thesis statement needs to be debatable.
  • Your statement needs to be precise. Do not give away too much information in the thesis statement and do not load it with unnecessary information.
  • Your statement cannot say that one solution is simply right or simply wrong as a matter of fact. You should draw upon verified facts to persuade the reader of your solution, but you cannot just declare something as right or wrong.

As previously mentioned, your thesis statement should answer a question.

If the question is:

What do you think the City of New York should do to reduce traffic congestion?

A good thesis statement restates the question and answers it:

In this paper, I will argue that the City of New York should focus on providing exclusive lanes for public transport and adaptive traffic signals to reduce traffic congestion by the year 2035.

Here is another example. If the question is:

How can we end poverty?

A good thesis statement should give more than one solution to the problem in question:

In this paper, I will argue that introducing universal basic income can help reduce poverty and positively impact the way we work.

  • The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina has a list of questions to ask to see if your thesis is strong .

A thesis statement is part of the introduction of your paper. It is usually found in the first or second paragraph to let the reader know your research purpose from the beginning.

In general, a thesis statement should have one or two sentences. But the length really depends on the overall length of your project. Take a look at our guide about the length of thesis statements for more insight on this topic.

Here is a list of Thesis Statement Examples that will help you understand better how to write them.

Every good essay should include a thesis statement as part of its introduction, no matter the academic level. Of course, if you are a high school student you are not expected to have the same type of thesis as a PhD student.

Here is a great YouTube tutorial showing How To Write An Essay: Thesis Statements .

how to write a thesis statement ucla

how to write a thesis statement ucla

Handouts and Online Resources for Students

Writing at the University

  • Beyond the 5-Paragraph Essay
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Pre-Writing

  • Breaking Down Your Reading Assignment
  • Reading Essay Prompts
  • Dealing with Writer’s Block

Writing: Getting Started

  • How to Write a Good Introduction
  • Outlining and Structuring a Paper
  • Structuring Paragraphs
  • Thesis Statements — “Although …, my opinion is …” Thesis Structure
  • Thesis Statements — What? How? Why? Structure
  • Crafting Thesis Statements: Podcast and Handout
  • Tips for Writing an Honors Thesis or Capstone Project: Presentation and Handout
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Writing: Sentences & Transitions

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  • Relative Clauses
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  • Sentence Transitions

Revising for Content and Organization

  • How to Be Clear in Your Statements
  • Summary vs. Analysis in Paragraphs
  • Reverse Outlining
  • Integrating Quotations
  • Knowing your Conclusion is “Done”: Presentation  & Handout

Proofreading/Grammar

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  • Presentation: Editing for Common Grammar Issues
  • Rules and Editing Tips for Articles and Noun Forms
  • Prepositions
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  • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
  • Rules for Using Commas
  • Common Sentence Structure Problems
  • Common Grammar Mistakes

Citing Your Sources

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  • APA Formatting: In-text Citations & Reference Page
  • Chicago Style: Footnotes/Endnotes & Bibliography Page

Writing Personal Statements & Statements of Purpose

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  • 3 Pre-Writing Activities: Getting Started on Your Personal Statement or Statements of Purpose
  • Additional Resources: Personal Statements & Statements of Purpose

Resumes & Curriculum Vitae (CVs)

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  • Checklist for Evaluating Your Resume
  • Checklist for Evaluating Your Curriculum Vitae (CV)
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Writing Research Papers

  • Writing Research Paper Introductions
  • Writing the Literature Review for Research Papers
  • Pre-Writing Activity: The Literature Review
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Writing a Research Proposal

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how to write a thesis statement ucla

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

how to write a thesis statement ucla

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.

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Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

  • An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this 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 claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, 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 still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

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

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

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 statement:

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

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

  • Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college
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The UCLA Library no longer has a Thesis and Dissertation Advisor. All aspects of submitting theses or dissertations are handled in the Graduate Division, including creating an embargo on the availability of the dissertation.

  • Thesis and Dissertation Formatting and Filing Information
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  • UCLA Graduate Writing Center The Graduate Writing Center offers individual consultations and group workshops, including dissertation and master's thesis "boot camps," to all registered UCLA graduate and professional school students.
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  • Last Updated: Aug 24, 2023 1:00 PM
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How to Write a Thesis Statement: A Complete Guide

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Thesis statement is a technical term that refers to a sentence positioned in the first paragraph of your research paper that identifies the main idea. Actually, the thesis statement is the very first sentence your teacher reads and subsequently, not only one of the most pivotal sentences in your whole essay but also the most difficult of all of the sentences for you to write. Here, this explains the cause of the searching of the students on the internet on ways to write a good thesis statement. One of the most challenging requirements that students are often faced with is getting their thesis statement right. you have now come to the right place then. This article discusses the process of crafting a thesis statement, in detail. the information on the contents of an ideal thesis statement and the main steps to follow as well is communicated as well.

WHAT IS THESIS STATEMENT

A thesis statement is one sentence in the paper that provides the main idea the paper aims to discuss and investigate on. It gives your reader the broader understanding of your playing field and a purpose of your research. But it gives the reader a sense of direction of where the rest part of the work is going.

In addition, the second benefit of a thesis statement is that it helps in finding articles based on a specific topic in an academic study. For instance, you can do a paper that is of your own if you use others’ papers like evidence and sources to back it up or you can use accounting assignment help UK . All you got to do is just skimming some of the ratios many people have published in their papers an end you will arrive to a thesis that will enable your topic to be more interesting and after that you may decide to reference it.

TYPES OF THESIS STATEMENTS

Every essay or research paper built upon two essential elements: a subject and a viewpoint. The topic is a subject that you’re writing about and the angle is your main idea. Depend on these, your essay falls under one of three types: one can write an expository essay, a descriptive essay or an argumentative essay. Thesis statement is classified into three main types. Therefore, let’s check one by one.

EXPOSITORY THESIS STATEMENT

This type of thesis statement requires you to explain a given opinion, idea, or concept. As the name shows that this type of thesis applies to expository essays in which it is not necessary to provide your unique opinion on the matter.  

Thesis structure for expository essays:

  • Introduce the topic.
  • Explain the categories that best represent the topic.
  • Determine the order of the categories to present the topic as it is.

ANALYTICAL THESIS

The analytical thesis statement requires you to break down your idea into basic components. You can further analyze the individual components to present the final assessment to your readers. Furthermore, this thesis statement requires you to present various topics in the order in which your essay discusses them. So, it can apply to both persuasive and descriptive essays.

Analytical Thesis Structure

  • Introduce the core element you are analyzing. 
  • Deconstruct the topic into its constituent categories.
  • Determine the order of the categories that will best represent your findings.

ARGUMENTATIVE THESIS

In argumentative thesis statement you make a claim and provide the evidence to back it up. There are some common types of claim which you can make in your argumentative thesis statement such as: 

  • Comprehension 
  • Cause and effect solutions

Without any doubt this type of thesis statement is best for your argumentative essay because you will take a position on your topic. And then defend it with substantial evidence. 

Argumentative Thesis Structure

  • Make your claim
  • Present your reasons or strong evidence to support your claim
  • Determine the order in which the categories will best represent your claim. 

WHY IS A THESIS STATEMENT IMPORTANT?

There are two reasons why thesis statements are important 

First, you have to develop a thesis statement to create a focus on an essay’s main idea. Because, you need to write the main idea in a few sentences to create a clear idea for the paper. 

Second, an effective thesis statement helps the reader understand the essay’s main idea. It is vital as it tells the audience what they will be reading about.

WHAT IS A STRONG THESIS STATEMENT? 

Writing an effective and strong thesis statement means that you have to write in that way that it meets all essential requirements. Students regularly ask what they should do in order to write the strongest thesis statement or how they can know whether their statement is strong. On the bright side, there is a helpful checklist which can take you through this process. Alternatively, in the event that your paper has a marketing subject, you could inquire a marketing assignment writing service . Here are some tips you can implement when you start working on your next paper.

  • Clear Statement
  • Focused and specific 
  • Express and focuses on one main idea
  • Explain your position on the essay topic
  • Answer So what? Why and How? Questions

WHAT TO ADD AND AVOIDED IN YOUR THESIS STATEMENT?

Whether you’re working alone on your nursing dissertation or availing a nursing dissertation writing service . it’s important for you to understand the requirements. Additionally, be sure to grasp the key components that constitute a strong thesis statement.  

WHAT TO INCLUDE?

  • 1-3 sentence
  • One main idea 
  • All key aspects for your topic 
  • Your position regarding the topic
  • Concluding idea

WHAT TO AVOID?

Below are some key points to avoid when working on your thesis statement

  • Common knowledge
  • Too Broad Topic
  • Information that is different from topic 

TIPS FOR WRITING A THESIS STATEMENT

Most of the students normally look for how to write a great thesis statement because writing a precise and powerful thesis is not quite easy but requires planning in advance. So, here’re some ideas on how to start writing a thesis statement

CHOOSE THE KIND OF PAPER FOR WRITING 

Before you start working on your thesis statement decide what essay you want to write Argumentative essays is design to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays will present information to the reader. And the analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. 

WHAT SHOULD YOU HIGHLIGHT 

After witing process decide what type of paper you’re writing, then figure out the point you want to add in your thesis statement. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question such as:

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

INFORMATION YOU’LL USE 

Next 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 for you to prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. Now after you’ve written your initial thesis statement, then you have to get information to back that up. 

REVISE YOUR THESIS STATEMENT 

Review your thesis statement several times before you begin writing your entire essay. Because this statement serves as the foundation for the entire paper. Therefore, you must ensure that it is perfect. Edit it, a classmate reads it out again, and then you write it as having been clarified.

Thesis statement writing has various categories, including argumentative, narrative, and descriptive types.

  • Research Paper Thesis Statement
  • Analytical thesis statement 
  • Persuasive thesis statement 
  • Compare and contrast thesis statement 
  • Expository thesis statement
  • Cause and effect thesis statement 
  • Work & Careers
  • Life & Arts

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IMAGES

  1. How To Write A Thesis Statement (with Useful Steps and Tips) • 7ESL

    how to write a thesis statement ucla

  2. How to Write a Thesis Statement: Fill-in-the-Blank Formula

    how to write a thesis statement ucla

  3. How to Write an Effective Thesis Statement

    how to write a thesis statement ucla

  4. 25 Thesis Statement Examples (2024)

    how to write a thesis statement ucla

  5. How To Write A Thesis Statement (with Useful Steps and Tips) • 7ESL

    how to write a thesis statement ucla

  6. 45 Perfect Thesis Statement Templates (+ Examples) ᐅ TemplateLab

    how to write a thesis statement ucla

VIDEO

  1. How to Write a THESIS Statement

  2. Westside Transformation

  3. Finding and Writing Thesis Statements

  4. Teaching class how to write thesis statement

  5. how to write a thesis

  6. Thesis Statement| English Essay by Dr Arif Javid

COMMENTS

  1. Thesis Statements

    Your thesis statement is one of the most important parts of your paper. It expresses your main argument succinctly and explains why your argument is historically significant. Think of your thesis as a promise you make to your reader about what your paper will argue. Then, spend the rest of your paper-each body paragraph-fulfilling that promise.

  2. How to Write a Thesis Statement

    Learning Outcomes. identify the requisite steps to writing a thesis statement. recognize examples of effective and ineffective thesis statements. identify the components of a well structured thesis statement. recognize that the thesis writing process is flexible, nonlinear, and susceptible to change.

  3. How to Write a Thesis Statement

    Step 2: Write your initial answer. After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process. The internet has had more of a positive than a negative effect on education.

  4. Thesis and Dissertation Writing Programs

    Master's Thesis Mentoring Program. The Graduate Writing Center offers a program to support graduate students who are working on master's theses (or other master's capstone projects) and doctoral qualifying papers. The program provides workshops and one-on-one writing appointments. For more information, read Master's Thesis Mentoring Program.

  5. WI+RE Online Writing and Research Tutorials

    Chat with a librarian 24/7, schedule a research consultation or email us your quick questions. Quick and practical research and writing tutorials, collaboratively designed by students at UCLA.

  6. Thesis & Dissertation Filing Requirements

    View Thesis & Dissertation Filing Requirements PDF. This is the official UCLA manuscript preparation guide that contains established criteria for uniformity in the format of theses and dissertations. The regulations included in it supersede any style manual instructions regarding format. Also includes information on filing dates and procedures ...

  7. How to write a thesis statement + Examples

    It is a brief statement of your paper's main argument. Essentially, you are stating what you will be writing about. Organize your papers in one place. Try Paperpile. No credit card needed. Get 30 days free. You can see your thesis statement as an answer to a question. While it also contains the question, it should really give an answer to the ...

  8. Handouts and Online Resources for Students

    Handouts and Online Resources for Students. Writing at the University. Beyond the 5-Paragraph Essay. Writing Tips for Transfer Students. Pre-Writing. Breaking Down Your Reading Assignment. Reading Essay Prompts. Dealing with Writer's Block. Writing: Getting Started.

  9. PDF Steps to Success: Writing a Winning

    Your Research Is Your Purpose. Avoid Childhood Kindergarten-High School. "The big questions — how to control a cell's function, how to interfere with a cell becoming a cancer, how to stop heart disease — are still out there to be answered. The key is bringing fresh ideas along with new tools and technologies to the same old problems.".

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

    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 ...

  11. File Your Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD)

    The last date that all of the items listed above is complete will be your filing date for your thesis or dissertation. For example, if you submit your final dissertation PDF and complete the online process on May 31, three committee members sign on June 1, and the final committee member signs on June 2, your filing date will be June 2 assuming ...

  12. PDF UCLA Thesis and Dissertation Filing Requirements & Public Dissemination

    Approved by UCLA Graduate Council on May 15, 2015 In filing your thesis or dissertation (the Work, including any abstract), in partial fulfillment of the requirements for your degree at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), you agree to the following terms and conditions. 1. Grant of Rights.

  13. Dissertations and Theses

    UCLA has access to all full text dissertations in the database. Non-UCLA users may use Dissertations Express to purchase digital or print copies of individual dissertations. Over 5 million dissertations and theses available in OCLC member libraries. Many theses are available electronically, at no charge, directly from the publishing institution.

  14. Creating a Thesis Statement, Thesis Statement Tips

    Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement. 1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing: An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this 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 ...

  15. Submitting a Thesis/Dissertation

    The UCLA Library no longer has a Thesis and Dissertation Advisor. All aspects of submitting theses or dissertations are handled in the Graduate Division, including creating an embargo on the availability of the dissertation. ... UCLA Graduate Writing Center. The Graduate Writing Center offers individual consultations and group workshops ...

  16. How to Write a Thesis Statement: A Complete Guide

    This article discusses the process of crafting a thesis statement, in detail. the information on the contents of an ideal thesis statement and the main steps to follow as well is communicated as well. WHAT IS THESIS STATEMENT. A thesis statement is one sentence in the paper that provides the main idea the paper aims to discuss and investigate on.

  17. UCLA statement on demonstrations (April 30)

    (11:48 a.m. PT) Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said: "Yesterday some physical altercations occurred among demonstrators in Royce Quad. In response, we have taken several actions to significantly increase our security presence, including adding greater numbers of campus law enforcement, safety personnel and ...

  18. Rejoice! Voyager 1 is back from the dead

    The twin Voyager mission was launched in my childhood and, ever since, it has been hard not to romanticise it as a fellow traveller: sent off alone into the wilderness; writing home; reaching ...