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25 Thesis Statement Examples That Will Make Writing a Breeze

Understanding what makes a good thesis statement is one of the major keys to writing a great research paper or argumentative essay. The thesis statement is where you make a claim that will guide you through your entire paper. If you find yourself struggling to make sense of your paper or your topic, then it's likely due to a weak thesis statement.

Let's take a minute to first understand what makes a solid thesis statement, and what key components you need to write one of your own.

A thesis statement always goes at the beginning of the paper. It will typically be in the first couple of paragraphs of the paper so that it can introduce the body paragraphs, which are the supporting evidence for your thesis statement.

Your thesis statement should clearly identify an argument. You need to have a statement that is not only easy to understand, but one that is debatable. What that means is that you can't just put any statement of fact and have it be your thesis. For example, everyone knows that puppies are cute . An ineffective thesis statement would be, "Puppies are adorable and everyone knows it." This isn't really something that's a debatable topic.

Something that would be more debatable would be, "A puppy's cuteness is derived from its floppy ears, small body, and playfulness." These are three things that can be debated on. Some people might think that the cutest thing about puppies is the fact that they follow you around or that they're really soft and fuzzy.

All cuteness aside, you want to make sure that your thesis statement is not only debatable, but that it also actually thoroughly answers the research question that was posed. You always want to make sure that your evidence is supporting a claim that you made (and not the other way around). This is why it's crucial to read and research about a topic first and come to a conclusion later. If you try to get your research to fit your thesis statement, then it may not work out as neatly as you think. As you learn more, you discover more (and the outcome may not be what you originally thought).

Additionally, your thesis statement shouldn't be too big or too grand. It'll be hard to cover everything in a thesis statement like, "The federal government should act now on climate change." The topic is just too large to actually say something new and meaningful. Instead, a more effective thesis statement might be, "Local governments can combat climate change by providing citizens with larger recycling bins and offering local classes about composting and conservation." This is easier to work with because it's a smaller idea, but you can also discuss the overall topic that you might be interested in, which is climate change.

So, now that we know what makes a good, solid thesis statement, you can start to write your own. If you find that you're getting stuck or you are the type of person who needs to look at examples before you start something, then check out our list of thesis statement examples below.

Thesis statement examples

A quick note that these thesis statements have not been fully researched. These are merely examples to show you what a thesis statement might look like and how you can implement your own ideas into one that you think of independently. As such, you should not use these thesis statements for your own research paper purposes. They are meant to be used as examples only.

• Vaccinations Because many children are unable to vaccinate due to illness, we must require that all healthy and able children be vaccinated in order to have herd immunity.
• Educational Resources for Low-Income Students Schools should provide educational resources for low-income students during the summers so that they don't forget what they've learned throughout the school year.
• School Uniforms School uniforms may be an upfront cost for families, but they eradicate the visual differences in income between students and provide a more egalitarian atmosphere at school.
• Populism The rise in populism on the 2016 political stage was in reaction to increasing globalization, the decline of manufacturing jobs, and the Syrian refugee crisis.
• Public Libraries Libraries are essential resources for communities and should be funded more heavily by local municipalities.
• Cyber Bullying With more and more teens using smartphones and social media, cyber bullying is on the rise. Cyber bullying puts a lot of stress on many teens, and can cause depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. Parents should limit the usage of smart phones, monitor their children's online activity, and report any cyber bullying to school officials in order to combat this problem.
• Medical Marijuana for Veterans Studies have shown that the use of medicinal marijuana has been helpful to veterans who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Medicinal marijuana prescriptions should be legal in all states and provided to these veterans. Additional medical or therapy services should also be researched and implemented in order to help them re-integrate back into civilian life.
• Work-Life Balance Corporations should provide more work from home opportunities and six-hour workdays so that office workers have a better work-life balance and are more likely to be productive when they are in the office.
• Teaching Youths about Consensual Sex Although sex education that includes a discussion of consensual sex would likely lead to less sexual assault, parents need to teach their children the meaning of consent from a young age with age appropriate lessons.
• Whether or Not to Attend University A degree from a university provides invaluable lessons on life and a future career, but not every high school student should be encouraged to attend a university directly after graduation. Some students may benefit from a trade school or a "gap year" where they can think more intensely about what it is they want to do for a career and how they can accomplish this.
• Studying Abroad Studying abroad is one of the most culturally valuable experiences you can have in college. It is the only way to get completely immersed in another language and learn how other cultures and countries are different from your own.
• Women's Body Image Magazines have done a lot in the last five years to include a more diverse group of models, but there is still a long way to go to promote a healthy woman's body image collectively as a culture.
• Cigarette Tax Heavily taxing and increasing the price of cigarettes is essentially a tax on the poorest Americans, and it doesn't deter them from purchasing. Instead, the state and federal governments should target those economically disenfranchised with early education about the dangers of smoking.
• Veganism A vegan diet, while a healthy and ethical way to consume food, indicates a position of privilege. It also limits you to other cultural food experiences if you travel around the world.
• University Athletes Should be Compensated University athletes should be compensated for their service to the university, as it is difficult for these students to procure and hold a job with busy academic and athletic schedules. Many student athletes on scholarship also come from low-income neighborhoods and it is a struggle to make ends meet when they are participating in athletics.
• Women in the Workforce Sheryl Sandberg makes a lot of interesting points in her best-selling book, Lean In , but she only addressed the very privileged working woman and failed to speak to those in lower-skilled, lower-wage jobs.
• Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide should be legal and doctors should have the ability to make sure their patients have the end-of-life care that they want to receive.
• Celebrity and Political Activism Although Taylor Swift's lyrics are indicative of a feminist perspective, she should be more politically active and vocal to use her position of power for the betterment of society.
• The Civil War The insistence from many Southerners that the South seceded from the Union for states' rights versus the fact that they seceded for the purposes of continuing slavery is a harmful myth that still affects race relations today.
• Blue Collar Workers Coal miners and other blue-collar workers whose jobs are slowly disappearing from the workforce should be re-trained in jobs in the technology sector or in renewable energy. A program to re-train these workers would not only improve local economies where jobs have been displaced, but would also lead to lower unemployment nationally.
• Diversity in the Workforce Having a diverse group of people in an office setting leads to richer ideas, more cooperation, and more empathy between people with different skin colors or backgrounds.
• Re-Imagining the Nuclear Family The nuclear family was traditionally defined as one mother, one father, and 2.5 children. This outdated depiction of family life doesn't quite fit with modern society. The definition of normal family life shouldn't be limited to two-parent households.
• Digital Literacy Skills With more information readily available than ever before, it's crucial that students are prepared to examine the material they're reading and determine whether or not it's a good source or if it has misleading information. Teaching students digital literacy and helping them to understand the difference between opinion or propaganda from legitimate, real information is integral.
• Beauty Pageants Beauty pageants are presented with the angle that they empower women. However, putting women in a swimsuit on a stage while simultaneously judging them on how well they answer an impossible question in a short period of time is cruel and purely for the amusement of men. Therefore, we should stop televising beauty pageants.
• Supporting More Women to Run for a Political Position In order to get more women into political positions, more women must run for office. There must be a grassroots effort to educate women on how to run for office, who among them should run, and support for a future candidate for getting started on a political career.

Still stuck? Need some help with your thesis statement?

If you are still uncertain about how to write a thesis statement or what a good thesis statement is, be sure to consult with your teacher or professor to make sure you're on the right track. It's always a good idea to check in and make sure that your thesis statement is making a solid argument and that it can be supported by your research.

After you're done writing, it's important to have someone take a second look at your paper so that you can ensure there are no mistakes or errors. It's difficult to spot your own mistakes, which is why it's always recommended to have someone help you with the revision process, whether that's a teacher, the writing center at school, or a professional editor such as one from ServiceScape .

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Need an academic editor before submitting your work?

• Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
• Key to Comments
• Analytical Research Paper Checklist
• Test-Yourself Quiz on Commonly Confused Words
• Citing Sources
• Formatting Guidelines for Papers
• General Grading Criteria

Thesis Statements

A thesis statement defines the scope and purpose of the paper. It needs to meet three criteria:

1. It must be arguable rather than a statement of fact. It should also say something original about the topic.

Bad thesis: Lily Bart experiences the constraints of many social conventions in The House of Mirth . [Of course she does. What does she do with these social conventions, and how does she respond to them? What’s your argument about this idea?]

Better thesis: Lily Bart seeks to escape from the social conventions of her class in The House of Mirth , but her competing desires for a place in Selden’s “republic of the spirit” and in the social world of New York cause her to gamble away her chances for a place in either world. [You could then mention the specific scenes that you will discuss.]

2. It must be limited enough so that the paper develops in some depth.

Bad thesis: Lily Bart and Clare Kendry are alike in some ways, but different in many others. [What ways?]

Better thesis: Lily Bart and Clare Kendry share a desire to “pass” in their respective social worlds, but their need to take risks and to reject those worlds leads to their destruction.

3. It must be unified so that the paper does not stray from the topic.

Bad thesis: Lily Bart gambles with her future, and Lawrence Selden is only a spectator rather than a hero of The House of Mirth . [Note: This is really the beginning of two different thesis statements.]

Better thesis: In The House of Mirth, Lawrence Selden is a spectator who prefers to watch and judge Lily than to help her. By failing to assist her on three separate occasions, he is revealed as less a hero of the novel than as the man responsible for Lily’s downfall. [Note: Sometimes thesis statements are more than one sentence long.]

4. Statements such as “In this essay I will discuss ” or “I will compare two stories in this paper” or “I was interested in Marji’s relationship with God, so I thought I would talk about it in this essay” are not thesis statements and are unnecessary, since mentioning the stories in the introduction already tells the reader this.

Topic Sentences

Good topic sentences can improve an essay’s readability and organization. They usually meet the following criteria:

1. First sentence. A topic sentence is usually the first sentence of the paragraph, not the last sentence of the previous paragraph.

2. Link to thesis . Topic sentences use keywords or phrases from the thesis to indicate which part of the thesis will be discussed.

3. Introduce the subject of the paragraph. They tell the reader what concept will be discussed and provide an introduction to the paragraph.

4. Link to the previous paragraph. They link the subject of the present paragraph to that of the previous paragraph.

5. Indicate the progression of the essay. Topic sentences may also signal to the reader where the essay has been and where it is headed through signposting words such as “first,” “second,” or “finally.”

Good topic sentences typically DON’T begin with the following.

1. A quotation from a critic or from the piece of fiction you’re discussing. The topic sentence should relate to your points and tell the reader what the subject of the paragraph will be. Beginning the paragraph with someone else’s words doesn’t allow you to provide this information for the reader.

2. A piece of information that tells the reader something more about the plot of the story. When you’re writing about a piece of literature, it’s easy to fall into the habit of telling the plot of the story and then adding a sentence of analysis, but such an approach leaves the reader wondering what the point of the paragraph is supposed to be; it also doesn’t leave you sufficient room to analyze the story fully. These “narrative” topic sentences don’t provide enough information about your analysis and the points you’re making.

Weak “narrative” topic sentence: Lily Bart next travels to Bellomont, where she meets Lawrence Selden again. Stronger “topic-based” topic sentence: A second example of Lily’s gambling on her marriage chances occurs at Bellomont, where she ignores Percy Gryce in favor of Selden. [Note that this tells your reader that it’s the second paragraph in a series of paragraph relating to the thesis, which in this case would be a thesis related to Lily’s gambling on her marriage chances.]

3. A sentence that explains your response or reaction to the work, or that describes why you’re talking about a particular part of it, rather than why the paragraph is important to your analysis.

Weak “reaction” topic sentence: I felt that Lily should have known that Bertha Dorset was her enemy. Stronger “topic-based” topic sentence: Bertha Dorset is first established as Lily’s antagonist in the train scene, when she interrupts Lily’s conversation with Percy Gryce and reveals that Lily smokes.

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9.3 Putting It Together: Steps to Complete Your Introduction

Learning objectives.

• Clearly identify why an audience should listen to a speaker.
• Discuss how you can build your credibility during a speech.
• Understand how to write a clear thesis statement.
• Design an effective preview of your speech’s content for your audience.

Erin Brown-John – puzzle – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Once you have captured your audience’s attention, it’s important to make the rest of your introduction interesting, and use it to lay out the rest of the speech. In this section, we are going to explore the five remaining parts of an effective introduction: linking to your topic, reasons to listen, stating credibility, thesis statement, and preview.

Link to Topic

After the attention-getter, the second major part of an introduction is called the link to topic. The link to topic is the shortest part of an introduction and occurs when a speaker demonstrates how an attention-getting device relates to the topic of a speech. Often the attention-getter and the link to topic are very clear. For example, if you look at the attention-getting device example under historical reference above, you’ll see that the first sentence brings up the history of the Vietnam War and then shows us how that war can help us understand the Iraq War. In this case, the attention-getter clearly flows directly to the topic. However, some attention-getters need further explanation to get to the topic of the speech. For example, both of the anecdote examples (the girl falling into the manhole while texting and the boy and the filberts) need further explanation to connect clearly to the speech topic (i.e., problems of multitasking in today’s society).

Let’s look at the first anecdote example to demonstrate how we could go from the attention-getter to the topic.

In July 2009, a high school girl named Alexa Longueira was walking along a main boulevard near her home on Staten Island, New York, typing in a message on her cell phone. Not paying attention to the world around her, she took a step and fell right into an open manhole. This anecdote illustrates the problem that many people are facing in today’s world. We are so wired into our technology that we forget to see what’s going on around us—like a big hole in front of us.

In this example, the third sentence here explains that the attention-getter was an anecdote that illustrates a real issue. The fourth sentence then introduces the actual topic of the speech.

Let’s now examine how we can make the transition from the parable or fable attention-getter to the topic:

The ancient Greek writer Aesop told a fable about a boy who put his hand into a pitcher of filberts. The boy grabbed as many of the delicious nuts as he possibly could. But when he tried to pull them out, his hand wouldn’t fit through the neck of the pitcher because he was grasping so many filberts. Instead of dropping some of them so that his hand would fit, he burst into tears and cried about his predicament. The moral of the story? “Don’t try to do too much at once.” In today’s world, many of us are us are just like the boy putting his hand into the pitcher. We are constantly trying to grab so much or do so much that it prevents us from accomplishing our goals. I would like to show you three simple techniques to manage your time so that you don’t try to pull too many filberts from your pitcher.

In this example, we added three new sentences to the attention-getter to connect it to the speech topic.

Reasons to Listen

Once you have linked an attention-getter to the topic of your speech, you need to explain to your audience why your topic is important. We call this the “why should I care?” part of your speech because it tells your audience why the topic is directly important to them. Sometimes you can include the significance of your topic in the same sentence as your link to the topic, but other times you may need to spell out in one or two sentences why your specific topic is important.

People in today’s world are very busy, and they do not like their time wasted. Nothing is worse than having to sit through a speech that has nothing to do with you. Imagine sitting through a speech about a new software package you don’t own and you will never hear of again. How would you react to the speaker? Most of us would be pretty annoyed at having had our time wasted in this way. Obviously, this particular speaker didn’t do a great job of analyzing her or his audience if the audience isn’t going to use the software package—but even when speaking on a topic that is highly relevant to the audience, speakers often totally forget to explain how and why it is important.

Appearing Credible

The next part of a speech is not so much a specific “part” as an important characteristic that needs to be pervasive throughout your introduction and your entire speech. As a speaker, you want to be seen as credible (competent, trustworthy, and caring/having goodwill). As mentioned earlier in this chapter, credibility is ultimately a perception that is made by your audience. While your audience determines whether they perceive you as competent, trustworthy, and caring/having goodwill, there are some strategies you can employ to make yourself appear more credible.

First, to make yourself appear competent, you can either clearly explain to your audience why you are competent about a given subject or demonstrate your competence by showing that you have thoroughly researched a topic by including relevant references within your introduction. The first method of demonstrating competence—saying it directly—is only effective if you are actually a competent person on a given subject. If you are an undergraduate student and you are delivering a speech about the importance of string theory in physics, unless you are a prodigy of some kind, you are probably not a recognized expert on the subject. Conversely, if your number one hobby in life is collecting memorabilia about the Three Stooges, then you may be an expert about the Three Stooges. However, you would need to explain to your audience your passion for collecting Three Stooges memorabilia and how this has made you an expert on the topic.

If, on the other hand, you are not actually a recognized expert on a topic, you need to demonstrate that you have done your homework to become more knowledgeable than your audience about your topic. The easiest way to demonstrate your competence is through the use of appropriate references from leading thinkers and researchers on your topic. When you demonstrate to your audience that you have done your homework, they are more likely to view you as competent.

The second characteristic of credibility, trustworthiness, is a little more complicated than competence, for it ultimately relies on audience perceptions. One way to increase the likelihood that a speaker will be perceived as trustworthy is to use reputable sources. If you’re quoting Dr. John Smith, you need to explain who Dr. John Smith is so your audience will see the quotation as being more trustworthy. As speakers we can easily manipulate our sources into appearing more credible than they actually are, which would be unethical. When you are honest about your sources with your audience, they will trust you and your information more so than when you are ambiguous. The worst thing you can do is to out-and-out lie about information during your speech. Not only is lying highly unethical, but if you are caught lying, your audience will deem you untrustworthy and perceive everything you are saying as untrustworthy. Many speakers have attempted to lie to an audience because it will serve their own purposes or even because they believe their message is in their audience’s best interest, but lying is one of the fastest ways to turn off an audience and get them to distrust both the speaker and the message.

The third characteristic of credibility to establish during the introduction is the sense of caring/goodwill. While some unethical speakers can attempt to manipulate an audience’s perception that the speaker cares, ethical speakers truly do care about their audiences and have their audience’s best interests in mind while speaking. Often speakers must speak in front of audiences that may be hostile toward the speaker’s message. In these cases, it is very important for the speaker to explain that he or she really does believe her or his message is in the audience’s best interest. One way to show that you have your audience’s best interests in mind is to acknowledge disagreement from the start:

Today I’m going to talk about why I believe we should enforce stricter immigration laws in the United States. I realize that many of you will disagree with me on this topic. I used to believe that open immigration was a necessity for the United States to survive and thrive, but after researching this topic, I’ve changed my mind. While I may not change all of your minds today, I do ask that you listen with an open mind, set your personal feelings on this topic aside, and judge my arguments on their merits.

While clearly not all audience members will be open or receptive to opening their minds and listening to your arguments, by establishing that there is known disagreement, you are telling the audience that you understand their possible views and are not trying to attack their intellect or their opinions.

Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a short, declarative sentence that states the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech. A strong, clear thesis statement is very valuable within an introduction because it lays out the basic goal of the entire speech. We strongly believe that it is worthwhile to invest some time in framing and writing a good thesis statement. You may even want to write your thesis statement before you even begin conducting research for your speech. While you may end up rewriting your thesis statement later, having a clear idea of your purpose, intent, or main idea before you start searching for research will help you focus on the most appropriate material. To help us understand thesis statements, we will first explore their basic functions and then discuss how to write a thesis statement.

Basic Functions of a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement helps your audience by letting them know “in a nutshell” what you are going to talk about. With a good thesis statement you will fulfill four basic functions: you express your specific purpose, provide a way to organize your main points, make your research more effective, and enhance your delivery.

Express Your Specific Purpose

To orient your audience, you need to be as clear as possible about your meaning. A strong thesis will prepare your audience effectively for the points that will follow. Here are two examples:

• “Today, I want to discuss academic cheating.” (weak example)
• “Today, I will clarify exactly what plagiarism is and give examples of its different types so that you can see how it leads to a loss of creative learning interaction.” (strong example)

The weak statement will probably give the impression that you have no clear position about your topic because you haven’t said what that position is. Additionally, the term “academic cheating” can refer to many behaviors—acquiring test questions ahead of time, copying answers, changing grades, or allowing others to do your coursework—so the specific topic of the speech is still not clear to the audience.

The strong statement not only specifies plagiarism but also states your specific concern (loss of creative learning interaction).

Provide a Way to Organize Your Main Points

A thesis statement should appear, almost verbatim, toward the end of the introduction to a speech. A thesis statement helps the audience get ready to listen to the arrangement of points that follow. Many speakers say that if they can create a strong thesis sentence, the rest of the speech tends to develop with relative ease. On the other hand, when the thesis statement is not very clear, creating a speech is an uphill battle.

When your thesis statement is sufficiently clear and decisive, you will know where you stand about your topic and where you intend to go with your speech. Having a clear thesis statement is especially important if you know a great deal about your topic or you have strong feelings about it. If this is the case for you, you need to know exactly what you are planning on talking about in order to fit within specified time limitations. Knowing where you are and where you are going is the entire point in establishing a thesis statement; it makes your speech much easier to prepare and to present.

Let’s say you have a fairly strong thesis statement, and that you’ve already brainstormed a list of information that you know about the topic. Chances are your list is too long and has no focus. Using your thesis statement, you can select only the information that (1) is directly related to the thesis and (2) can be arranged in a sequence that will make sense to the audience and will support the thesis. In essence, a strong thesis statement helps you keep useful information and weed out less useful information.

Make Your Research More Effective

If you begin your research with only a general topic in mind, you run the risk of spending hours reading mountains of excellent literature about your topic. However, mountains of literature do not always make coherent speeches. You may have little or no idea of how to tie your research all together, or even whether you should tie it together. If, on the other hand, you conduct your research with a clear thesis statement in mind, you will be better able to zero in only on material that directly relates to your chosen thesis statement. Let’s look at an example that illustrates this point:

Many traffic accidents involve drivers older than fifty-five.

While this statement may be true, you could find industrial, medical, insurance literature that can drone on ad infinitum about the details of all such accidents in just one year. Instead, focusing your thesis statement will help you narrow the scope of information you will be searching for while gathering information. Here’s an example of a more focused thesis statement:

Three factors contribute to most accidents involving drivers over fifty-five years of age: failing eyesight, slower reflexes, and rapidly changing traffic conditions.

This framing is somewhat better. This thesis statement at least provides three possible main points and some keywords for your electronic catalog search. However, if you want your audience to understand the context of older people at the wheel, consider something like:

Mature drivers over fifty-five years of age must cope with more challenging driving conditions than existed only one generation ago: more traffic moving at higher speeds, the increased imperative for quick driving decisions, and rapidly changing ramp and cloverleaf systems. Because of these challenges, I want my audience to believe that drivers over the age of sixty-five should be required to pass a driving test every five years.

This framing of the thesis provides some interesting choices. First, several terms need to be defined, and these definitions might function surprisingly well in setting the tone of the speech. Your definitions of words like “generation,” “quick driving decisions,” and “cloverleaf systems” could jolt your audience out of assumptions they have taken for granted as truth.

Second, the framing of the thesis provides you with a way to describe the specific changes as they have occurred between, say, 1970 and 2010. How much, and in what ways, have the volume and speed of traffic changed? Why are quick decisions more critical now? What is a “cloverleaf,” and how does any driver deal cognitively with exiting in the direction seemingly opposite to the desired one? Questions like this, suggested by your own thesis statement, can lead to a strong, memorable speech.

Enhance Your Delivery

When your thesis is not clear to you, your listeners will be even more clueless than you are—but if you have a good clear thesis statement, your speech becomes clear to your listeners. When you stand in front of your audience presenting your introduction, you can vocally emphasize the essence of your speech, expressed as your thesis statement. Many speakers pause for a half second, lower their vocal pitch slightly, slow down a little, and deliberately present the thesis statement, the one sentence that encapsulates its purpose. When this is done effectively, the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech is driven home for an audience.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

Now that we’ve looked at why a thesis statement is crucial in a speech, let’s switch gears and talk about how we go about writing a solid thesis statement. A thesis statement is related to the general and specific purposes of a speech as we discussed them in Chapter 6 “Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic” .

Choose Your Topic

The first step in writing a good thesis statement was originally discussed in Chapter 6 “Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic” when we discussed how to find topics. Once you have a general topic, you are ready to go to the second step of creating a thesis statement.

Narrow Your Topic

One of the hardest parts of writing a thesis statement is narrowing a speech from a broad topic to one that can be easily covered during a five- to ten-minute speech. While five to ten minutes may sound like a long time to new public speakers, the time flies by very quickly when you are speaking. You can easily run out of time if your topic is too broad. To ascertain if your topic is narrow enough for a specific time frame, ask yourself three questions.

First, is your thesis statement narrow or is it a broad overgeneralization of a topic? An overgeneralization occurs when we classify everyone in a specific group as having a specific characteristic. For example, a speaker’s thesis statement that “all members of the National Council of La Raza are militant” is an overgeneralization of all members of the organization. Furthermore, a speaker would have to correctly demonstrate that all members of the organization are militant for the thesis statement to be proven, which is a very difficult task since the National Council of La Raza consists of millions of Hispanic Americans. A more appropriate thesis related to this topic could be, “Since the creation of the National Council of La Raza [NCLR] in 1968, the NCLR has become increasingly militant in addressing the causes of Hispanics in the United States.”

The second question to ask yourself when narrowing a topic is whether your speech’s topic is one clear topic or multiple topics. A strong thesis statement consists of only a single topic. The following is an example of a thesis statement that contains too many topics: “Medical marijuana, prostitution, and gay marriage should all be legalized in the United States.” Not only are all three fairly broad, but you also have three completely unrelated topics thrown into a single thesis statement. Instead of a thesis statement that has multiple topics, limit yourself to only one topic. Here’s an example of a thesis statement examining only one topic: “Today we’re going to examine the legalization and regulation of the oldest profession in the state of Nevada.” In this case, we’re focusing our topic to how one state has handled the legalization and regulation of prostitution.

The last question a speaker should ask when making sure a topic is sufficiently narrow is whether the topic has direction. If your basic topic is too broad, you will never have a solid thesis statement or a coherent speech. For example, if you start off with the topic “Barack Obama is a role model for everyone,” what do you mean by this statement? Do you think President Obama is a role model because of his dedication to civic service? Do you think he’s a role model because he’s a good basketball player? Do you think he’s a good role model because he’s an excellent public speaker? When your topic is too broad, almost anything can become part of the topic. This ultimately leads to a lack of direction and coherence within the speech itself. To make a cleaner topic, a speaker needs to narrow her or his topic to one specific area. For example, you may want to examine why President Obama is a good speaker.

Put Your Topic into a Sentence

Once you’ve narrowed your topic to something that is reasonably manageable given the constraints placed on your speech, you can then formalize that topic as a complete sentence. For example, you could turn the topic of President Obama’s public speaking skills into the following sentence: “Because of his unique sense of lyricism and his well-developed presentational skills, President Barack Obama is a modern symbol of the power of public speaking.” Once you have a clear topic sentence, you can start tweaking the thesis statement to help set up the purpose of your speech.

Add Your Argument, Viewpoint, or Opinion

This function only applies if you are giving a speech to persuade. If your topic is informative, your job is to make sure that the thesis statement is nonargumentative and focuses on facts. For example, in the preceding thesis statement we have a couple of opinion-oriented terms that should be avoided for informative speeches: “unique sense,” “well-developed,” and “power.” All three of these terms are laced with an individual’s opinion, which is fine for a persuasive speech but not for an informative speech. For informative speeches, the goal of a thesis statement is to explain what the speech will be informing the audience about, not attempting to add the speaker’s opinion about the speech’s topic. For an informative speech, you could rewrite the thesis statement to read, “This speech is going to analyze Barack Obama’s use of lyricism in his speech, ‘A World That Stands as One,’ delivered July 2008 in Berlin.”

On the other hand, if your topic is persuasive, you want to make sure that your argument, viewpoint, or opinion is clearly indicated within the thesis statement. If you are going to argue that Barack Obama is a great speaker, then you should set up this argument within your thesis statement.

Use the Thesis Checklist

Once you have written a first draft of your thesis statement, you’re probably going to end up revising your thesis statement a number of times prior to delivering your actual speech. A thesis statement is something that is constantly tweaked until the speech is given. As your speech develops, often your thesis will need to be rewritten to whatever direction the speech itself has taken. We often start with a speech going in one direction, and find out through our research that we should have gone in a different direction. When you think you finally have a thesis statement that is good to go for your speech, take a second and make sure it adheres to the criteria shown in Table 9.1 “Thesis Checklist”

Table 9.1 Thesis Checklist

Preview of Speech

The final part of an introduction contains a preview of the major points to be covered within your speech. I’m sure we’ve all seen signs that have three cities listed on them with the mileage to reach each city. This mileage sign is an indication of what is to come. A preview works the same way. A preview foreshadows what the main body points will be in the speech. For example, to preview a speech on bullying in the workplace, one could say, “To understand the nature of bullying in the modern workplace, I will first define what workplace bullying is and the types of bullying, I will then discuss the common characteristics of both workplace bullies and their targets, and lastly, I will explore some possible solutions to workplace bullying.” In this case, each of the phrases mentioned in the preview would be a single distinct point made in the speech itself. In other words, the first major body point in this speech would examine what workplace bullying is and the types of bullying; the second major body point in this speech would discuss the common characteristics of both workplace bullies and their targets; and lastly, the third body point in this speech would explore some possible solutions to workplace bullying.

Key Takeaways

• Linking the attention-getter to the speech topic is essential so that you maintain audience attention and so that the relevance of the attention-getter is clear to your audience.
• Establishing how your speech topic is relevant and important shows the audience why they should listen to your speech.
• To be an effective speaker, you should convey all three components of credibility, competence, trustworthiness, and caring/goodwill, by the content and delivery of your introduction.
• A clear thesis statement is essential to provide structure for a speaker and clarity for an audience.
• An effective preview identifies the specific main points that will be present in the speech body.
• Make a list of the attention-getting devices you might use to give a speech on the importance of recycling. Which do you think would be most effective? Why?
• Create a thesis statement for a speech related to the topic of collegiate athletics. Make sure that your thesis statement is narrow enough to be adequately covered in a five- to six-minute speech.
• Discuss with a partner three possible body points you could utilize for the speech on the topic of volunteerism.
• Fill out the introduction worksheet to help work through your introduction for your next speech. Please make sure that you answer all the questions clearly and concisely.

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Motorcycle Monday: Banning Bikes From Public Roads Becoming Reality?

Hear us out before drawing a knee-jerk conclusion.

A new report out of the UK sheds some light on a possible and disturbing new trend: county councils there might be trying to ban motorcycles from public roads slowly. The reasoning is reportedly that getting rid of motorcycles will save motorcyclists’ lives .

This is like the old saying about burning down the village to save the village. And while it might seem overly alarmist to say motorcycles could be banned from public roads in the UK, US, or anywhere else by justifying the lives saved by just such a measure, we’ve seen in 2020 all kinds of radical changes to public health enforcement using the same reasoning.

One of the counties in England that’s been cited by British Motorcyclists Federation, Trail Riders Fellowship, Motorcycle Action Group, and Vintage Motor Cycle Club is Oxfordshire. Statements about the safety, environmental impact, and space requirements of motorcycles have reportedly been brought up by county officials. And while bike enthusiasts and others have been able to address these concerns, they could easily pop up anywhere else .

Just look at the NHTSA page about motorcyclist safety, which declares “motorcycle riders are still over-represented in traffic fatalities.” Measures to make drivers more aware, teach motorcyclists to ride more defensibly, and to boost helmet usage have had only small effects. All it takes is a push from politicians or bureaucrats to make riding a bike in public the enemy of the people.

Yes, before 2020 we would’ve written this kind of talk off as alarmist, a wild conspiracy theory developed by people with overactive imaginations and too much time on their hands. But after watching sweeping, unquestioned health policies enacted in many areas with little to no discussion about whether or not they should even be put into place, coupled with the reluctance to roll most of those back because “if they save just one life they’re worth the sacrifice”, we can see the same possibly happening with motorcycles.

Another potential avenue that’s been cited for potentially banning motorcycles from public roads is these so-called “ zero emissions zones .” Instead of overtly stating motorcycles pollute and therefore are banned, they’ve been completed omitted from plans for these zones in different areas.

That might seem like an odd way of getting rid of a vehicle which is far more fuel efficient than something with four wheels, but they’re not “zero emissions” and so the concern seems justified. Plus, county councils have argued the engines on motorcycles pollute more than car engines. While there are electric motorcycles on the market, just like with electric cars they’re out the financial reach for most. There are other design shortcomings of electric bikes people can debate all day long.

Another attack being leveled at motorcycles by city and county councils has been their size. That one feels like it’s out of left field, but the reasoning is that motorcycles are apparently far larger than bicycles, so they require more space to park. With the advent of electric bicycles, it seems some feel motorcycle are no longer welcome in dense urban areas. That’s shocking since one would think they’d be warmly welcomed as an alternative to cars.

Think this couldn't happen in the United States? Consider this: Governor Newsom of California has declared new gas-powered vehicles will be banned from his state in just 15 years. This move has been hailed by some as a solution to climate change. What would it take to start banning gas-powered vehicles from certain cities and counties?

As for banning "dangerous" vehicles from US roads, we've seen calls for that as well. Motor1 and others questioned if the Dodge Demon should be legal to drive on public streets . This concern isn't so far-fetched after all.  

What we’re talking about isn’t necessarily sweeping and sudden legislation that bans motorcycles from all roads. No, it’s more likely going to be a subtle, gradual thing where they’re disinvited from certain areas of different cities and counties. That ban then slowly grows over time as public opinion turns against the perceived dangers of bikes, including environmental. In other words, everyone needs to stay alert and be watchful for anti-motorcycle bias since it seems it might be growing.

Source: British Motorcyclists Federation

Some Like It Hot: Marilyn Monroe’s 1956 Ford Thunderbird

An Ode To The Muscle Car

Ferdinand Porsche’s Gas-Electric Hybrid Tanks

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Ethiopia's Addis Ababa enforces motorcycle ban despite 'opposition'

The Addis Ababa city administration on Tuesday (July 9) commenced the enforcement of a ban on use of motorcycles in the Ethiopian capital.

The administration had weeks back announced the ban justifying it as a move targeted at eradicating incessant robberies in the capital.

According to Takele Uma Banti, the mayor of Addis Ababa, who announced the measure last month, most crimes are committed with motorcycles. Some Twitter users disagreed with the assertion and slammed the move.

However, exceptions had been made for those using the bikes for professional purposes. In spite of the exceptions some companies are suffering the consequences of the move.

Some had to suspend their activities pending clarification of the measure.

Last month, the Deliver Addis restaurant denounced via Facebook, the seizure of its motorcycles by authorities; thus causing them to suspend activities “for the safety of its drivers”.

The company is in discussions with city authorities on how to comply with the new regulations.

In recent years, motorcycles have become increasingly popular in Addis Ababa, mainly to avoid traffic jams.

Some Twitter reactions in opposition to the ban

There is a deep and abiding faith in the power of blunt tools in this country of ours. Political opponents – jail them (past), exam cheating – total shutdown of the internet. Motorcycle robber – van monocycles. Can we think of other less blunt tools to deal with social problem? https://t.co/gqymNPV7QT — Awol Allo (@awolallo) June 19, 2019

Motorbikes are vital for the logistics of doing business in a city where every procedure needs a hard copy and a stamp and the traffic is getting more congested daily. Hopefully exemptions are made for corporate motor bikes that deliver food, transport documents, and run errands. — Sam Rosmarin (@SamRosmarin) June 19, 2019

A friend runs a whole Moterbike based delivery business and he was also investing on the other privately owned Bikes to work together, if it is true, it will be devastating for him. — Samuel Alemayehu (@SamuelYeferu) June 19, 2019

Total banning wont be a feasible solution, organizing them as areal Business with some preconditions and fines might help. — Samuel Alemayehu (@SamuelYeferu) June 20, 2019

This is good solution for the short term. But since many law abiding youth in the city earn as much as 500ETB per day by delivering goods using their motor bikes, the city’s admin. must find a way to bring them back to work as quickly as possible. (1/2) — Sahelu (@Sahelu_bs) June 19, 2019

How can such a blanket ban not damage the livelihoods of those residents who use these motor cycles for legitimate purposes? This is insane!! — kif (@kif41898080) June 19, 2019

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Ban on motorcycle backriding stays, Duterte tells Cebu’s Gwen Garcia

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

CEBU CITY, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte said he would not allow backriding on motorcycles in Cebu despite an executive order signed by Governor Gwen Garcia allowing it on motorcycles in the province.

“As much as I would like to accommodate Governor Garcia, if I begin to give exception to one, I will open myself to charges of anti-graft law,” Duterte said. “Giving another undue advantage. There’s a provision there.”

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia signed Executive Order 19 on Thursday, June 4. The EO, however, conflicts with the  Department of Transportation (DOTr) guideline banning backriding , regardless of family relations. (READ:  Cebu province allows motorcycle backriding while under GCQ ) The DOTr guideline was approved by the Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) resolution on the rules governing areas under GCQ.

“I’m sure that many are not so happy with their wife embracing the motorcycle driver. The law is hard but it is the law,” Duterte said. “I can’t do anything. It’s not my discretion just because I’m the President I can ignore the law of the land.”

Garcia openly challenged the legality of this provision in her press conference on Thursday, June 4. “There is no IATF resolution banning backriding,” Garcia said in Cebuano. “This is in flagrant violation of Republic Act 4136 which does not prohibit the use of private motorcycles to transport passengers provided the passenger is related within the 4th civil degree of consanguinity or affinity and provided further that no fee is charged,” she added.

The Cebu governor insisted that her EO is within the law regulating motorcycle use.

DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said in a statement on Zoom on Thursday, through the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, that he would still enforce the policy against backriding in the province.

“We will not allow any back riders. I would suggest and tell the good governor not to implement and enact the EO, because if she does, and if that will happen in Cebu, I have no choice but to send her a show-cause order because this is a violation of an IATF guideline,” Densing said.

Garcia has been focusing on easing restrictions and jumpstarting the province’s paralyzed economy since the province shifted to general community quarantine (GCQ) on May 20. She called the policy “anti-poor” and would accept any sanctions by the DILG.

“They’re threatening to suspend me, but I’ll take it for you all, the Cebuanos,” she said in Cebuano.

Duterte denied Garcia’s petition despite a manifesto of support signed by all 7 of Cebu’s district representatives asking the President to allow backriding.

Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella also made a second request to the IATF to allow backriding on motorcycles in his city. That request was also denied. – Rappler.com

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Pave Motors BK Is the Anti-Car-Thesis You Need

• Urban transportation solutions are vast and everyone's needs are slightly different, but Pave Motors is hoping to eliminate the need for short car trips.
• Launching its own electric moped known as the Pave BK, the Brooklyn-based company is set on getting new riders, bicycle riders, and motorcycle riders on a new kind of two-wheel.
• Starting at $6900, the BK isn't exactly cheap, but its unique construction, high-tech features, and practical storage capabilities make it a competitive choice within the two-wheel market.

There is seldom one solution for all tasks or challenges that face us human beings. Even challenges like transporting ourselves from one place to another never have a one-size-fits-all answer. Surely, those who can afford to do so should drive less and rely on more collective, efficient means of moving.

Of course, this is not a reality for large swaths of our country, whose geographic surrounds require regular car, motorcycle, or ATV usage, rarely in electrified form. And for those of you who fall into this category, be forwarned this story may not resonate with you. But if you live in one of a dozen major metropolitan areas in the US, it's worth listening up.

That's because Pave Motors , an electric vehicle manufacturer based in Brooklyn, New York, claims it has the solution to your ever-growing traffic headache.

Sold under the moniker of Pave BK, the Berlin-raised, Brooklyn-innovating Nagel brothers behind Pave say their two-wheel contraption that vaguely resembles mopeds of old isn't supposed to be an electric bicycle nor a full-fledged electric motorcycle. Legally, it's classified as a motor-driven cycle, Nico Nagel explained in an interview with Autoweek .

Situated between the acceleration limitation of an e-bike but below the special licensing category of a true motorcycle, the Pave BK was designed to be un-intimidating, easy to ride, and solid enough to replace most short-distance car trips. Withdraw $6900, slap the required license plate on, and ride off into the near distance— with a helmet on, please .

But if it's supposed to go up against a car, how does it stack up? It's not exactly a fair fight on paper, that's for sure, but a closer look at the BK's specification reveals some metropolis merit.

Given its federal vehicle classification, the BK is powered by a 1.85-kW battery and propelled by a 3000-watt brushless DC electric motor, making it reliable for up to a regulated 30 mph and 50 miles of range. Fast charging through a standard outlet yields 0-80% charge in about an hour, meaning the occasional miscalculation won't leave you stranded forever.

Its scooter-inspired but bicycle-frame build-style means it is relatively light (given its 6061-grade aluminum construction) at 101 pounds, but sturdy enough to sit rider weight directly on the top tube.

This geometry works, in part, because the removable and handle-equipped battery slots in under the seat of the scooter, if you'll excuse the wavering model classification.

"At the beginning, my brother Caspar welded the first three frames and they were clearly prototypes," Nico said. "The idea was always to have something that's super lightweight, easy and fun to ride, and kind of falls into the moped scooter clause, so it doesn't have any pedals. We want it to be a social thing where you can pick up your friends, too."

With a 32-inch seat height, it sits as high as your average naked motorcycle , though its ergonomics make the riding position and sight picture much clearer. Less engulfed by body plastics, at the very least. You don't see any gauges or handlebars ahead of you when riding the BK, which is a welcome reprieve from information overload.

Take a peak below your beltline, however, and you'll see a clean LCD display, showing your speed, range, and drive mode. It's like those Harley-Davidsons that place the gauges on the gas tank, only implemented in better packaging. The only time you'll inadvertently be looking there is when you jam on the pair of biting hydraulic brakes front and rear.

Fear not a front tip-over, however, as the brake calipers are linked, in accordance with federal law. To receive road-legal status, the BK was subject to hundreds of back-to-back braking tests, indicating the quality of its J. Juan-sourced braking hardware. Similarly, the BK sports a single-crown inverted suspension fork with 65mm of travel.

Enough about the hardware, you say, let me hear how it rides! Fair enough, but it took some time to come to terms with its handling. And not because it was hard to ride, but rather the opposite. It's almost too easy.

It rides much more like a bicycle than a moped or motorcycle, truth be told. It's quite sensitive to how you move the bars and changes direction with ease. It's also effortlessly comfortable to sit on. With eco, normal, and sport modes available, the delineation between each was strong. And sport mode is something that would get me in trouble, I think.

It provides a surge of torque after a second of throttle squeezing. Putting it back into eco mode feels like a comparative letdown, though its gentle and efficient acceleration wouldn't send anyone flying off-road.

The brakes grab hard and rear regenerative helps, too, but it's also worth remembering that you're slowing the equivalent weight of a few bicycles when hitting the brakes. Add a passenger and you'll be smart to mind your braking distances, though the ability to carry your friend, partner, parent, or dog is a worthwhile feature on its own.

"From a price point perspective, there are e-bikes that go above our price point," Nico explained in an interview with Autoweek. "Even if you're paying a little bit more for us, you're getting a lot more with that too. You can bring passengers, you can store things, you can actually replace the short-to-medium distance car trips."

It's true that you can add some storage to the BK, with an extra $1000 getting you side racks with a dedicated clip-in system. Pannier-style bags can then be fitted, taking sweaty bags off your back. However, thanks to the BK's bicycle frame build, Pave is also working on a fitted bottom basket, ideal for grocery runs or sports outings.

But where exactly can you ride these machines? One answer is more satisfying than the other, to be frank. Because of its classification as a motor-driven cycle, it's unlikely that many cities or towns will technically allow you to ride in bike lanes or on bike paths. Onto the street, you go. Just make sure you keep up with traffic, though that shouldn't be an issue.

Despite this road use challenge, the Pave BK has many competitors in the same market, from Honda's new Motocompacto to the rent-a-scooter Revel electric models. Anecdotally, scooter usage has exploded here in New York, with many delivery workers dropping e-bikes for gas and electric mopeds instead.

Which is exactly the kind of wave that Pave is hoping to capitalize on. The BK prices itself out of the running for some, but it might be the perfect situational and stylish mobility piece for others who are tired of driving, pedaling, and public transit. And an emphasis should be placed on style, too.

This sort of small segment, uber-cool customer plan could well work so long as you can convince born Americans that two-wheels are the way. New York City isn't Rome, clearly, and the parallel lack of modern infrastructure is likely the biggest challenge in making the case for the BK.

Even so, that's high praise for the model itself, as it needs very little in the way of refinement. It's already droves ahead of its rental Revel competitors and as sturdy as other electric motorcycles I've ridden.

I just wish I could legally go a bit faster (to keep up with speeding traffic) but I'll have to take that up with the feds. Or buy the soon-to-be-released unlimited version.

Do you live in a big city? How do you commute? In what ways could your commute be better? Please share your thoughts below.