Thesis Statements

What this handout is about

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

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

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

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

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

How do I create a thesis?

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

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

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of

information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can
challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.
Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the
American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be
easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

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

You begin to analyze your thesis:

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

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

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

 Do I answer the question? Yes!

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

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

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true

expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

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

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

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers, 6th ed.
New York: Longman.
Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook, 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.
Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing, 8th ed. New
York: Pearson.
Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman
Handbook for Writers, 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.