In Unit 4, you looked at basic essay structure. In this lesson, you’ll focus on the most important sentence of an essay: the thesis statement.
The thesis statement is a single sentence which contains the main idea of your writing. The purpose of the body paragraphs is to defend, explain, or exemplify the statement made in the thesis; therefore, a strong thesis statement is essential for a successful essay. It acts as a guide to the reader, telling them what your writing is about and is usually the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.
Much like topic sentences (which you reviewed as part of paragraph structure in Unit 1), a strong thesis statement:
- should contain the topic, position, or opinion about the topic, and supporting points.
- should not announce the writer’s intentions. (for example: In this essay, I will discuss ...)
- must be a complete sentence with proper parallel structure.
Above all, a strong thesis statement clearly presents the main idea of the essay so that the reader is certain of what will be discussed in the body. Here is an example of a basic thesis statement for an argumentative essay:
- Every child who is able should be involved in organized sports.
While this presents a clear topic and position, it is not quite strong enough. In an effective piece of writing, the thesis statement generally contains the three main supporting points, but there can be fewer in a shorter piece of writing. The supporting points need to be presented in a parallel grammatical form.
- Organized sports improve physical fitness, increase confidence, and build friendships; therefore, every child who is able should be involved in them.
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