Thesis Statements Pre-AP World History

Purpose of a Thesis  A thesis is like a roadmap to your essay. It should tell the reader: the topic you will be discussing, the topic you will be discussing, the position that you will take on the issue, the position that you will take on the issue, the basic ideas that you will use to support your position. the basic ideas that you will use to support your position. By reading your thesis, a reader should be able to predict the topic of your 1 st body paragraph, your 2 nd, and your 3 rd, in that order. By reading your thesis, a reader should be able to predict the topic of your 1 st body paragraph, your 2 nd, and your 3 rd, in that order.

Purpose of a thesis  Writing a thesis is like answering your parents when they ask, “What happened at the party last night?” You want to give them just enough detail to get them off of your back, but not too much. You save the juicy details for the phone call to your best friend, which would be like your actual body paragraphs of your essay. This is where you fill in the gaps and solidify your “story”.

Anatomy of a thesis  A solid thesis has three core components: Categories Categories Addressing the prompt Addressing the prompt Position (take one!) Position (take one!)

Categories  Your thesis should always contain three categories, or topics of discussions  These will correlate with the topics of body paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 (in that order)  This prepares your reader for how you will organize your essay (which can really help your scoring!)

Addressing the Prompt  Your thesis statement needs to address ALL parts of the prompt. It should refer to all of the following: Dates/Time periods to be discussed Dates/Time periods to be discussed Regions to be addressed Regions to be addressed Categories or topics for discussion (ex- cultural, political, etc.) Categories or topics for discussion (ex- cultural, political, etc.)  A reader should be able to look only at the thesis, and be able to guess the prompt with decent accuracy, even if they had never seen the test

Position (take one!)  Don’t simply restate the prompt- take a stand!  The best ways to ensure that you do this are to start with one of the following words: Although Although While While Despite Despite

Thesis Do’s and Don’ts  DO be specific. Avoid using vague categories such as cultural and political. Try- “rise in secularism” and “development of democracy”.  DO make sure your thesis is the LAST sentence of your FIRST paragraph. Use 2-3 sentences to lead up to your thesis providing background info about the time period that will put your thesis into helpful global context.

Thesis Do’s and Don’ts  DON’T use vague pronouns, such as it, she, they, he, etc. The thesis should be able to stand alone from the rest of the paper, and still make sense. That is not possible with a sentence that starts with “They…” Also avoid very, things, many, much, etc.  DON’T make statements that you can’t support. Avoid words like always and never, since they can rarely be supported.

Thesis Do’s and Don’ts  DON’T be afraid to recognize the other side of the argument. This is easily avoided by starting with Although, Despite, or While. This makes you appear to be a rock start writer.  DON’T use “Buzz Lightyear”-isms. “From the dawn of time…” or “Throughout man kind…” YUCK!