1. Thesis Revisited Created by Betsy Divine
Adapted from statement-example.html
Created by Betsy Divine

2. Importance of Essay Thesis Statement
A mistake that most students commit is that they write the thesis statement after they have written the essay.
This has to be avoided because the essay should be based on the argument stated in the thesis statement. Which is why, it is important to know the definition of thesis statement. Once you choose the subject or topic you want to write upon, do the research that is needed to write the essay. Once you have done this, think about the argument that you want to support and whether you can provide appropriate evidence to prove your point. After you have decided this, you can move on to create a thesis statement. Let us look at the important points that have to be kept in mind while writing a thesis statement along with some examples of thesis statements.
Note that your thesis doesn’t have to be in perfect wording. That can come later. However, you need to be clear on what you will be arguing before you begin.

3. Points to Remember
Thesis statements are an important part of all types of essays. Hence, be it an analytical, argumentative or persuasive thesis statement, the guidelines that you have to follow are common for each one.

4. Be Specific
The thesis statement should talk about the main idea that you are going to present in your essay. The most important factor about writing a thesis statement is that it should be specific. One common mistake that many people do while writing a thesis statement is make a general statement about what they are going to write in the essay. For instance, if you are writing about capital punishment, your thesis statement should not be something like- Capital punishment is not the appropriate way of punishing a person for a crime he has done. This is an example of a weak thesis statement because it is too broad as well as vague. The reader may understand the stance you have taken, but not the reason behind it. Hence, it is important that you produce the reason behind the statement. To make the thesis statement more specific, you can ask yourself why you think it is bad, which will generate an answer that will help in making your thesis statement more specific. For instance: Humans do not have the right to take away the life of other humans, hence capital punishment is not the correct way of punishing a criminal.

5. Trigger an Argument
Another important characteristic of a good thesis statement is that it should have the ability to trigger an argument. In other words, your thesis statement should not present a stance that everyone agrees upon, rather it should be something that some people may not agree upon. Here, we will take the example of making school uniforms mandatory in public school. Now, your statement can be for it or against it and should be such that there should be space for a counter argument. For instance, Making uniforms mandatory in public schools will ensure that financial differences among students will not be known. Such a thesis statement presents an opinion that may be challenged by another person who has different point of opinion about this matter.

6. Evaluating Thesis Statement
Importance of Breakfast: An healthy breakfast is said to be an important meal of the day because it gives the person all the essential nutrients that the body requires and also helps in facing the challenges of the day.
Obesity in Children: As children love to indulge in fast foods and spend their time in front of the television or by playing video games, obesity in children has become a common health problem.
Statement one is weak because it is arguing something that is well-known and not debatable
Statement two is weak in that it makes the assumption that all children love to indulge in fast food and watch TV.
Also, both are too broad and simple for graduate level papers

7. Potential Thesis In Research Papers
Since the Second World War, information and high-technology goods have become a very important sector of the American economy. These goods have become even more important with the emergence of the Internet and the transformation of the global economy. To protect its economic interests, the United States has been very aggressive in pushing for a universal intellectual property regime, which offers information and high-technology goods uniform protection throughout the world. Intellectual property has, therefore, moved from a meager bilateral issue to the forefront of the international trade debate. To increase its leverage, the U.S. needs to amend existing ineffective American foreign intellectual property policy. This paper examines how a constructive strategic partnership provides a new conceptual framework under which policymakers can reformulate such a policy.

8. Potential Thesis In Research Papers
Since the Second World War, information and high-technology goods have become a very important sector of the American economy. These goods have become even more important with the emergence of the Internet and the transformation of the global economy. To protect its economic interests, the United States has been very aggressive in pushing for a universal intellectual property regime, which offers information and high-technology goods uniform protection throughout the world. Intellectual property has, therefore, moved from a meager bilateral issue to the forefront of the international trade debate. To increase its leverage, the U.S. needs to amend existing ineffective American foreign intellectual property policy. This paper examines how a constructive strategic partnership provides a new conceptual framework under which policymakers can reformulate such a policy.
Green is background, red is identifying the problem and providing a vague solution, blue gives the outline of the paper and offers the exact solution.

9. Potential Thesis In Research Papers
Affirmative action is an important and controversial policy used to combat differences between groups in earnings and employment. Its pros and cons have been studied by scholars in many fields. A key question concerning affirmative action is whether the labor-market gains it brings to minorities can continue without it becoming a permanent fixture in the labor market. We argue that this depends on how the policy affects employers' beliefs about the productivity of minority workers. We study the joint determination of employer beliefs and worker productivity in a model of statistical discrimination in job assignments. We prove that, even when identifiable groups are equally endowed, affirmative action can bring about a situation in which employers (correctly) perceive the groups to be unequally productive.

10. Looking at the Parts
Affirmative action is an important and controversial policy used to combat differences between groups in earnings and employment. Its pros and cons have been studied by scholars in many fields. A key question concerning affirmative action is whether the labor-market gains it brings to minorities can continue without it becoming a permanent fixture in the labor market. We argue that this depends on how the policy affects employers' beliefs about the productivity of minority workers. We study the joint determination of employer beliefs and worker productivity in a model of statistical discrimination in job assignments. We prove that, even when identifiable groups are equally endowed, affirmative action can bring about a situation in which employers (correctly) perceive the groups to be unequally productive.
Green is sufficient background information, Blue begins a discussion on why and how they conducted their experiment, and the red shows what their research found

11. Sharing our Thesis Statements
In small groups of 3-4, pull up your thesis statements from your dropbox. Analyze each thesis according to the basic criteria below:
It is specific and not too broad
Is arguable/debatable
(it should not be something that most scholars agree on)
It takes a clear stance
It should not be an obvious argument
(Solar energy is a cleaner energy source than coal )