Writing a Thesis Statement
Writing a Thesis Statement
The thesis statement is the most important sentence in an essay. It is the sentence that states the main idea of your whole essay. Like the topic sentence of a paragraph, the thesis statement is the focus for every other idea in your essay. Your thesis statement is like the roof of a building. All the supporting ideas in your essay are like the columns that support that roof. Before you know how high to build your columns and where to place them, you will need to design a strong, clear thesis statement.
How you design your thesis statement depends on the type of essay you are going to write. There are many different types of essay, including descriptive essays, argumentative essays, analytical essays, to name just a few, so it is difficult to make rules that work for all of them. However, there are some general guidelines that can be helpful to keep in mind.
Elements of a Thesis Statement
Like the topic sentence of a paragraph, a thesis statement includes the general topic of your essay and the ideas that will control or focus that topic in your essay.
Thesis = Topic + Focus
Besides the topic and the focus, some thesis statements may also include a preview of the sub topics that will be used to support your main ideas in the body of the essay. Read the example thesis below. What is the topic of the thesis? What is the focus? What are the sub topics that will be used to support the main idea?
The anti-poaching advocacy poster, “Tiger,” cleverly conveys the need to protect endangered species through evocative staging, ironic composition and subtle use of color and tone.
A strong thesis is clear, direct, interesting, and focussed on one main idea. As you write and revise your essay, ask yourself the following questions about your thesis.
Guidelines for Writing Strong Thesis Statements
Depending on the type of essay you are writing, a thesis may be more general or more specific, more simple or more complex, the expression of your personal opinion or of a testable, scientific hypothesis. However, there are some general guidelines that you should consider when writing your thesis for the Visual Thinking essay in this class.
- A strong thesis expresses a debatable opinion or a new and interesting fact. Your thesis should not focus on a simple fact that everyone knows and agrees with. Similarly, the thesis should just express your personal, unsupported opinion. In contrast, a strong thesis will focus on an opinion that you can support with evidence or an interesting fact that you can prove with evidence.
Weak: I love Maxfield Parrish because he uses amazing colors.
Stronger: Maxfield Parrish's romantic illustration, “Daybreak,” transports the viewer to a fantasy world of magic and beauty.
- A strong thesis expresses a clear and specific focus for a clear and specific topic. Do not be vague. Don't wait until the body of your paragraph to present the specific ideas of your essay. A clear and specific thesis makes it easier for the reader to follow and remember the point of your essay. Be clear from the beginning.
Weak: Ads from Adbusters Magazine are interesting.
Stronger: This parody ad for Nike in Adbusters Magazine challenges a common assumption of American culture that consumption is a good thing in and of itself.
- A strong thesis expresses only one idea about the topic. The ideas in your essay may be complex, but it is your job to clearly explain the relationship between the ideas in your thesis and connect them to one main idea. If the ideas in your thesis are not clearly connected, it is a weak thesis.
Weak: These fashion accessories by the designers from Blank Verse satisfy the our inner child's desire for playfulness and also promote environmental awareness.
Stronger: These accessories by the designers of Blank Verse engage their customers in a dialogue about the relationship between fashion and the environment.
- A strong thesis does not just announce the topic. Announcing your topic is not the same as telling your reader what idea you will try to support in your essay. Do not just announce your topic.
Weak: In this paper I will explore the amazing imagination and talents of Star Wars' creator, George Lucas.
Stronger: In this scene from Episode 4, George Lucas uses camera angles, editing, and lighting to support the expression of the “Heroic Ideal” that underlies the entire movie.
Shaping a Thesis for Your Visual Thinking in My Field Essay
The essay you will write for this class, Visual Thinking in My Field, is a very specific type of essay: an analytical essay. An analytical essay is an essay that analyzes issues or ideas. In this case, your assignment is to analyze the main idea or feelings that are expressed visually by a compelling work of art from your field through the use of the principles of design and specific techniques from your field. Therefore, your thesis statement will be a sentence that clearly identifies this work of art (your topic) and specifically conveys the idea communicated by that work (the focus of your essay).
Thesis = a work from your field + idea communicated by visual elements
TOPIC FOCUS
Read the thesis about the anti-poaching poster again and note how the writer has connected a specific work of art with a specific idea:
The anti-poaching advocacy poster, “Tiger,” clearly conveys the need to protect endangered species through evocative staging, ironic composition and subtle use of color and tone.
This example thesis statement was written by a Graphic Design student. The topic of the thesis is the poster titled, “Tiger.” The focus
of the thesis is the idea conveyed by the poster: “the need to protect endangered species.” In this case, the student has also chosen to include the supporting sub topics of the essay. These are the visual elements which communicate the message of the image: staging, composition and color.
Writing a strong, interesting thesis can be challenging. Furthermore, as you write your essay, you may find that you learn new things about your subject that require you to adjust your thesis to express the nuance of the ideas. This is a natural part of the writing process. Although you may decide to adjust your thesis later, writing a “working thesis” before you begin your drafting process is important.
Before you write the thesis statement for your Visual Thinking essay, review the guidelines for writing strong thesis statements. Also, the following questions may help you focus your thesis to make it clearer, more specific and more interesting.
- What is the general idea or feeling being communicated by this work and how does the artist make this general idea specific and unique?
- Is the work connected to a specific story, specific characters or specific ideas? What makes these stories, characters or ideas unique?
- Many works may try to express similar ideas, but what visual qualities make the idea or feelings in this work unique and different?
- Why did the artist chose to use these specific visual elements in this work? How would the using different visual elements have changed the meaning of the work?
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