The Research Paper A Step-By-Step Guide

Step Three Thesis Statements

The thesis is the central idea of the paper Whereas the topic indicates what the paper focuses on, the thesis explains what you have to say about the topic The thesis should be a complete sentence (though sometimes it may require more than one sentence) that establishes your topic in clear, unambiguous language

Thesis Statements The thesis may be revised early on Once the thesis is firmly established, it serves as a guide for the writer and the reader of the paper All of the information and observations in the paper should be related to the thesis

Developing a thesis As you read your primary text, note particular images, symbols, diction, style, settings or characteristics Ask the question “Why?” –Why do these images appear in the text? –Why is Othello so easily provoked to jealousy? –Why does Hemingway choose the Midwest as the setting of “Soldier’s Home?” Your responses to these kinds of questions can lead to a thesis

Developing a thesis Take each item and free write answers to the questions you have generated Eliminate ideas that may be –too broad (Gothic elements in poetry) –too narrow (Why Miss Emily does not pay her taxes) –too subjective (O’Connor’s racist attitudes) A good topic will take the form of a question and the question becomes the guide for your research. (ie Why does Faulkner title his story “A Rose for Emily”?)

Developing a thesis The actual research takes place as you seek out data to help you formulate an answer to the research question. The answer to the research question becomes the thesis statement or controlling idea for your research paper.

A Thesis Statement: Is a single declarative sentence, not a question States the writer’s position or findings on the topic States the specific focus the paper will have

A Thesis Statement: Does not begin with “The purpose of this paper is…” nor states the purpose in any other way Is not a statement of the topic Does not include multiple main clauses

Progressing from topic to thesis General subject: Unsuitable topics: Suitable topic: Thesis Statement: Any author studied in the English literature class Faulkner as an author (too broad) Faulkner’s education (too trivial) Why does Faulkner title his story “A Rose for Emily”? “The narrator describes incidents and withholds information in such a way as to cause the reader to empathize with Emily before revealing her crime.”