1. Presented by the UTA English Writing Center
Thesis Statements
Presented by the UTA English Writing Center
Last Updated 6/16/2016 LT

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4. Discussion:
What’s Your Thesis?

5. What Makes a Good Thesis:
Argumentative:
By argumentative, we mean that a thesis should state a claim which can be disputed, rather than simply announcing a topic.
For example:
Announcement: The thesis of this paper is the difficulty of solving our environmental problems.
Thesis: Solving our environmental problems is more difficult than many environmentalists believe. 4th Floor of the Central Library
Focused:
It should answer the prompt and be narrow enough to discuss and prove within the assigned length.

6. What Makes a Good Thesis:
Controversial:
This doesn’t mean a thesis should address a hot-button issue, but that a reasonable person could argue an alternative (or opposite) position.
For example:
Not controversial: Romeo and Juliet is a play about young lovers struggling against their families.
More controversial: While it is true that Romeo and Juliet is a play about young lovers, the most complex relationships are those between the young characters and their older mentors.
Supportable:
The demand that a thesis be controversial does not mean that it should be ridiculous or indefensible.
A thesis will clearly require evidence to prove—and will often make it clear what kind of evidence will be required.

7. What Makes a Good Thesis:
Significant:
It should explain why it is worth arguing for.
Directed:
a good thesis will often hint at (or say explicitly) how the argument will be proven. As such it is a condensed argument.
For example:
BEFORE: World War II led to the modernization of industrial facilities in Japan
AFTER: World War II led to the modernization of industrial facilities in Japan, by doing X, Y, and Z.

8. Discussion:
Writing a Thesis

9. Writing a Thesis Statement:
Articulates a contribution to an academic conversation.

10. Generating a Thesis Current/Past Conversation: New Contribution:
a commonly held assumption in a field or a persuasive position argued by one or more experts
New Contribution:
What the writer is adding to the conversation
Importance:
What are its broader implications?
How does it offer a new and important outlook?

11. Entering Academic Conversations:
Disagreeing, with reasons:
I think X is mistaken because she overlooks _______.
X’s claim that _______ rests upon the questionable assumption that _______.
I disagree with X’s view that _______ because, as recent research has shown, _______.
Taken from Graff & Birkenstein, TS/IS

12. Entering Academic Conversations:
Introducing “standard views”
Americans today tend to believe that _______.
The standard way of thinking about topic X has it that _______.
Many people assume that _______.
Taken from Graff & Birkenstein, TS/IS

13. Field specific commonplaces or assumptions? Major questions?
Brainstorming:
Field specific commonplaces or assumptions? Major questions?

14. In this paper I will argue that ___________________________ because/by
Working Thesis
In this paper I will argue that
___________________________
because/by
_________.

15. Weak Theses Revision Strategies www.uta.edu/owl

16. What did you prioritize?
Revision Strategies
What did you prioritize?

17. 2Qs
Question 1: What is the most important thing you’ve learned about writing today?
Question 2: What questions or concerns do you still have regarding writing?