More about thesis statements
Need a few more examples on how to write a good thesis statement? Look no further.
George Mason University offers some good thesis statement examples and non-examples.
And the University of Washington has a few more.
Scroll to the bottom of this U of I page to see tips for revising your thesis statement.
The University of North Carolina has a writing center with superb thesis statement resources and examples.
Remember you can aways use a free writing strategy to come up with topic or thesis statements.
If you don't have a prompt ...
If you don’t have a
writing prompt to work with, that’s OK. The same rules of a good thesis
statement apply. But here is an example of how to come up with a thesis
statement from scratch:
- First, understand what kind of essay you’re writing. Is it persuasive, expository, compare and contrast, or some other type of paper? (If you’re not sure, ask your professor!)
- If you have no guidelines except something like, “Write a persuasive essay”, ask yourself: what gets me going? What do I tend to argue with people about? What’s interesting to me? I have a friend whose pet peeve is encountering dirty public bathrooms. She wrote a persuasive essay on “Why every person should clean up after themselves in a public bathroom.” Anything is possible. Choose what you are passionate about.
- Sometimes ideas just don’t come easily. You might be able to open your mind with a little free writing. Take out a sheet of paper and write whatever comes to your head for 10 minutes. It doesn’t matter what, just don’t stop. You can use this freewriting tactic as a way to brainstorm ideas and find inspiration.
- If all else fails, just Google it. This doesn’t mean Google your whole paper, of course, but try searching for some topic ideas. Say you’re asked to compare and contrast something. Think of a general idea that you already like and know something about, like social media. Searching “compare social media” might give you a few ideas. (Just be sure not to take someone else’s work – that’s plagiarism.) You’ll have to drill down details from there, and get much more specific, but it could give you some ideas. Whatever you come up with, remember to make sure your thesis is a strong one.