To write a thesis statement, turn your assignment or topic into one question, answer it in a single sentence that takes a position, and add the main reason your evidence supports that answer. Then test the sentence: a thoughtful reader should be able to disagree with it, and shouldn't be left asking “so what?” or “how?”. Treat the first version as a working thesis and revise it once the draft shows what the essay really proves.
Here is where the method leads, in three versions of one thesis for an essay on Herman Melville's “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” Each version gives a reader more to work with, until they can disagree with it and ask to see the evidence.
| Version | Thesis | What a reader can do with it |
|---|---|---|
| VersionRestates the prompt | ThesisThe narrator plays an important role in “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” | What a reader can do with itNothing. Every story's narrator plays a role, so there is no claim to dispute. |
| VersionWorking thesis | ThesisMelville tells the story through the lawyer because the lawyer is the real subject. | What a reader can do with itDisagree, but not test it: the “because” only repeats the claim. |
| VersionFinal thesis | ThesisAlthough the story is named for Bartleby, Melville makes the lawyer who narrates it the real subject: every way he finds to tolerate his copyist, from keeping him on to moving his own offices, lets him feel charitable without changing his comfortable life. | What a reader can do with itDisagree, and ask for the evidence: the scenes it names are where the essay has to deliver. |
The steps follow that essay from prompt to final sentence. After them come formulas, tests and what changes for research papers, timed exams and long projects. For 60 finished theses by essay type and field, see the thesis statement examples.
What a thesis statement does
Writing centers describe the job in nearly the same terms. The University of North Carolina's Writing Center lists what a thesis does: it answers the question you were asked, takes a position someone could dispute, tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper, and usually fits in one sentence near the start, most often at the end of the first paragraph. Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services suggests thinking of the thesis “as the answer to the question your paper explores.” That makes the work concrete: you can't answer before you know the question, or answer well before you've looked at the evidence. Weak theses often skip one of the two.
Write a thesis in 7 steps
The steps below follow one assignment from start to finish: a short literary analysis of Herman Melville's “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street,” first published anonymously in Putnam's Monthly Magazine in 1853. The same steps work for any paper; the sections after them show what changes.
- Find the question in the assignment
Most prompts hide a question inside an instruction. Underline the task word (analyze, argue, compare, evaluate, explain), then rewrite the prompt as one question your essay will answer. Indiana's guide makes this the first step for any assigned topic, and UNC's handout suggests rephrasing any prompt that isn't already a question.
Prompt: “Discuss the role of the narrator in ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener.’” Question: Why does Melville tell Bartleby's story through the lawyer who employs him?
With no prompt at all, you need a question of your own: pick a topic, narrow it, and look for the part people disagree about or get wrong.
- Collect evidence before you answer
Reread the text, data or sources with the question in mind and note everything that bears on it: details, quotations, numbers, contradictions. UNC's handout calls this collecting and organizing evidence and looking for relationships between facts. You want a pattern, a tension or a surprise.
Notes on “Bartleby”: the narrator introduces himself as a lawyer whom everyone considers “an eminently safe man.” Bartleby refuses his first task “in a singularly mild, firm voice”: “I would prefer not to.” The narrator keeps him on and admits, “Here I can cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval.” When Bartleby won't leave, the narrator decides, “Since he will not quit me, I must quit him,” and moves his offices. Later he offers to take Bartleby to his own home. The story ends, “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!”
- Answer the question in one sentence
Write the plainest answer you could defend. It will be rough, and that's fine: a sentence on the page can be tested, a hunch in your head can't.
Working thesis: Melville tells the story through the lawyer because the lawyer is the real subject.
It's a claim, but thin: the “because” only restates the answer, and a reader would ask how, and why it matters.
- Add the because
The reason is what turns an opinion into an argument, and it usually becomes the plan of the body. Indiana's guide notes that a strong thesis often contains words such as because, since, so, although, unless and however. Go back to your notes and find the pattern that supports the answer.
Melville makes the lawyer the real subject of “Bartleby,” because every way he finds to tolerate his copyist, from keeping him on to moving his own offices, lets him feel charitable without changing his comfortable life.
- Add the although, if the other side is strong
If an obvious reading or a piece of evidence cuts against your answer, name it in an opening clause. The concession shows you've seen the objection, and it often becomes the counterargument paragraph. Here there are two: the title points at Bartleby, and the offer of a home looks like real generosity. The thesis concedes the first; the body answers the second.
Although the story is named for Bartleby, Melville makes the lawyer who narrates it the real subject: every way he finds to tolerate his copyist, from keeping him on to moving his own offices, lets him feel charitable without changing his comfortable life.
- Say why it matters
Ask what follows if you're right. This is UNC's “So what?” test: if a reader's likely response is “so what?”, connect the claim to a larger question they care about. In a short essay the stakes can go in the sentence after the thesis.
Stakes sentence: Read this way, the story asks how much a kindness is worth when it costs the giver almost nothing.
- Revise it after the draft
Drafting tests a thesis harder than any checklist. When the draft is done, write the point of each body paragraph in the margin, a reverse outline, and read those points against the thesis. If a paragraph proves something the thesis doesn't mention, either the paragraph goes or the thesis grows to include it. UNC's handout makes the same point: it's fine to change a working thesis to reflect what you've figured out.
Here is the finished thesis taken apart. The claim and the reason are required; the concession and the stakes are what make this one worth reading.
| Part | What it does | In the Bartleby thesis |
|---|---|---|
| PartConcession | What it doesNames the reading or objection you are answering | In the Bartleby thesisAlthough the story is named for Bartleby, |
| PartClaim | What it doesGives your answer to the question | In the Bartleby thesisMelville makes the lawyer who narrates it the real subject |
| PartReason | What it doesSays why, and sets the order of the body | In the Bartleby thesisevery way he finds to tolerate his copyist, from keeping him on to moving his own offices, lets him feel charitable without changing his comfortable life |
| PartStakes | What it doesSays what follows if you're right | In the Bartleby thesisthe story asks how much a kindness is worth when it costs the giver almost nothing |
Thesis statement formulas
Formulas help when you know roughly what you think but not how to say it. Pick the one that matches the shape of your argument, fill it in, then rewrite the sentence in your own words. These six fit many essays.
| Formula | Use it when | Filled in |
|---|---|---|
| Formula[Claim], because [reason]. | Use it whenYou have one main reason | Filled inTown meetings should be streamed and archived online, because the residents who work evenings are the ones least able to attend in person. |
| FormulaAlthough [opposing view], [claim], because [reason]. | Use it whenThere is a strong objection or a popular reading | Filled inAlthough remote work saves commuting time, it costs junior employees more than it saves them, because much of what they learn in a first job comes from overhearing colleagues. |
| Formula[Subject] is less about [usual reading] than about [your reading]. | Use it whenYou are reframing something familiar | Filled inGrade inflation is less a problem of lenient teachers than of transcripts that try to reward effort and rank students at the same time. |
| Formula[X] works only when [condition]. | Use it whenThe answer is “it depends,” and you know on what | Filled inPeer review of student drafts improves revision only when reviewers answer specific questions, because an open request for feedback mostly gets praise. |
| Formula[X] succeeds as [A] but fails as [B], because [reason]. | Use it whenYou are evaluating something with more than one job | Filled inThe new central library succeeds as a public square but fails as a place to read, because its open atrium carries every conversation to every floor. |
| FormulaTo [goal], [who] should [option A] rather than [option B], because [reason]. | Use it whenYou are choosing between two real options | Filled inTo cut food waste, elementary schools should schedule recess before lunch rather than after it, because children rushing to get outside leave food on their trays. |
If none fits, fill in these lines and write the sentence from them. It's the seven steps in note form.
Thesis builder
The question my essay answers:
My answer, in one sentence:
Because (the main reason):
Although (the strongest objection, if there is one):
So what (what follows if I'm right):
Thesis, written as one or two sentences:Formulas earn their keep under time pressure. In a timed exam you have a fixed prompt, the evidence you can recall and a few minutes, so choosing the shape that fits and filling it in is a sound plan (the exam example further down does this with a “but not” clause). A research thesis can't start from a formula. It has to come from what the sources show, and its wording has to name the place, period or group your evidence actually covers. There, use a formula only to phrase an answer you already have.
Six tests for a draft thesis
Run the draft through these before you outline. The first four take seconds; the last two need your notes.
| Test | Ask | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| TestThe question test | AskDoes it answer the question the assignment asks? | If it failsGo back to step 1 and rewrite the prompt as a question |
| TestThe disagreement test | AskCould a thoughtful reader argue the opposite? | If it failsYou've written a fact or a summary. Find the part people could dispute |
| TestThe “how and why?” test | AskWould a reader's first response be “how?” or “why?” | If it failsAdd the because, or the route the essay will take |
| TestThe “so what?” test | AskWould a reader's first response be “so what?” | If it failsConnect the claim to a larger question, or add a stakes sentence |
| TestThe scope test | AskCan you support every part with evidence in the length you have? | If it failsNarrow the subject, the period, the place or the group |
| TestThe one-idea test | AskDoes it make one main claim, not two joined by “and”? | If it failsKeep the claim your evidence supports best and save the other |
The “how and why?” test is easy to misread. In UNC's version, a reader who has to ask how or why is a sign the thesis is too open-ended to steer the essay. A thesis should invite disagreement but answer its own how and why. And a thesis that only describes leaves the essay with nothing to convince the reader of.
Draft: Food deserts are bad for people's health.
Fails the disagreement, scope and “so what?” tests: few would dispute it, it names no place or group, and it suggests nothing to do.
Revised: In Linden County, whether a household owns a car predicts how often it buys fresh produce better than its distance from a supermarket does, so a bus route to the existing stores would do more for residents' diets than the new store the county is planning.
The revision is narrower, the student's survey data can support or sink it, and its last clause says what the finding is for.
For the disagreement test, it helps to hear the other side argued well. If your course allows assistant tools, ask the Strokes Assistant to make the best case against your thesis. An objection you can't answer means the thesis needs a qualifier, or the essay needs a counterargument paragraph.
How the steps change by assignment
The steps hold for every paper. What changes is where the question comes from and how much the thesis carries.
Argumentative essays
The question is usually a “should” question, and the thesis takes a side: a claim about value or policy rather than fact, the kind a policy memo, a proposal or an opinion essay makes. The although clause matters most here, because readers judge an argument partly by how well it answers the other side. The argumentative essay examples show full essays built this way.
Research papers
The question is your research question, and the thesis is the answer your sources or data support. It often closes a longer introduction, after a short review of what others have found. In an experimental paper in the IMRaD format, the prediction you make before collecting data is a hypothesis, stated at the end of the introduction (see these hypothesis examples), and the thesis is what you argue the results mean in the discussion. The research question examples cover the step that comes before the thesis.
Timed exam essays
In a 40-minute essay, spend about five minutes on the thesis and the plan. It's time well spent, because an essay without a clear claim is hard to rescue with good paragraphs.
Prompt: “Cities should ban cars from their historic centers. Discuss.”
Question in the margin: Should they, and under what conditions?
Evidence you can recall: delivery vans, disabled residents, shopkeepers' fears, pedestrian streets you've walked.
Thesis: Cities should close their historic centers to private cars but not to deliveries and disabled residents' vehicles, because a ban with those exceptions keeps what makes a center worth visiting without emptying the shops that keep it alive.
The “but not” clause does the work of the although and gives the essay a third section, on the exceptions. It also shows you weighed both sides before choosing, which a flat yes or no can't.
Long papers and theses
In a 30-page paper, a senior thesis or a dissertation, the thesis statement is often a paragraph. It states the argument, says how it differs from earlier work, and previews the route through the chapters.
Local histories of Alder Falls credit the town's 1974 library expansion to a single bequest from a mill owner's widow. This thesis argues that the bequest paid for the building but not for the library inside it: the collection, the staff and the children's room came from twelve years of fundraising by a volunteer committee whose minutes survive in the county archive. Chapter 1 traces the bequest and the building, Chapter 2 reads the committee's minutes, and Chapter 3 follows the money into the collection.
View answered, claim with its reason, then the map. For the larger plan, see the guide to writing a dissertation and the thesis outline template.
Mistakes that weaken a thesis
A weak thesis usually comes from a skipped step rather than a bad sentence. The usual ones:
- Restating the prompt. “The narrator plays an important role in ‘Bartleby’” repeats the assignment in the form of a sentence. The thesis has to say what role.
- Announcing. “This essay will examine…” tells the reader the topic, not the claim. Delete the announcement and start with what you found.
- Stacking hedges. One qualifier makes a claim precise (“in rural districts”, “after 1950”). Three in a row (“may possibly suggest”) make it impossible to disagree with, which means it no longer says anything.
- Three reasons that don't connect. A list of reasons with nothing in common gives you three short essays. If the reasons share a cause, name the cause; if they don't, keep the strongest.
The thesis statement examples page has twelve weak theses rewritten into strong ones, and the essay format guide shows where the thesis sits on the first page in MLA, APA and Chicago.
Frequently asked questions
What are the three parts of a thesis statement?
There's no fixed number, though many guides name three: the claim (your answer to the question), the reason (the because, which previews the body) and the stakes (why the claim matters). Only the claim and the reason are essential. Many strong theses add a concession, an although clause that names the view you argue against, and a short essay can put the stakes in the next sentence.
Can a thesis statement be two sentences?
Yes. Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services suggests answering your essay's question in one or two complete sentences. Two work well when the claim and its reason are long, or when the second sentence carries the stakes. Long research papers and theses sometimes need a short paragraph. Much more than that, and the thesis is probably carrying the outline too.
Is a thesis statement the same as a thesis?
Not quite. A thesis statement is the sentence or two in an essay that states its main claim. “Thesis” can mean that claim, but it also names a long document, such as a senior or master's thesis. That document still needs a thesis statement, usually a paragraph in the introduction that states the argument and how it differs from earlier work.
