Q. What is a thesis statement? How do I write one?

The thesis statement declares the whole point of your paper: what are you arguing or discussing, and what main ideas you're going to visit while laying out your point. It is typically the final sentence of the introduction paragraph.

Remember, there are no spoilers in academic writing: your thesis statement should not be vague or coy or mysterious! Someone should be able to anticipate what exactly is coming in the rest of your paper from this statement alone.

For example, if I were writing a basic 5-paragraph essay with the thesis statement:

Oatmeal raisin cookies are the best flavor due to their relatively healthful ingredients, chewy texture, and the consistency with which they're made, regardless of the baker.

From this, you can expect that:

• Topic: cookies (and oatmeal raisin being the best)
• Paragraph 1: ingredients
• Paragraph 2: texture
• Paragraph 3: production consistency

Now, on the other hand, if my thesis statement were:

There are many possible flavors of cookies, but oatmeal raisin is the best.

• Topic: cookies (and oatmeal raisin being the best)
• Paragraph 1: ???
• Paragraph 2: ???
• Paragraph 3: ???

Thesis statements should be:

• Specific - lay out exactly the arguments/reasons you're using in your thesis.
  • Ex, see above: ingredients, texture, consistency.
• Contestable - if you can find a definitive yes/no answer within a few minutes of Google searching, it's not arguable enough.
  • Ex, "Oatmeal raisin is a common flavor of cookie." Yep, sure is. Next!
• Narrow - not about all of [topic] ever, but this little sliver of a [topic] issue in a particular context.
  • Ex, trying to describe all cookies and the history of desserts
• Provable - or at least something you can persuasively argue.
  • Ex, I'm providing reasons for making my cookie flavor claim. Someone else might choose different reasons or a different cookie altogether with different evidence.

You'll likely develop your exact thesis as you do your research. You'll have an idea for your topic to start with, which you'll narrow down... and you may have an idea of what you're going to argue and how... but your ability to support those arguments comes from your research. You may end up tweaking your evidence based on what research is available (or even changing your argument, if you discover that evidence is not in your favor!). After, since the thesis statement is a blueprint of your paper, you can't accurately write it until you're sure what your paper is discussing!