{"id":65,"date":"2020-04-25T10:49:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-25T09:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-skills\/?p=65"},"modified":"2024-04-22T13:31:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T12:31:54","slug":"thesis-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/04\/25\/thesis-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should include a thesis statement in your essay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you're writing a 'show what you think' essay (i.e. discussion, argument, or problem-solution type essays), you should include a thesis, or problem, statement.<\/p>\n<p>A thesis statement\u00a0is a short, simple, one to two sentence summary of the position, argument or problem that you're going to develop in your assignment.<\/p>\n<p>It forms part of your introduction, which should include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An attention-grabbing statement<\/li>\n<li>Definitions<\/li>\n<li>Information that sets the scene<\/li>\n<li>A very brief introduction to key ideas\/arguments\/research<\/li>\n<li>A thesis (or problem) statement<\/li>\n<li>What the essay will do, i.e. the route-map - what comes first, second, third etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see, a thesis statement should usually come at the end of the introduction.<\/p>\n<h4>Why write a thesis statement?<\/h4>\n<p>A thesis statement:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provides the reader with a \u2018guide\u2019 to your argument.<\/li>\n<li>Tests your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two. If your thesis statement is difficult to create and is unfocused, then your argument may be difficult and unfocused too!<\/li>\n<li>Helps you organise and develop your argument - and stay focused.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your thesis statement therefore acts like an anchor that keeps your ideas pinned down. The themes of the paragraphs that follow in the main body should directly relate to the thesis, to build a convincing and reasoned response to the assignment question. Any content that doesn't relate to your thesis statement is irrelevant and should be removed.<\/p>\n<p>The 'Fish Bone Essay Plan' below shows\u00a0 how the thesis statement controls the flow of ideas in your essay:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-271\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2017\/08\/Fishbone-Essay-Plan-180x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"619\" height=\"1032\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2017\/08\/Fishbone-Essay-Plan-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2017\/08\/Fishbone-Essay-Plan-129x215.jpg 129w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2017\/08\/Fishbone-Essay-Plan.jpg 363w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 619px) 100vw, 619px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here are a couple of examples of effective thesis\/problem statements:<\/p>\n<p>1. Although people may believe that modern democratic societies have achieved gender equality, the paper will show that this is in fact not the case, and that continuing inequality may be related to women's biology.<\/p>\n<p>2. This essay will argue that there is a measurable correlation between increasing levels of childhood obesity and the number of targeted marketing campaigns launched by leading confectionary companies in the last ten years.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Hopkins, D. and Reid, T., 2018. <i>The Academic Skills Handbook: Your Guid<\/i><i>e to Success in Writing, Thinking and Communicating at University<\/i>. Sage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you're writing a 'show what you think' essay (i.e. discussion, argument, or problem-solution type essays), you should include a thesis, or problem, statement. A thesis statement\u00a0is a short, simple, one to two sentence summary of the position, argument or...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[16,15],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay-writing","tag-problem-statement","tag-thesis-statement"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2017\/08\/target-1551492_1920.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":211,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2019\/11\/22\/how-to-write-a-conclusion\/","url_meta":{"origin":65,"position":0},"title":"How to write a conclusion","author":"Tom Reid","date":"November 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Your conclusion is very important as it presents the final words of your assignment. It should leave the reader satisfied that you have provided a thorough, well-researched and reasoned response to the assignment question. Your conclusion should move from the specific to the general (Introductions move from general to specific).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic writing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/academic-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":226,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2019\/08\/28\/reading-note-taking-tips-1-reading-from-the-inside-out-and-not-outside-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":65,"position":1},"title":"Reading and note-taking tips 1: Reading from the inside out (and not outside in)","author":"Tom Reid","date":"August 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Students often believe that before they begin an assignment, they should read as much as possible around a topic until they feel 'ready' to start writing. 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