THESIS

STATEMENTS
Lopez
English 5-6

What is a Thesis
Statement?
Is a road map for the paper; in other words, it
tells the reader what to expect from the rest of
the paper.
Makes a claim that others might dispute.
Is usually a single sentence somewhere in
your first paragraph that presents your
argument to the reader. The rest of the paper,
the body of the essay, gathers and organizes
evidence that will persuade the reader of the

The Thesis Statement Or Main

Claim Must Be Debatable
Must begin with a
debatable thesis or claim.
In other words, the thesis
must be something that
people could reasonably
have differing opinions on.
If your thesis is something
that is generally agreed
upon or accepted as fact
then there is no reason to
try to persuade people.

Example of a nondebatable thesis

statement:
Pollution is bad for the
environment.

Example of a
debatable thesis
statement:
At least 25 percent of the
federal budget should be
spent on limiting pollution.

The Thesis Needs To Be

Narrow
The narrower the
thesis the more
Example of a thesis
effective your
that is too broad:
argument will be.
Drug use is detrimental
to society.
Your thesis or claim
must be supported by Example of a narrow
evidence.
or focused thesis:
Illegal drug use is
The broader your
detrimental because it
claim is, the more
encourages gang
evidence you will
violence.
need to convince

Types Of Claims
1.) Claims of fact or
definition: These claims
2.) Claims of cause
argue about what the
and effect: These
definition of something is
claims argue that one
or whether something is
person, thing, or
a settled fact.
event caused another
Example:
What some people refer to
as global warming is
actually nothing more than
normal, long-term cycles of
climate change.

thing or event to
occur.
Example:

The popularity of SUV's

in America has caused

Types Of Claims (cont)

3.) Claims about
solutions or policies:
These are claims that
argue for or against a
certain solution or policy
approach to a problem.
Example:

4.) Claims about

value: These are claims
made of what something
is worth, whether we
value it or not, how we
would rate or categorize
Instead of drilling for oil in
something.
Alaska we should be
focusing on ways to reduce Example:
oil consumption, such as
researching renewable
energy sources.

Global warming is the most

pressing challenge facing
the world today.

YOUR THESIS STATEMENT

Includes 3 things
Topic Your research topic
Claim What you are trying to prove
Evidence How you are going to prove it

EX: Abraham Lincoln was a Civil

War hero because he preserved the
union.

THESIS STATEMENT
for Most Dangerous Game
Includes 3 things
Topic, Claim, Evidence
What point do you think the author is trying

to make about hunting in this story?

Hints
TOPIC Hunting
CLAIM Is the author for, against, indifferent about
hunting?
EVIDENCE What happens in the story to prove
your claim?