Research Writing Process (Book)

A Bit more on your Thesis...

Your thesis may not be complete until your paper is done. So during the writing process, you compose a “working thesis,” the basic central idea upon which you base your paper. Usually, your actual thesis will come when you’re close to finishing your paper. Near paper’s end, your ideas will be focused, and you will be sure what direction your paper has taken. You can then construct your true thesis.

Thesis statement:

• A statement of the central idea of your paper
• Must be arguable, so you cannot have it too personal
• Should come at the end of your first paragraph
• Should take a stand, a side, on an argument or debatable issue
• Narrows your topic to a single main idea
• States an observation, not just a fact
• Will be supported in your paper by details and facts
• A good thesis statement does two things:  

1) tells a reader the essay’s topic   

2) Presents the writer’s attitude about the topic

 ~ Your thesis must be arguable so you cannot have it too personal.

A decent working thesis might read something like this:
Yosemite is such a beautiful park that it can turn even the most unwilling visitor into a nature enthusiast.
*Source: Thesis notes from Lanzbom, Leon at Lanzbom.org