How to Write Effectively Part II: A Good Thesis is Hard to Find

It's a grand ole system.

If you took AP English, you probably already know what the dreaded thesis statement is, what it does, and why it does it. Non-native English speakers, however, may not be as familiar with the concept since many Asian countries prefer a more roundabout way to write about a topic. But in grand ole' Capitalist America, time is money, and you respect your reader's time by getting to the point more directly.

There is also the tendency to think a thesis is a statement of intent: "I will prove over the course of my paper..."

NO!

Make no such lofty announcement, nor should you reveal self-consciously your role in the creation of this paper (unless you have a non-traditional writing assignment, like something more creative or personal narrative-based). Your name's at the top. We get that you are the author, so get out of the way of your own point, or you risk offering the reader too many opportunities to see your points as subjective opinions as opposed to logically-constructed points.

Rather the thesis provides a kind of brief, sentence-long guide to the organization of your paper. This is why you ought to wait until you've written your body paragraphs and determined the connection among your ideas.

I suggest the following order of drafting:

1. Choose a topic.(What do you like/hate? What do you want to know more about?)

2. Get down some possible subtopics (see  Writing Effectively Part I: Pre-Writing).

3. Begin to form basic connections among these subtopics. (What's the relationship between point A and point B? Does one support or refute the other? Is one a more specific or general idea?)

4. Write what you know about it.

5. See what you discover.

6. Form the thesis.

These steps can be rearranged based on how you think best, what information you have first, and what's going to cause you the least anxiety!

The best way to form a thesis is to pose a question of your topic, to which the thesis will provide an answer:

Topic: Class Distinctions in Manet's Cafe-Concert (1878).

Edouard Manet 1978 oil on canvas; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD

Bad Thesis: There are various class distinctions in Manet's Cafe Concert.

Better Thesis: Manet's treatment of class distinction in Cafe Concert reflects his society of that time.

Even Better: Manet's attention to composition and the dress of his subjects reveals his attitude towards Parisian class divisions in the late nineteenth century. 

Best: Manet's uneven composition and the stark contrast in his subject's clothing suggest the atmosphere of severe and clashing distinctions of class in nineteenth century Paris.


Length

You may notice this thesis statement got longer as it got better. This is not always the case. It only happened in this case because there were more modifiers, the more specific thoughts requiring a couple more words. The important thing is that your thesis thoroughly addresses each of your subtopics, and suggests the logical development leading towards a final argument, in this case, that Manet saw his time and place as a mixing bowl of otherwise stratified class systems.


TMI?

Don't be so coy!

Don't worry about "giving away" your paper. You're not writing a mystery novel or going on a first date. What you are revealing in your body paragraphs are the steps in logic you went through to come to that particular point about your topic. For the sake of your class, this assertion does not necessarily need to be unique. For whatever assertion you can think of, someone has probably already written a book on it. That's fine, because essays are a way for you to exercise your intellect by beginning generally, considering a particular stance one could take on it, then working backwards to see the smaller steps you'd have to take to come to that.

During the revision process, you should keep your thesis either in the back of your mind if it'll stay there, or keep it handy on paper if you are a visual/kinetic learner.

Don't worry about concealing meaning: whip it out!!

Remember first and foremost: Writing is a process of discovery, meaning you may not know what you're saying until you see what you're saying! (E. M. Forster: "How can I know what I think until I see what I say?")


On a philosophical note, not everything in life means something. But in your paper, it should.

For more ideas visit: 
Diana Hacker
ClassWeb
UNC's Writing Center
 






Happy discovering!