The
WRITING
CENTER
pfw.edu/writing
Thesis Statements
Steps to Form a Thesis
1. Dene your purpose and audience.
2. Identify the research activities. Which information will you need to
convince your audience?
3. Formulate questions your research will explore. Create 3-4
questions most important to your audience that you will address.
4. After doing some initial research, turn your questions into a potential position statement that
suggests the meaning, relevance, or importance of the evidence for your audience. What do you want
your audience to do or believe after reading your paper and why?
5. Test the thesis. Does it:
• Make a specic and narrowly focused claim?
• Take an arguable position?
• Go beyond opinion and is supported by credible evidence?
• Oer new insights?
“Thesis Maker” you can try for argument or position papers:
Although _______________________________________________,
(general statement, idea, or opinion opposite to the one you will argue)
nevertheless, ________________________________________________________,
(thesis—what you want your audience to do or believe) (Specic Noun + Active Verb + Specic Modier)
because ___________________________________________________________.
(the position or points you will support in your paper by using PIE, or point, information, explanation)
Argument Thesis Statement Example
Although many academic sources on battered women refer to these women as mere “statistics”
or “subjects” in scientic studies, other sources that I analyze in this paper may be more powerful
tools for helping these women because they incorporate the battered women’s actual voices.
Persuasive Thesis Statement Example
Although some argue that consumers should wait for the government to make and enforce
stricter laws to protect them from BSE, which is also known as mad cow disease, I suggest an
active approach in which the consumer takes extra precautions to stay safe because this active
approach is more logical, more ecient as the government takes a long time to make a decision,
and possible.
“Thesis Maker” you can try for evaluative or persuasive papers:
Create a clear, direct statement of what you want the audience to believe or do.
________________________________________________________,
(thesis—what you want your audience to do or believe) (Specic Noun + Active Verb + Specic Modier)
because ___________________________________________________________.
(Plan of paper: Criteria you use to evaluate the subject and persuade the audience to accept your thesis.)
Evaluative Thesis Statement Example
The Canadian Lung Association’s Asthma website, located at http://www.lung.ca/asthma, oers
accessible, helpful, and reliable information.
*Adapted from Axelrod and Cooper’s Concise Guide to Writing
Persuasive Thesis Statement Example
The steroid use of some baseball players threatens the integrity of the sport by calling into question
the legitimacy of all players’ athletic accomplishments.
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