Writing a Thesis Statement

After you have presented some general background information, you will need to nar­row your focus. This is done in a thesis statement which is often the last sentence of the introduction. A thesis statement is similar to a topic sentence in several ways. Just as a topic sentence controls the information for a paragraph, a thesis statement controls the information for an entire essay.

A good thesis statement identifies the subject of the essay,

establishes the aspects of the subject that

the essay will deal with.

Underline the thesis statement in John Lennon: A Musician for All Time and answer the following questions:

1. Does the thesis statement identify the subject of the essay?

2. Does it establish the aspects of the subject that the essay develops?

Now look back at the sample introductions and underline the thesis statement in each one. Write the five thesis statements on the lines below.

1.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Writing an Introduction

A. Write the introduction for a five-paragraph essay on the pressures of being a student. Follow these steps:

1. Spend some time thinking about the angle of the subject that you plan to write about. For example, are you going to discuss the pressures of being a student in a foreign country or in your native country? Are you going to talk about the pres­sures of a high school student, college student, or graduate student? Other angles you might consider are the pressures of being a student and having a job or being a parent. Are you going to talk about economic, academic, social, or emotional pressures?

2. Decide what technique or techniques you want to use to introduce your subject. Would an anecdote be effective? What about a quote or some facts and statistics?

3. End the introduction with a thesis statement that identifies your subject and establishes the three points you plan to develop in your essay.

4. Read your introduction to the class. Listen to other students' introductions for comparison.

B. Follow the same steps and write introductions for these subjects on a separate piece of paper:

1. Why you chose your major or career.

2. The benefits of a large (or small) university.