WRITING THESIS

STATEMENTS

Prepared by:

JOEY F. VALDRIZ

The Writing Process

“If you have a goal, write it

down. If you do not write it

down, you do not have a goal

– you have a wish.”

~Steve Maraboli

Introduction

Have you ever been to a different

province or a foreign country? Recall a

time you traveled to an unfamiliar

destination with your family or friends.

How did you prepare for such an

excursion?

Introduction

A thesis statement prepares you for

writing your essay.

It serves as your guide and a roadmap

to your destination.

Definition

A thesis statement is the central idea of an essay, around which all other ideas revolve. It controls the essay by determining what you should or should not include in your work.

In one sentence, it reveals and summarizes the argument you intend to develop and defend.

Definition

A thesis statement is not the subject or topic itself, but an interpretation of the topic.

Example: If you were asked to write an essay on Martial Law during the time of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, your thesis statement would inform the reader of how you understand such a topic and what you deem to be important or debatable about it.

Formulating a Thesis Statement

Questions to help you find out a thesis statement:

• What main idea does most of my pre-writing support?

• What are the relationships that exist among my ideas?

• Which aspect of the topic seems to be given the most detail?

• Where does my stand seem to be the most consistent?

• What is the focus of the most interesting and significant points of my pre-writing?

• What ideas should I do more research on?

Formulating a Thesis Statement

Whatever thesis statement you come

up with initially is called a working

thesis statement, an argument

containing your stand and that you

intend to prove with evidence in the

essay. It is called such because you

may have to adjust your thesis

statement depending on your research

and writing.

Formulating a Thesis Statement

You are writing a reaction paper about your schools’s Reserve Officers Training Corps program for your fellow high school students. After going over your pre-writing, you come up with the following working thesis statement: “High school seniors become more responsible because of joining the Reserve Officers Training Corps program.”

Formulating a Thesis Statement

After doing some research, you decide to revise the working statement as follows: “High school seniors who join the Reserve Officers Training Corps program develop better leadership skills because of the discipline instilled in them by the program.”

Note: Creating a thesis statement results from looking at your paper’s general subject and narrowing it down to something specific.

Characteristics of an

Effective Thesis Statement

1. Responds to the assignment by following

instructions.

2. Expresses the main idea in one or two sentences.

3. Focuses on a specific issue.

4. States a stand on the topic.

5. Says something meaningful by answering

questions: “So what?” “How?” “Why?”

6. Previews the rest of the essay by being placed in

the introduction.

7. Reflects a tone and point-of-view appropriate to

the identified purpose and audience.

More Guidelines on

Writing Thesis Statement

1. Avoid making overly-opinionated

stands.

2. Avoid making announcements.

3. Avoid stating only facts.

Exercises

Fill in the blanks by deriving a specific

topic and thesis statement for the given

general subject.

General Subject Specific Topic Thesis Statement

1. Sports

2. Communication

3. Music

4. Education

5. Transportation

Rodriguez, Maxine Rafaella C. and

Marella Therese A. Tiongson. 2016.

Reading and Writing Skills. Manila: Rex

Book Store, Inc.