Often in college or in University, students are required to research on a topic and present their own interpretation of it. This is presented in a scholarly manner which is then graded. Any thesis has some basic elements or sections and a thesis statement is a vital amongst them. It is a sentence which conveys to the reader the focus of the thesis and provides a short, concise introduction. It appears mostly in the introductory paragraph of the thesis and the rest of the thesis develops around this statement, strengthening it, negating contrary claims and persuading the reader along a particular line of thought. Let us now look at how to write agood thesis statement.
Thesis statement activities include:
- It does not state any known facts, but the author's interpretation of them;
- A thesis statement does not form the introduction or the abstract of the theses, but it appears in the first paragraph of the main thesis;
- It should be strong enough to grasp the attention of the reader and not prompt him to say "so what?"
- For any argumentative thesis, the thesis statement should reflect the authors' opinion along with the contrary views. And the rest of the thesis should follow to prove his point;
- A thesis statement is actually a map for the reader for tit gives a clear indication of what he can expect in the coming pages.
For example, if someone is writing about the life and times of Chanakya and his views, the thesis statement should convey it to the reader in a direct and powerful manner, taking care so as not to be languid.
Chanakya was a politician in the court of Chandragupta Maurya and he wrote a famous book called Arthashashtra.
The above statement is considered weak and dull because it states a fact which the reader is probably aware about. It does not introduce the thesis, nor does it attract the attention of the reader.
Caught in the turbulent political storms, Chanakya, a shrewd politician in the council of the first Mauryan emperor, Chandragupta, formulated a lengthy thesis, Arthashashtra, which is still considered to be among the first political handbooks; the originality and the unscrupulousness remains unparallel till date.
This sentence though a bit long, captures the consideration of the reader and immediately plunges him into a debate about the claim of the author regarding the book.
It must, therefore, be remembered that while writing a thesis, equal importance should be laid on every aspect to present a work that is laced with perfection and which is reflective of the effort taken to produce it. One could go through a couple of good thesis statements for better understanding of it.
