The thesis statement is the central message of the essay. It is important for giving guidance and direction to the rest of the essay. It may be stated or implied, but if stated it almost always is placed in the first paragraph. Exceptions include a "process paper", where it may appear in the conclusion, or a paper that utilizes a question in the introduction to lend focus to the paper and then contains a more substantive thesis statement in its concluding paragraph.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR A THESIS STATEMENT

According to the 2nd edition of the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers ( p. 38), a thesis statement fulfills five basic criteria:

1. It states the essay's subject -- the topic that you are discussing.
2. It reflects the essay's purpose -- either to give your readers information or to persuade your readers to agree with you.
3. It includes a focus -- your assertion that conveys your point of view.
4. It uses specific language -- avoids vague words and generalizations.
5. It may (but doesn't have to) state the major subdivisions of the essay's topic.

Andrea Lunsford, in the 2nd edition of The Everyday Writer suggests that a thesis should have two parts: the topic and the comment. The example below offers an example of this breakdown.

She also argues that a successful thesis has three characteristics:

1. It should be interesting to its intended audience
2. It should be specific
3. It should limit the topic so that it isn't too broad

WHAT TO AVOID

• Don't simply state a fact. Because a thesis must prepare readers for facts and details, it cannot itself be a fact. For example, this thesis simply states a fact:
  

  	Last year saw a decrease in the number of "bad girl" roles in Hollywood.
  It should always be a generalization demanding proof or further development. Here's a revision of the thesis above:
  	The decrease in 'bad girl' roles witnessed in 1998 reflects the conservative backlash against strong female characters in the media.

  
  
• Don't be too broad. You want to be particularly careful to limit the scope of your thesis statement and too avoid one that is too broad in scope or too vague. And in general, you want to try not to depend on a faulty generalization -- a generalization using words such as "all", "none", "no," "any", "always," "never", "only" and "everyone" that implies that the one particular instance you are talking about applies to all instances of something.

• Don't create a circular or "weaseling" thesis. A circular thesis doubles back on itself, saying only what it has already implied. For instance:

  	The growing popularity of American Gladiators shows that people are more interested in watching gladiators than ever before. Instant replay should be banned from the NFL because it allows you to watch plays again once they have been completed.
  Here are revised examples:
  	The growing popularity of American Gladiators reflects America's increased desensitization to violence. Instant replay should be banned from the NFL because once a play has been completed or a call has been made, it should not be revisited or reevaluated by nit-picking referees.
  A "weaseling" thesis, according to the 5th edition of The Random House Handbook, is one that "asserts so little that it expresses nothing more than the writer's wish to stay out of trouble" (75). For instance:
  	Internet pornography is a controversial subject. Although some people approve of V-chip technology, others don't.
  You need to take a risk, take more of a stand, and offer an idea that will require support and illustration to make it convincing. For instance:
  	Because too many children are stumbling upon sex sites on the web, all pornographic materials should be banned from the internet.

   

• Don't "Beg the Question". The term "begging the question" means settling the question before you've even discussed it -- prejudging the issue. By using loaded terms and phrases in your thesis statement, you can come away sounding close-minded -- a reader might not want to read an essay that from the first paragraph forbids any disagreement. For instance, this thesis "begs the question":

  	Fashion magazines have no right arbitrarily to define standards of "beauty" that, by demeaning and debasing the average woman, lead directly to eating disorders.
  On the other hand, the following revision makes just as strong a statement, but uses more objective and fair language.
  	The highly idealized concept of beauty marketed by fashion magazines contributes to the anxiety over body image that leads many women to eating disorders.
  Keep in mind, the goal of any thesis statement (and introduction for that matter) is to state your position on an issue, clearly but without alienating your readers.

• Don't Use Either/Or Reasoning. Using an either/or construction in your thesis tends to reduce your argument to extremes -- an alarmist technique that pretends the only alternative to your point of view is something quite horrible. Here's an example:

  	We must eliminate violent content from television or we will end up raising generations of thoughtless murderers.
  It is much better to admit that your opponents might have good reasons for their views -- reasons that you don't find completely convincing. Remember, if the issue were one of Right vs. Wrong, there would be no point in debating it.

A FEW MORE TOPICS & THESIS EXAMPLES
TOPIC: body piercing
BAD: Body piercing is popular among kids nowadays.
BETTER: Body piercing among contemporary youth represents the latest form of rebelling against authority that previous generations manifested in smoking, getting tattoos, and wearing mini-skirts.

TOPIC: female musicians
BAD: Female musicians are getting more popular.
BETTER: During the past five years, musical artists like Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morisette, and Jewel have solidified a place for women's music on the top ten charts.

TOPIC: news coverage of military action
BAD: News coverage of military actions undermines their seriousness.
BETTER: By featuring highlights of air strikes and peace-keeping missions on the news, television producers reduce them to the status of popular entertainment and undermine the audience's appreciation of the seriousness of military actions.

FINAL HINTS:

• Always check your conclusion with your thesis statement to make sure that your essay really ended up where you said it would go.
• Always remember to integrate your thesis with the prose surrounding it. One typical error made by writers is that they spend a lot of time polishing their thesis and then simply insert it into a paragraph that has seen substantially less revision. Not only does the quality of the prose set the thesis off from the surrounding text, but it quite possibly may not flow with the overall development of the paragraph. You may even find that you need to alter your thesis statement (tone it down; break it into a couple sentences; reword it slightly for better transition) in order to incorporate it smoothly into your paragraph.