THESIS STATEMENT

Salam and hi everyone. It's been quite some time since my last post. I am still in the education line but my current location is in Selangor. Today I would like to post some notes which I used for my class on writing a thesis statement of an essay. I took these notes from Dennis G. Jerz's webpage Thesis Statements: How To Write Them

The first thing that a student must understand is Thesis Statement is not just your opinion regarding a certain topic that you want to write about. Instead, it should be seen as a device which will determine the direction of your essay. It will also provide a direction for the body of your essay in which the items that you mention in your thesis statement will be further elaborated in the body paragraphs. In simpler words, thesis statement is the specific claim that your essay supports.

A good thesis statement must have THREE important elements: LIMITED SUBJECT, CLAIM and REASONING.

E.g. Siti Nurhaliza is a multi-talented woman as she is not only a talented singer but she is also a successful businesswoman and an ambassador to various popular brands in Malaysia.

In the sentence above,

- the limited subject is Siti Nurhaliza
- the claim is - Siti Nurhaliza is a multi-talented woman
- and the reasons to support the claim are - a talented singer, a successful businesswoman and an ambassador to various popular brands in Malaysia.

Ok, let's try some exercise. Feel free to scroll down to check out the answers
Note: These questions are taken from Jerz's webpage. Check out the webpage in the reference section below.

EXERCISE

Determine whether the examples below are good thesis statement or not. Explain your answer.

1) Is Black Elk Speaks an accurate representation of Indian lifestyle?

2) This paper will look at the book's attention to cultural detail, its use of Indian words, and its direct quotations from Black Elk, in order to determine whether Black Elk Speaks accurately represents Indian lifestyle.

3) Because the events in the story emphasize Black Elk's role as a Sioux Warrior, and do not describe Black Elk's eventual conversion to Catholicism and membership in the Society of St. Joseph, Black Elk Speaks presents a skewed and simplified view of the complex history of Native Americans.

* Black Elk Speaks is the title of a book.

Answers:

1) It is not a statement, it is just a question. It's fine to sit down at the keyboard with the intention of writing a paper to answer this question, but before you start churning out the sentences, you should have a clear idea of what answer you're trying to support.

2) It is a statement but it does not say whether the author plans to argue for or against the book’s accuracy.

3) It is a good thesis statement. It contains a topic/limited subject (the accuracy of Black Elk Speaks), an opinion (it is skewed and simplified), and reasoning (it only tells a part of the story).

For more information, check out the reference below:

Jerz, Dennis G. (2006) Thesis Statements: How to Write Them accessed on 16 July 2010 via http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/academic/thesis.htm