The 3-part THESIS Statement & OUTLINE for Essays
Writing a thesis statement is not easy! So I've developed this step-by-step guide to help you think about a) what makes a good thesis
statement, b) how to create a thesis statement, and then c) how to outline your essay from that thesis statement. The first page tackles
the thesis statement itself; the second page illustrates how to outline it. Please read over all of it carefully, and refer back to it often.
THE THREE (3) PARTS OF A THESIS STATEMENT
1. A NARROWLY DEFINED TOPIC
The topic tells your readers what your paper is about. However, you must narrowly define your topic or it will be too broad to give more
than a superficial overview of your topic. This is where BRAINSTORMING comes in!
Here are examples that show you how to narrow down your topic:
• Too broad: dessert
• Better, but still a little too general: ice cream
• Narrow: Chunky Monkey ice cream
2. The CLAIM, which means your ASSERTION/OPINION
Now you need to decide what you want your audience to know about your narrowly defined topic, so you will make a specific claim,
which is your assertion/opinion about the topic:
• Too obvious: Chunky Monkey ice cream is good. (duh!) Opinion, but not debatable.
• Still not cutting it: Chunky Monkey ice cream makes me happy when I'm depressed. Opinion, but not socially relevant -
individual.
• Better: Chunky Monkey ice cream supports mental health. My claim - debatable opinion that is socially relevant!
3. The PLAN, or "The BECAUSE FACTOR"
Now that you have a narrowly defined topic and a specific claim, you need to let the reader know how you plan to support your claim. To
do this, ask yourself why you are making that claim. In other words:
" Chunky Monkey ice cream is essential for mental health because...." A plan lays out your paper’s basic organization with the major
points (arguments) you will use to support your assertion:
• (main point 1) Physical Health: Ice cream is made up of some of the most important food groups (dairy, nuts, etc) that we're always
being reminded to be sure to consume for physical health, which doctors claim leads to mental health.
• (main point 2) Productivity: Despite the claims to short-term energy bursts from sugar, this ice cream provides a lot more long-term
energy than my non-sugar-induced body has noticed. I can clean the house like nobody's business after a pint of this stuff! And we all
know that a mentally healthy individual is a productive individual.
• (main point 3) Positive Relationships: see, if I am eating Chunky Monkey ice cream, it's likely that either my partner or children have
brought it to me as a token of truce, or because they've noticed that I'm depressed. Either way, I like them a lot better post-ice cream
than pre-ice cream.
NOTE: For each main point here, I will develop a TOPIC SENTENCE that will start each body paragraph in my outline, and
underneath that topic sentence I will provide SUPPORTING DETAILS that support only that one main point.
THE THESIS STATEMENT: And now we put it all together....
Thesis Statement: Chunky Monkey ice cream is essential for mental health because of its benefits to one's physical health, daily
productivity, and familial relationships.
Notice that I:
• Did not write "I think" or "I believe." Since I'm writing the essay, that's already a given. Besides, it would sound like I didn't truly
believe my statement, and I assure you that I'm dead serious about my Chunky Monkey ice cream.
• Did not follow the overly obvious path that ice cream is bad for one's health. It's boring. Would you read an essay about something
you've heard already 40,000 times? Remember, a writer requires an audience.
• Was specific about my topic and main points, but that in my thesis I did not provide details that will be in the body of my essay.
