The thesis statement is an assignment’s main idea and appears as a sentence or two which ends the introduction. It guides the reader in what to expect in the rest of the text and communicates the focus of the paper. Look out for the thesis statement while reading textbooks or journal articles, to get an idea of what a thesis statement looks like, and see how it sets up your expectations of what you will read in the rest of the text.
The thesis statement groups together the various aspects of the topic that you will be describing; it states your findings or expresses the stance or point of view you’re taking on an issue.
No matter what type of essay or report you write, you will need to include a thesis statement.
Before you start your assignment, you may already have an idea of the statement you are going to make. It’s important to have this draft statement within reach whilst you research, read, make notes, and begin writing your middle paragraphs. This helps you stay on track, guided by your thesis statement. You continue to fine tune your thesis statement as you write more of your assignment, making it clear and concise, with the purpose of letting your reader know where you are leading them in your assignment. There always needs to be a connection between the evidence in your body paragraphs and your thesis statement.
You may find that it helps to prepare a draft thesis statement based on your assessment of the assignment question. This will focus your research, reading, note-making and assignment writing.
Then, at the end of your assignment journey, once you have reviewed your assignment brief, revised your reading, research and note making, and completed your middle paragraphs, introduction and conclusion you can then prepare a final thesis statement. It is a good idea to write your thesis statement in periodic style sentence, meaning the main idea is presented at the end of the sentence. You’ll see some examples of this below.