Writing a Thesis Statement

The cheapest point on the rubric

• One of the six points is for a defensible thesis responding to the prompt.
• It costs one sentence and no evidence.
• Students lose it by restating the prompt instead of taking a position.

Turning the prompt into a thesis is like answering “Which train?” with “The one that goes somewhere.”

It must require a defence

• Write a thesis that requires proof or defence.
• Apply the same test as always: could a reasonable person disagree?
• "There are arguments on both sides" fails the test — nobody disputes it.

Same subject, and only one of them can be disagreed with

It may preview the reasoning

• A thesis may preview the structure of the argument to come.
• That is useful when the shape is genuinely load-bearing.
• It is optional — and a mechanical list of three reasons often produces a rigid essay.

Specific enough to constrain

• A thesis so broad that any paragraph could belong under it is not directing the essay.
• Test it: name a paragraph your thesis rules out.
• If you cannot, the thesis is not doing any work.

Writing it under time pressure

• Read the sources or the prompt and sketch your claims before fixing the thesis.
• A thesis written after the evidence is nearly always better than one written before it.
• If the evidence does not fit the thesis, change the thesis — there are no marks for consistency with your first idea.

Write from a thesis about 2 hours of homework

• One sentence says homework exists. Another says 2 hours of homework on weeknights costs too much sleep.
• Say which one can be a thesis.