A thesis paper begins with a thesis statement, which is usually one sentence that features in the first paragraph of an essay that is designed to encapsulate the purpose of the essay.
Not only will an effective thesis statement challenge readers with a point of view that can be debated, it will also provide your essay with direction and structure.
A good example of a thesis question is: Has the advancement of technology had a positive or negative impact on education?
Your thesis statement will vary depending on the goals of your essay. For example, in an argumentative essay you need to take a strong position in your thesis statement. The end goal is to have the reader wind up on your side of the argument as a result of a strong base of evidence and logical reasoning. In an expository essay, meanwhile, a strong opinion isn’t required but you should state the central point of your work and reference the key elements that you will outline in greater detail.
We are going to focus on an argumentative thesis for this article, because, let’s face it, they’re more fun to write. A strong example of an argumentative thesis statement would be: The internet has played an integral role in making the learning process more enriching by facilitating easier access to information, providing exposure to a wide range of perspectives and offering the opportunity to strengthen one’s skill-set in a virtual setting.
JUST STARTING OUT
If you’re in the embryonic stage of your writing journey, the process of writing a thesis may seem overwhelming but when you break it down into manageable pieces the task of putting together a well-formulated thesis paper isn’t as daunting as you initially thought.
We have already developed our thesis statement and provided three supporting paragraphs in facilitating easier access to information, providing exposure to a wide range of perspectives and offering the opportunity to strengthen one’s skill-set in a virtual setting. By having identified these three sub-topics, we have taken the first step in ensuring that our thesis has flow.
The next step involves filling out each of the sub-topics with examples that support your thesis statement. When it comes to the point about facilitating easier access to information, the author would be well-advised to reference Google and how powerful of a tool it is for those wanting to acquire information in the blink of an eye, as well as Twitter for the simple fact that it counts industry experts in fields such as media, sports and business among its users.
For sub-topic two – providing exposure to a wide range of perspectives – referencing Zoom, which describes itself as a video platform that powers all your communication needs, including meetings, webinars and online events, would be a terrific starting point.
The last sub-topic that will be explored is offering the opportunity to strengthen one’s skill-set in a virtual setting. For anyone wanting to broaden their horizons in terms of their professional development, there are thousands of online courses available nowadays on practically any topic that you can think of.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
Now that you have explored all of the sub-topics that support your thesis statement in detail, the time has come to wrap it all up with a thesis conclusion. Arguably the two most important aspects of a thesis conclusion are broad statements that summarise the key insights of your research and the absence of new data or interpretations. As a rule of thumb, a conclusion should not exceed more than seven per cent of your overall word count.
To put things simply, your conclusion is your last opportunity to demonstrate to the reader that you have done what you set out to do.
As can tell from reading this article, there are several steps involved in the process of writing a thesis and for this reason there are likely to be a few mistakes made along the way. Whether these mistakes be on the spelling and grammatical front or on the structural side of things, TK Proofreading can help to make certain that your thesis is a well-rounded document that conveys its intended message in a clear and concise fashion.