Essay Thesis Statement Example

High school students are often asked to write essays as a part of school assignments. Though most of them are able to come up with a good essay, many face problems in coming up with a good thesis statement. A thesis statement, the most crucial element of the essay, is a statement which summarizes the essay in a sentence or two. However, there are certain guidelines that have to be followed while writing thesis statements because a reader can make out the student's understanding about the subject, just by looking at the thesis statement. Hence, a thesis statement should reflect the argument or the point that the writer wants to make in the essay. Here are some statement examples that will help you make a good thesis statement.

Importance of Essay Thesis Statement
A mistake that most students commit is that they write the thesis statement after they have written the essay. This has to be avoided because the essay should be based on the argument stated in the thesis statement. Which is why, it is important to know the definition of thesis statement. Once you choose the subject or topic you want to write upon, do the research that is needed to write the essay. Once you have done this, think about the argument that you want to support and whether you can provide appropriate evidence to prove your point. After you have decided this, you can move on to create a thesis statement. Let us look at the important points that have to be kept in mind while writing a thesis statement along with some examples of thesis statements.

Points to Remember
Thesis statements are an important part of all types of essays. Hence, be it an analytical, argumentative or persuasive thesis statement, the guidelines that you have to follow are common for each one.

Be Specific
The thesis statement should talk about the main idea that you are going to present in your essay. The most important factor about writing a thesis statement is that it should be specific. One common mistake that many people do while writing a thesis statement is make a general statement about what they are going to write in the essay. For instance, if you are writing about capital punishment, your thesis statement should not be something like-

Capital punishment is not the appropriate way of punishing a person for a crime he has done.

This is an example of a weak thesis statement because it is too broad as well as vague. The reader may understand the stance you have taken, but not the reason behind it. Hence, it is important that you produce the reason behind the statement. To make the thesis statement more specific, you can ask yourself why you think it is bad, which will generate an answer that will help in making your thesis statement more specific. For instance,

Humans do not have the right to take away the life of other humans, hence capital punishment is not the correct way of punishing a criminal.

Trigger an Argument
Another important characteristic of a good thesis statement is that it should have the ability to trigger an argument. In other words, your thesis statement should not present a stance that everyone agrees upon, rather it should be something that some people may not agree upon. Here, we will take the example of making school uniforms mandatory in public school. Now, your statement can be for it or against it and should be such that there should be space for a counter argument. For instance,

Making uniforms mandatory in public schools will ensure that financial differences among students will not be known.

Such a thesis statement presents an opinion that may be challenged by another person who has different point of opinion about this matter.

Some More Examples
Given below are a few more thesis statement examples that can help clarify how to write good thesis statements. Keeping in mind the above factors, writing good thesis statements should not be a problem for students. Just make sure that your research is top-notch and that you have facts to support your side of the statement.

• Importance of Breakfast: An healthy breakfast is said to be an important meal of the day because it gives the person all the essential nutrients that the body requires and also helps in facing the challenges of the day.
• Obesity in Children: As children love to indulge in fast foods and spend their time in front of the television or by playing video games, obesity in children has become a common health problem.
• Sex Education in Schools: Introducing sex education in middle school is very important as many cases of teenage pregnancy have been reported in the past few years.
• School Examinations: Though people argue that examinations cause too much of stress and tension in students, they are important in evaluating the student's knowledge.

One thing that writers should keep in mind is that their essays should not go off track i.e. they should not shift the focus from the main point mentioned in the thesis statement. They should also give proper evidence to support the arguments or opinions that they have stated in the thesis statement. However, it is also fine to make slight changes in the thesis statement, if you think that it is important to mention a certain point which will make your essay better.

Before you start to write the thesis statement, make an outline of your essay and then take the main idea that you are going to present in the essay to create your thesis statement. This will ensure that you write a thesis statement that is relevant to the content of the essay. Once you are done with it, ask your teacher or your friend to evaluate the thesis statement to see whether it is correct, and make the necessary changes according to the feedback you get. All the best!