The Thesis Statement is that sentence or two in your essay that tells your reader what your essay is going to be about.
Your thesis statement should remain flexible until the paper is actually finished.
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If you discover new information in the process of writing your paper that ought to be included in the thesis statement, then you will have to fine tune or completely rewrite your thesis statement. On the other hand, if you discover that your paper has done adequate work but the thesis statement appears to include things that you haven't actually addressed, then you need to limit your thesis statement.
The thesis statement usually appears near the beginning of a paper. It can be the first sentence of an essay, but that often feels like a simplistic, unexciting beginning. It more frequently appears at or near the end of the first paragraph or two.
Be subtle. Avoid announcing the thesis statement as if it were a thesis statement. In other words, avoid using phrases such as "The purpose of this paper is . . . . " or "In this paper, I will attempt to . . .
To create a thesis statement when a general topic is assigned reduce it to a single manageable question.
For example, students in Socials 11 are asked to “Write an essay on the topic of Canada in the 20th century.”
Reduce the general assignment to a specific question such as:
1) Does Quebec sign law violate the rights of the English-speaking minority?
2) Was it necessary for the Canadian government to inter Canadians citizens of Japanese descent during World War II?
The answer to the question is the thesis statement for your essay.
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A good thesis statement…….
1. Takes on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree
2. Deals with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment
3. Expresses one main idea
4. Asserts your conclusions about a subject
5. Uses specific language.
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How to Tell a Strong Thesis Sentence from a Weak One…..
1. A strong thesis takes some sort of stand.
2. A strong thesis justifies discussion.
3. A strong thesis expresses one main idea.
4. A strong thesis statement is specific.
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