A. K. M. Adam
23 Seabury Hall
Office 328-9300 ext 39
Stating a Clear, Forceful Thesis
Your paper should begin with a distinct thesis which constitutes a claim; the paper should then go on to explain and make a case for this claim.
A thesis is nothing more or less than a claim that you make when you write a typical paper. You should know what you're claiming so that you can structure your paper accordingly. A reader who recognizes a paper's thesis, and who thus knows what to expect for the remainder of the paper, can read your paper more comfortably, not worrying about whether she has correctly discerned what you're on about. A reader who doesn't get a clear message about a paper's thesis, and who therefore must spend the first few pages muddling along trying to guess the thesis, may guess wrong, or may feel annoyance and frustration. Students can help their readers feel comfortable or annoyed; you may choose whichever you wish, but I strongly suggest making your reader comfortable.
You will have a much easier time writing a paper that has a clear thesis, and your reader will have a much easier time reading that paper, because you both will know what you're trying to convince your reader. Don't write a report (unless that's the assignment!). Reports set the record for the most tedious kind of paper: "Smith says this and that... Jones says the other and thus... Brown claims some third thing," all with no sense of risk or engagement. Take a venturesome stand: "Feminist biblical interpretation is a tendentious effort to transform Holy Scripture into a hole-y scrapheap." Now, that's a thesis; yours doesn't have to be so aggressively stated, but it should entail your risking being wrong.
No thesis at all
There are several ways for would-be theses to go awry. The first, most common, mistaken approach entails the omission of anything which could plausibly serve as a thesis. A reader then searches for a thesis, finds nothing, and thinks the writer a dunce.
Why do students omit theses? Frequently they omit theses because they themselves haven't any idea what they're writing about. They figure that if they just report enough research, and vomit up enough half-digested rumination, their teacher will be duly impressed and award them an acceptable grade (for the research, don't you know). These students find that a thesis is too limiting; if they adopt a particular thesis, then there are many ideas which are no longer relevant to their paper. With no thesis at all, however, they are free to incorporate anything they want.
The hidden thesis
Other students adopt a thesis, but in an unhelpful way. They are so terrified by the prospect that they might be wrong that they try to conceal their thesis. They reason that it is worse to be wrong than to be confusing (and confused). That reasoning flops in two ways. First, very few issues justify a simple "right" or "wrong" label; at this stage of intellectual work, intelligent people take various sides on practically every issue. Second, they are wrong to think that error is more dangerous than opacity. Let us assume that the student in question has found one of those rare questions on which there is a simple yes or no answer; at least if the student argues the wrong case clearly, there is some prospect that she may recognize her error (either through her own efforts or when her teacher points it out). If the same student successfully conceals what she thinks about this issue, she is still wrong--but her chances of finding that out are considerably diminished.
The pathetically bland thesis
Finally, students err by adopting a pathetically bland thesis. This error, too, arises from uncertainty and confusion. The student decides to defend the searing thesis, "Many people have differing interpretations of the Parable of the Sower." Then she finds that she bored her reader into giving her an F.
Even when you are only reporting on others' research, you should clarify your assessment of their findings. If you have the option, you should take a clear stance on whose claims are justified, and why you think so.
So: Tell us what you're trying to convince us
In short: decide what you think about your issue. Summarize your position in a clear sentence. Bolster your claim with some clear introductory material (preferably material which hints at the tack your argument will take in the essay). Put your thesis at either the beginning or the end of a paragraph, usually the first paragraph (the reader typically assumes that the last sentence of the first paragraph is the thesis--unless that assumption is obviously wrong). Let the reader know what's about to happen to her, and help her to agree with you by making it all seem clear and obvious.
Last updated: July 8, 2000
A K M Adam
E-Mail: akm-adam@nwu.edu