Since writing a strong thesis sentence is so central to college essay writing, check your understanding by doing this brief exercise.
Exercise
All of the samples below are basic thesis statements. Try to make each basic thesis sentence stronger, applying the characteristics of a strong thesis sentence and aiming for a 2- or 3-story thesis as your goal. There are many possible ways to develop these basic thesis statements. After trying it yourself, look at the possible answers to get some more ideas.
- Attending college as an adult student is difficult.
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To get to a 2nd story strong thesis, a writer needs to make the angle much more specific than “difficult.” A writer might include some reasons why attending college as an adult is difficult and also argue additionally that adult students need special supports. For a stronger, 3rd story thesis, a writer might set adult learning in a context of state support or financial support, which often is not as robust for adult students as it is for younger college students.
- Reading – both reading to a child and teaching a child to read – helps that child develop.
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To get to a 2nd story strong thesis, a writer might focus more fully on either reading to a child or teaching a child to read so that the thesis is not so inclusive. A thesis that attempts too much may not allow for depth of support. Additional information about ways in which reading helps child development might be included in the thesis to further specify it. For a stronger, 3rd story thesis, a writer might set child reading in the context of programs available to children and parents that support reading.
- Governments should never allow kidney and bone marrow donors to receive stipends.
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To get to a 2nd story strong thesis, a writer might narrow the statement to certain governments, and/or also include a “because” phrase and list out some reasons for not providing stipends. For a stronger, 3rd story thesis, a writer might set organ donation in the context of donor motivation and ethics.
- Retirees and all residents who do not have children in school should be exempt in all states from paying school tax.
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To get to a 2nd story strong thesis, a writer might include some reasons for the proposed tax exemption. For a stronger, 3rd story thesis, a writer might set school tax exemption in the context of fairness for all U.S. residents, and/or the context of transparency in local funding, which are just two of many possible contexts.
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- Thesis Sentence Self-Check. Authored by: Susan Oaks. Provided by: Empire State College, SUNY OER Services. Project: College Writing. License: CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial
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