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Developing a Thesis Statement: at the end of this module you'll understand the
process of writing a one-sentence thesis or research statement.
A thesis statement is a one-sentence summary of the writer's argument; it has
one main point to be supported by solid evidence and reasoning
See an example below.
The first step in writing a thesis statement is choosing a topic.
For example, say you want to write about violent video games and children.
The second step is to brainstorm keywords related to your topic and do
preliminary research.
In this case, I used the APPsearch and the keywords,
'Children Violent Video Games.'
After limiting to just articles,
I'd begin to ask myself questions about the topic:
for example, some questions could be
'Does playing violent videogames have a positive effect on children's social
skills,' or
'Does playing violent video games make children behave aggressively?'
The next step would be to pose an answer to one of the questions. This would be your
thesis statement. For example, if I chose my second question, 'Does playing violent
video games make children behave aggressively,' my thesis statement could
be, 'Playing violent video games causes children to behave more aggressively.'
You now have a working thesis statement and you would continue to do research to
help support your assertion.
To recap:
the steps are
choose a topic and brainstorm keywords,
do some preliminary research,
ask questions about the topic,
answer one of the questions,
and use that as your thesis.
In conclusion:
a thesis statement is a one-sentence assertion that takes a position
it justifies discussion. It doesn't just state a fact or make an observation.
It is supported by solid evidence
and it makes one main point.
More resources are available.