How To Compose A Thesis Statement For An Argumentative Essay?
Writers of all fields and ages know too well the stress that is usually attached to the word “Thesis”. Whether you're a young college student, a freelance writer or even a lawyer writing a dissertation, chances are you will one day have to face the daunting task of writing a thesis statement for an argumentative essay.
- Define Thesis Statement.
- Choose a Topic and your position
- Put it on paper
- Double-check and happy writing!
The first priority for the student (or, again, professional writer) is to thoroughly understand what a thesis statement actually is. When you are asked to write a thesis statement, you're basically being asked to state your topic and your position on that topic. The position that you take must be supported by the research you plan to use in the body of your paper to support your argument. See, once you break it down, it isn't so scary!
Once establishing a comfortable understanding of your task, you should decide on a general topic, and narrow it down if necessary. For instance, if you were instructed to write an argumentative essay on animal rights, you might choose that as your topic, or you may narrow it to a subtopic such as product testing on animals. Then, you will need to decide where you want to stand on this subject; if you are against testing products on animals, for example, and you plan to gather research supporting that this practice is harmful; you have just come up with the concept of your thesis!
All you have to do now is get this concept written down and organized in words. For this step, you could use a variety of tools to help. Some people can do this seemingly without effort, but many need a strategy. You might want to take a sheet of paper and make columns representing your Topic, Stance, and Reasoning. Remember, however, that this thesis statement is part of your introduction. You should not go in-depth with your reasoning here, but in the body paragraphs instead. You will, however, need to make a general statement about why this is right or wrong in your opinion. When you put your sentences in each column together, your paper might then read something like, “Product testing on animals is wrong because research shows that it is highly dangerous to the health of the test animals”.
That's it! Read over your thesis statement to check for clarity, and if you feel confident that your thesis is clearly stated, will make sense to readers and will be supported in the body paragraphs with your research, you should pat yourself on the back. You, my friend, just wrote a thesis statement for your argumentative essay, and your homework, dissertation or freelance work is on its way to greatness.