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How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

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Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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McCombes, S. (2023, August 15). How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 29, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/thesis-statement/

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How to Restate a Thesis

Last Updated: February 27, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 390,479 times.

A thesis statement serves as your paper’s (or speech’s) guiding idea, alerting readers to the main points of your paper and the direction it will take. A thesis restatement, which comes in the paper’s conclusion, is the thesis’s kindred spirit, though not its identical twin. It differs from the thesis in both word choice and sentence structure. Restating your thesis at the end of the paper allows you to remind your readers of what you have proven in your body paragraphs and helps to bring your paper to a successful close.

Working out the Restatement Basics

• Sketching out a rough conclusion (the main points you want to get across) will give you an idea of the best place for the restated thesis before you actually try your hand at writing the restatement.
• Depending on the nature of your paper or of your conclusion, you may want to open your conclusion with a question or some other kind of rhetorical device, rather than a restatement of the thesis. While writing often follows prescribed formulas (such as the 5-paragraph essay), there is no one-size-fits-all approach for writing a concluding paragraph, and you may need to try out several positions for your thesis restatement to find out what works best.

• You can use the restated thesis to provide a greater level of sophistication or emotional impact to the original argument. For example, if your initial argument was that buying pets as holiday gifts is dangerous, you might restate your thesis this way: "Remember: buying that puppy as a Christmas present might seem like a good idea at the time, but it could end in the tragedy of another homeless dog by Easter."
• You can also restate your thesis to incorporate the relationship you've built with your reader. For example, if your essay was about developing business partnerships, you could begin your restatement by saying something like, "As a businessperson...." Not only will this make your restatement different from the original, but it will also help draw connections with important elements from the essay/speech.

• For example, if you have written an essay about alcohol use on college campuses, you could revisit the "So what?" question in your conclusion by providing a statement about what that means for students and for college officials. It could look something like this: "Because alcohol abuse depends on more than just the legal drinking age, it is crucial that students be educated about how alcohol abuse occurs, and also that college officials broaden their perspective to include a greater variety of aspects."

• You may be able to use something like “In conclusion” at the end of a speech, however. Signaling or signposting words—like “in conclusion” or “next”—are very important in speeches because listeners only have one chance to follow along with what you’re saying, and these words help them to keep their place.

• Avoid saying things like, “It seems like” or “It is possible that” in the restatement. One exception would be if this conditional language is part of your original thesis statement and your paper is devoted to discussing a topic that is only a possibility, not something you are stating is definitely the case. Otherwise, maintain a level of confidence.
• While maintaining confidence is crucial to the success of your paper, it’s important to acknowledge when opposition exists and not to use absolute statements which may alienate readers. Confidence in your position and in the fact that you’ve proven your point is one thing; blind certainty in your opinion is another!

Making the Restatement Distinct from the Thesis

• You can use your word processor’s thesaurus function for this, an online thesaurus, or a good old-fashioned paper thesaurus. If you use a thesaurus, however, check your chosen word in the dictionary to ensure that you know its precise meaning. Thesauruses group words very loosely by general meaning, and there is often a significant difference in connotation between them.
• It’s not necessary to change every single word, such as prepositions (“in,” “on,” “above,” “over”) and articles (“a,” “an,” and “the”). Spend your time focusing on words/phrases that receive the most emphasis, like those that are central to the points you’re making.

• Try varying your sentences by starting with different parts of speech. For example, if you began the original thesis with a prepositional phrase, start the restatement with the subject of the sentence. For instance, if the thesis starts out “Around the turn of the nineteenth century in England, women frequently…”, you might start your restatement out with something like “Women in early nineteenth-century….”
• Another way to vary the structure is to present your points in a different order. Many thesis statements include three ideas, presented in the order in which they will be discussed in the body paragraphs. When restating, you can list the points in an alternate order.

Community Q&A

• When restating your thesis, if you find that the statement doesn’t fit your paper anymore, you’ll want to go back to the body of your paper and try to find where things went off track. You may find that you need to revise the original thesis to reflect what you actually wrote in the paper, or that parts of the body of the paper need to be revised to better suit the thesis. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• While restating your thesis is essential to the conclusion of your paper or speech, it’s not enough. You will need to emphasize main points and, depending on the assignment/goal of the paper, you may also need to call your audience to action, discuss the implications of what you have talked about in the paper, or make predictions for the future. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Think of the restatement as a new, more powerful version of your thesis—you’ve written the paper and learned a lot over that process, and now you have all of this knowledge to draw on. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://wts.indiana.edu/writing-guides/writing-conclusions.html
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/cliches/
• ↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/conclusion
• ↑ https://lsa.umich.edu/sweetland/undergraduates/writing-guides/how-do-i-write-an-intro--conclusion----body-paragraph.html

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How to Restate a Thesis: Techniques for Clear Communication

Restate a thesis with ease! Learn how to do it with pro tips to clearly and confidently reinforce your argument.

When it comes to how to restate a thesis , write essays, or make a point, your thesis statement is like the heart of your argument. It sets the tone and direction for everything that follows. However, many people overlook the importance of bringing the thesis statement back into focus at the end.

Restating a thesis in the conclusion is crucial. It reminds the reader of the main point that has been made throughout the writing. It’s a way to reinforce the argument and leave a strong final impression.

This article examines the importance of restating a thesis. It will discuss how this practice clarifies the message, reinforces the main idea, and ensures the writing feels complete. By understanding the significance of this step, we can appreciate how it enhances the effectiveness of idea communication .

Understanding a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a concise declaration that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay or research paper. It typically appears near the beginning of the paper, often in the introduction , and it presents the writer’s stance on the topic being discussed.

The primary purpose of a thesis statement is to guide the reader through the writer’s argument. It is like a roadmap for the paper, outlining the main idea and the direction of the discussion that will follow. A well-crafted thesis statement helps to clarify the scope of the topic and sets the tone for the entire piece of writing.

In essence, a thesis statement not only informs the reader about the central point of the essay but also helps the writer stay focused and organized as they develop their arguments and present their evidence. It is a crucial element that shapes the coherence and effectiveness of the entire paper.

Key Elements Of A Strong Thesis

A strong thesis statement embodies several essential elements that are crucial for effective communication and argumentation:

Clear and Concise Language

A strong thesis statement written in clear and straightforward language avoids ambiguity and communicates the writer’s position or argument on the topic. This clarity helps both the writer and the reader understand the central message of the paper from the outset.

Specificity and Focus

A strong thesis statement is specific and focused. It addresses a particular aspect of the topic and provides a clear direction for the paper. By narrowing down the scope of the discussion, specificity ensures that the thesis statement remains manageable and allows for a more in-depth exploration of the issue at hand.

Argument or Main Point

A strong thesis statement presents a distinct argument or main point. It goes beyond stating a fact or observation; instead, it asserts a position that the writer intends to support and justify throughout the paper. This argumentative stance gives the thesis statement its persuasive power and guides the development of the entire essay or research paper.

A strong thesis statement combines clear and concise language with specificity and focus while presenting a clear argument or main point. These elements work to establish a strong foundation for the writer’s argument and ensure coherence and direction in the paper’s structure .

Related article: What is a Thesis Statement and How to Write It?

The thesis statement is fundamental to restating a thesis because:

Reinforces the Central Argument : The thesis statement is the core argument or claim of your essay or research paper. Restating it in the conclusion reinforces this central argument, reminding readers of the primary focus and purpose of your work.

Provides Consistency : A clear and consistent restatement of the thesis ensures that your paper maintains a coherent narrative. It ties together the introduction, body, and conclusion, providing a unified and well-structured argument.

Emphasizes Importance : By restating the thesis, you emphasize the significance of your argument or research. It helps to highlight why your work matters and what contribution it makes to the field or topic you are discussing.

Creates a Strong Conclusion : Restating the thesis in the conclusion provides a sense of closure and reinforces the main takeaways of your paper. For tips on crafting an excellent thesis conclusion, check out this helpful article: “ How to Write a Conclusion for a Research Paper “.

Engages the Reader : A well-restated thesis can re-engage the reader, encouraging them to reflect on the arguments and evidence presented. It ensures that the central message of your paper is effectively communicated.

Techniques for Restating a Thesis

When concluding an essay or research paper, effectively restating your thesis statement can enhance the clarity and impact of your overall argument. Here are some key techniques for restating a thesis:

Maintaining the Original Meaning

How to restate a thesis: When concluding your essay or research paper, it’s essential to maintain the original meaning of your argument in the restatement of your thesis statement. This ensures clarity and coherence throughout your writing. Here’s how to achieve this:

• Ensure the restated thesis accurately reflects the original argument: The restatement should capture the essence of your original thesis statement without altering its core message. This involves rephrasing the thesis using different words and sentence structures while preserving its central idea and intent.
• Do not introduce new ideas or concepts: Avoid introducing new information or arguments in the restated thesis. The conclusion is not the place to introduce fresh insights or expand on additional points that were not covered in the body of your essay or research paper. Instead, focus on summarizing and reinforcing the main argument that has already been developed.

Ensuring consistency and clarity in your writing involves maintaining the original meaning of your thesis statement when restating it in the conclusion. This approach reinforces your main argument and leaves a strong final impression on your reader, effectively summarizing the insights and findings presented in your paper.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing your thesis statement means expressing the central idea using different words and sentence structures while preserving the original meaning. This technique is used for several important purposes:

• Avoiding Repetition : Paraphrasing prevents your conclusion from sounding redundant by presenting your thesis statement in a new light. It keeps the reader engaged and shows your ability to reframe ideas without losing clarity.
• Enhancing Clarity : By using varied language and sentence structures, paraphrasing can clarify your thesis statement further, making it easier for the reader to grasp the significance of your argument.
• Maintaining Original Meaning : While rephrasing, ensure that the essence and intent of your original thesis statement remain intact. This entails conveying the same core message but in a new and insightful manner.

Example of Paraphrasing:

Original Thesis Statement: “Climate change poses a significant threat to global biodiversity .”

Paraphrased Restatement: “The impact of climate change on worldwide biodiversity is a critical concern that demands urgent attention.”

In this example, the paraphrased restatement maintains the original meaning—that climate change is a serious threat to biodiversity—while presenting it in a slightly different way to emphasize urgency and broaden the perspective.

Emphasizing Key Points

When restating your thesis, emphasizing key points means highlighting the most critical aspects of your argument and reinforcing their significance. This technique serves several important purposes:

• Reinforcement of Central Ideas : By emphasizing key points, you remind the reader of the main arguments and evidence that support your thesis statement. This reinforcement helps to solidify your argument in the reader’s mind and reinforces the validity of your perspective.
• Summarization : Emphasizing key points allows you to succinctly summarize the main ideas discussed throughout your essay or research paper. This summary helps to bring closure to your argument and provides a clear overview of the insights gained from your analysis.
• Significance and Implications : Highlighting the significance of your key points, you can discuss the broader implications of your thesis statement. This discussion can connect your argument to larger themes, contexts, or real-world applications, demonstrating the relevance and importance of your research or analysis.

Example of Emphasizing Key Points:

Original Thesis Statement: “Education is the key to empowering individuals and promoting social equality.”

Restatement with Emphasis: “Throughout this essay, we have explored how education serves as a transformative force, empowering individuals to break barriers and fostering a more equitable society. By equipping individuals with knowledge and skills, education becomes not just a tool for personal advancement but a catalyst for societal change.”

In this example, the restatement emphasizes the transformative power of education and its role in promoting social equality, while also summarizing the main points discussed in the essay.

Examples of Restated Thesis Statements

These examples demonstrate how restating the thesis statement in the conclusion can summarize the main argument while adding depth or context that reflects the insights gained throughout the essay or research paper.

• Original Thesis: “The advancement of artificial intelligence poses ethical dilemmas regarding privacy and autonomy.”
• Restated Thesis: “In conclusion, the ethical implications of advancing artificial intelligence extend beyond technological progress, raising profound concerns about individual privacy and autonomy in an increasingly interconnected world.”
• Original Thesis: “Effective communication is essential for fostering positive workplace relationships.”
• Restated Thesis: “To summarize, cultivating effective communication skills within the workplace is not merely advantageous but crucial for nurturing productive relationships and fostering a collaborative environment.”
• Original Thesis : “Renewable energy sources are necessary for reducing global dependence on fossil fuels.”
• Restated Thesis : “In conclusion, the adoption of renewable energy sources is imperative for diminishing our global reliance on fossil fuels and promoting a more sustainable future.”
• Original Thesis : “Social media platforms significantly impact the self-esteem of teenagers.”
• Restated Thesis : “To summarize, social media’s influence on teenagers’ self-esteem is profound, necessitating mindful usage and awareness to mitigate potential negative effects.”

Refining Your Thesis Restatement

Refining your thesis restatement is the process of carefully crafting and polishing the statement that summarizes the main argument presented in the conclusion of your essay or research paper. It ensures that this restated thesis accurately reflects and emphasizes the key points and findings discussed throughout your work. 

The goal is to achieve clarity, coherence, and persuasive impact, reinforcing the significance of your research or essay topic to leave a strong impression on the reader. This refinement process also focuses on using clear language and tone to communicate the main ideas and conclusions of your paper effectively. It is essential for several reasons:

Refinement : This step requires careful attention to detail in adjusting and improving your thesis statement to ensure it succinctly captures the essence of your main points.

Accuracy : The restated thesis should accurately represent the core arguments and findings discussed throughout your paper, providing a clear and concise summary.

Clarity : It’s important to review the restatement for clarity and coherence, ensuring that it effectively communicates your conclusions to the reader without ambiguity.

Language and Tone : Choosing appropriate language and tone is crucial as it helps in conveying your message clearly and leaving a strong impression on the reader. This includes avoiding jargon or overly complex language that may obscure your main points.

Relevance : By refining your thesis restatement, you strengthen the relevance and persuasive impact of your central argument. This ensures that your conclusion effectively reinforces the significance of your research or essay topic.

Refining your thesis restatement through careful revision enhances the overall effectiveness of your conclusion, providing a clear and compelling summary of your paper’s key points and findings.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

When restating your thesis statement in the conclusion of your essay or research paper, it’s important to steer clear of certain pitfalls that can diminish the effectiveness of your conclusion. One common pitfall to avoid is:

Avoiding Clichés

Restating your thesis with clichéd language can weaken the impact of your conclusion and make it less memorable to the reader. Here’s how to navigate this:

• Steer clear of overused phrases and terms: Phrases like “In conclusion,” “To sum up,” or “In summary” are common but can sound formulaic and uninspired if overused. Consider using alternative phrases or structuring your conclusion in a more creative manner to maintain reader engagement.
• Keep the language fresh and unique: Instead of relying on clichéd language, strive to use fresh and unique language that reflects the specific nuances of your argument. This not only keeps your conclusion engaging but also reinforces the originality and significance of your thesis statement.

Repetition Without Adding Value

Simply repeating the thesis statement without adding any new insights can make your conclusion feel redundant. Instead:

• Expand on the original thesis : Highlight the implications of your argument or how your findings contribute to the field. This approach adds depth and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the topic.
• Reflect on the broader context : Discuss the broader implications of your thesis. This helps to show the significance of your argument beyond the scope of your paper.

Lack of Specificity

A vague restatement of your thesis can leave the reader unclear about your main argument. To avoid this:

• Be precise and clear : Ensure your restated thesis is specific and clearly reflects the core message of your paper. Avoid generalizations that can dilute the impact of your conclusion.
• Summarize key points : Briefly summarize the key points that support your thesis, providing a clear and concise wrap-up of your argument.

Introducing New Information

Introducing new arguments or evidence in your conclusion can confuse the reader and disrupt the flow of your paper. To maintain coherence:

• Stick to the main points : Focus on restating the thesis and summarizing the main arguments presented in the body of your paper. Avoid introducing new information that wasn’t covered earlier.
• Ensure coherence : Make sure your restatement logically follows from the preceding discussion and ties together the key points.

Overly Complex Language

Using overly complex or technical language in your restatement can alienate readers and obscure your main argument. To ensure clarity:

• Use straightforward language : Restate your thesis in clear and accessible language. This makes your conclusion more impactful and easier to understand.
• Focus on clarity : Prioritize clarity and simplicity in your language to ensure your restated thesis effectively communicates your main argument.

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Prism's Guide: How to Restate a Thesis with Confidence

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Prism's Guide: How to Restate a Thesis with Confidence

Restating a thesis is an essential skill for any writer. It is the process of repeating the main argument of an essay or research paper using different words while maintaining the same meaning. This technique is used in the conclusion of an essay to remind the reader of the main points and leave a lasting impression. If you are wondering how to restate a thesis, this article will provide you with some effective tips and strategies.

The thesis statement is the backbone of any essay or research paper. It is a sentence or two that summarizes the main argument or point of view of the essay. Restating a thesis involves rephrasing the thesis statement in different words, but keeping the same meaning. This technique is important because it helps to reinforce the main argument and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

The purpose of restating a thesis is to remind the reader of the main points and leave a lasting impression. It is important to note that restating a thesis is not the same as summarizing the main points. Instead, it involves using different words to rephrase the thesis statement while maintaining the same meaning. By doing this, you can reinforce the main argument and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Understanding Thesis Restatement

Definition and purpose.

Restating your thesis is the process of rewording the central argument of your essay or paper to remind the reader of your main point. The restated thesis should be clear and concise, and it should reflect the meaning of the original thesis. The purpose of restating your thesis is to reinforce the argument you made in your essay or paper and to help your reader remember what you said.

Differences Between Thesis and Restated Thesis

The restated thesis is not the same as the original thesis. While the original thesis is the central argument of your essay or paper, the restated thesis is a reworded version of the original thesis that reminds the reader of your main point. The restated thesis should be written in a way that is clear and concise, and it should reflect the meaning of the original thesis.

To restate your thesis, you should start by reviewing your original thesis statement and making sure you understand the main argument or assertion you presented. Then, you should determine in which person it is written (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) and preserve that point of view in the rewrite. Finally, you should outline all keywords and main points that should be present in the reworded thesis.

In conclusion, understanding how to restate a thesis is an important skill for any writer. By restating your thesis, you can reinforce the argument you made in your essay or paper and help your reader remember what you said. The restated thesis should be clear and concise, and it should reflect the meaning of the original thesis.

Strategies for Effective Restatement

Restating a thesis is an essential part of writing an effective conclusion to your paper. It provides a summary of your main argument and helps to reinforce the significance of your work. Here are some strategies to help you create an impactful restatement of your thesis.

Paraphrasing Techniques

One of the most effective ways to restate your thesis is to use paraphrasing techniques. Paraphrasing involves restating the thesis in your own words while retaining the original meaning. This technique helps to avoid plagiarism and demonstrates your understanding of the topic. To paraphrase your thesis, you can:

• Change the sentence structure
• Use synonyms
• Replace complex words with simpler ones
• Use different phrasing

Use of Synonyms and Sentence Structure

Using synonyms is another effective strategy for restating your thesis. Synonyms are words that have the same or similar meanings as the original word. By using synonyms, you can avoid repetition and add variety to your writing. Additionally, changing the sentence structure can help to emphasize different aspects of your argument. For example, you can use a rhetorical question or a conditional statement to restate your thesis.

Maintaining Originality while Restating

While restating your thesis, it is important to maintain originality. Avoid using clichés or overused phrases as they can weaken the impact of your conclusion. Instead, try to use unique and creative phrasing to reinforce your argument. You can also reflect on the journey of your essay and emphasize the significance of your work. Remember to keep your restatement concise and to the point.

By implementing these strategies, you can create a restatement that resonates with your audience and reinforces the strength of your argument. Remember to avoid common pitfalls such as using apologetic statements or vague language. With finesse and attention to detail, you can craft an effective restatement of your thesis.

Incorporating Restatement in the Conclusion

Restating the thesis statement in the conclusion is a crucial part of wrapping up your essay. It helps to summarize the central message of your essay and reinforce the main argument. Here are some tips on how to incorporate restatement in the conclusion effectively.

Transition to the Conclusion

Before restating the thesis statement, you need to transition smoothly from the body of your essay to the conclusion. You can use transitional words and phrases such as "In conclusion," "To sum up," or "Finally" to signal the reader that you are about to conclude your essay.

Summarizing Key Points

After transitioning to the conclusion, you should summarize the key points of your essay. This helps to remind the reader of the main ideas of your essay and reinforces your argument. You can use bullet points or a table to summarize the key points of your essay.

For example:

Reinforcing the Main Argument

After summarizing the key points, you should restate the thesis statement in a way that reinforces the main argument of your essay. This means that you should use different words to convey the same idea as the original thesis statement.

For example, if your original thesis statement was "The use of social media has a negative impact on interpersonal communication," you could restate it as "In conclusion, social media has been shown to hinder face-to-face communication, leading to negative consequences."

By restating the thesis statement in this way, you are reinforcing the main argument of your essay and leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

In conclusion, incorporating restatement in the conclusion is an essential part of wrapping up your essay. By transitioning smoothly, summarizing key points, and reinforcing the main argument, you can create a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

The Broader Implications of Your Thesis

After presenting your thesis statement and supporting it with evidence in the body of your essay, it is crucial to discuss the broader implications of your thesis in the conclusion. This section will guide you through different ways to discuss the implications of your thesis.

Discussing Research Findings and Limitations

One way to discuss the broader implications of your thesis is to summarize your research findings and limitations. This allows you to demonstrate the significance of your research and acknowledge any potential issues with your study. You can use tables or lists to summarize your findings and limitations in a clear and concise manner.

Explaining the Broader Context and Impact

Another way to discuss the broader implications of your thesis is to explain the broader context and impact of your research. This includes discussing how your research fits into the larger field of study and how it contributes to our understanding of the topic. You can also discuss how your research could be applied in real-world situations.

Offering a Call to Action or Final Thought

Finally, you can offer a call to action or final thought in your conclusion to encourage your readers to take action or think more deeply about the topic. This could include suggesting further research, proposing solutions to a problem, or encouraging readers to consider the implications of your research for their own lives.

Overall, discussing the broader implications of your thesis is an important part of any research paper or essay. By summarizing your research findings and limitations, explaining the broader context and impact of your research, and offering a call to action or final thought, you can demonstrate the significance of your research and encourage your readers to engage with your topic in a meaningful way.

Revising and Finalizing Your Restatement

Restating your thesis is not just about repeating the same words in a different order. It requires careful consideration of the main argument and an effective restatement that summarizes the key points while leaving a lasting impression on the reader. Here are some tips on how to revise and finalize your restatement:

Reviewing and Proofreading

Before finalizing your restatement, it is important to review your original thesis statement and ensure that you have covered all the main points. You can also use this opportunity to summarize the key arguments and evidence presented in your essay.

Once you have completed the review, it is essential to proofread your restatement for any errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. A poorly written restatement can undermine the credibility of your argument, so take the time to ensure that it is error-free.

Achieving Clarity and Closure

An effective restatement should achieve clarity and closure. It should clearly and concisely summarize the main argument and provide closure to the reader. To achieve clarity, use simple and direct language that is easy to understand. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that may confuse the reader.

To achieve closure, provide a sense of finality to your restatement. This can be done by using phrases such as "In conclusion," "To summarize," or "Therefore." These phrases signal to the reader that you are wrapping up your argument and leaving them with a clear understanding of your main points.

Leaving a Lasting Impression

Your restatement should leave a lasting impression on the reader. It should be memorable and reinforce the main argument of your essay. To achieve this, consider using a powerful quote, statistic, or anecdote that relates to your thesis statement.

You can also use this opportunity to provide a call to action or suggest future research on the topic. This will leave the reader with a sense of purpose and encourage them to take action or continue exploring the topic further.

In summary, revising and finalizing your restatement requires careful consideration of the main argument, achieving clarity and closure, and leaving a lasting impression on the reader. By following these tips, you can create an effective restatement that summarizes the key points of your essay and reinforces your main argument.

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Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to write a thesis statement + examples

What is a thesis statement?

Is a thesis statement a question, how do you write a good thesis statement, how do i know if my thesis statement is good, examples of thesis statements, helpful resources on how to write a thesis statement, frequently asked questions about writing a thesis statement, related articles.

A thesis statement is the main argument of your paper or thesis.

The thesis statement is one of the most important elements of any piece of academic writing . It is a brief statement of your paper’s main argument. Essentially, you are stating what you will be writing about.

You can see your thesis statement as an answer to a question. While it also contains the question, it should really give an answer to the question with new information and not just restate or reiterate it.

Your thesis statement is part of your introduction. Learn more about how to write a good thesis introduction in our introduction guide .

A thesis statement is not a question. A statement must be arguable and provable through evidence and analysis. While your thesis might stem from a research question, it should be in the form of a statement.

Tip: A thesis statement is typically 1-2 sentences. For a longer project like a thesis, the statement may be several sentences or a paragraph.

A good thesis statement needs to do the following:

• Condense the main idea of your thesis into one or two sentences.
• Answer your project’s main research question.
• Clearly state your position in relation to the topic .
• Make an argument that requires support or evidence.

Once you have written down a thesis statement, check if it fulfills the following criteria:

• Your statement needs to be provable by evidence. As an argument, a thesis statement needs to be debatable.
• Your statement needs to be precise. Do not give away too much information in the thesis statement and do not load it with unnecessary information.
• Your statement cannot say that one solution is simply right or simply wrong as a matter of fact. You should draw upon verified facts to persuade the reader of your solution, but you cannot just declare something as right or wrong.

As previously mentioned, your thesis statement should answer a question.

If the question is:

What do you think the City of New York should do to reduce traffic congestion?

A good thesis statement restates the question and answers it:

In this paper, I will argue that the City of New York should focus on providing exclusive lanes for public transport and adaptive traffic signals to reduce traffic congestion by the year 2035.

Here is another example. If the question is:

How can we end poverty?

A good thesis statement should give more than one solution to the problem in question:

In this paper, I will argue that introducing universal basic income can help reduce poverty and positively impact the way we work.

• The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina has a list of questions to ask to see if your thesis is strong .

A thesis statement is part of the introduction of your paper. It is usually found in the first or second paragraph to let the reader know your research purpose from the beginning.

In general, a thesis statement should have one or two sentences. But the length really depends on the overall length of your project. Take a look at our guide about the length of thesis statements for more insight on this topic.

Here is a list of Thesis Statement Examples that will help you understand better how to write them.

Every good essay should include a thesis statement as part of its introduction, no matter the academic level. Of course, if you are a high school student you are not expected to have the same type of thesis as a PhD student.

Here is a great YouTube tutorial showing How To Write An Essay: Thesis Statements .

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How to Restate A Thesis: Your Detailed Guide

A thesis acts as your research paper’s main pillar, guiding the readers to the key points on the paper and the direction that you took. A thesis statement comes at the introduction, but you will need to restate it in the conclusion. Notably, a lot of students find this challenging and keep asking, “How do you rephrase a thesis statement?” and “Are you supposed to reword your thesis in the conclusion paragraph?”

To help you restate thesis of your paper appropriately, we have highlighted the key steps that you should follow. Make sure to also check the examples and practice the different ways to restate a thesis until you can hack it like a pro.

What Does Restate Thesis Mean?

Before we can look at the steps involved in restating a thesis, it is important to start by asking the questions, “What does restating means?” and “How long does a thesis restate have to be?”

Restating means that you are highlighting something that you had already brought out, in this case, the “thesis of your paper.” Therefore, you are simply reminding the readers about the points that you were trying to put across in the entire paper, but without sounding repetitive. When it comes to length, there is no specific rule on it, but you should try to make it approximately the same length as the original thesis.

When you restate thesis and conclude the paper well, your work will look complete, professional and earn you a better grade.

Restate Thesis Statement: Decide Where to Position It

In most cases, college students restate the thesis at the start of their conclusion. You might also want to place it on a different section of the conclusion, other than the beginning of the conclusion. When teaching students how to restate a thesis in a conclusion, we recommend them to use the method that will make their work look unique.

For example, instead of restating the thesis as the first sentence, consider starting the conclusion with a rhetoric question followed by your restated thesis statement. Here is an example below. “Will we ever appreciate the importance of saving our rainforests? Rainforests act as the largest carbon sinks on the globe, as well as home to thousands of species, and everyone can play a role in their protection.”

Note that since there is no specific formula on how to restate a thesis statement , it is advisable to start by crafting a draft conclusion and then decide where to position it. Actually, you might consider several positions until you get the perfect spot.

How to Rephrase a Thesis: Make It to have a Deeper Impact

By the time a reader gets to the conclusion of your work, it implies that he/she has already read the entire paper and has a clear idea about your stand on the topic. Therefore, you should take advantage of this and rephrase the thesis statement to deliver a deeper level of emotional effect.

One way of driving this deeper emotional impact is addressing the reader directly, and here is an example. If you were working on a paper with a topic, such as cybersecurity for startups, a good way to start restating the thesis might be:

• “As a startup enterprise owner …”
• “To strengthen your information security as a small business owner …”

Ways to Restate a Thesis: Answer the Question, “So What?”

The stated thesis at the start of your introduction might not provide the answer to the question, “so what?” However, the restated thesis , in your conclusion, should comprehensively answer the question. The answer seeks to inform the reader about the significance of the arguments in the paper to avoid leaving him/her hanging.

For example, if your paper was talking about teenage alcohol and substance abuse, make sure to answer the question “So what?” by showing what it does to teenagers. This can be something such as this; “ Additional awareness of the dangers of substance abuse, such as alcohol, should be emphasized because teenagers are more prone and likely to give in because of peer pressure rather than the implications of substance abuse.”

Avoid Making Apologies when Rewording a Thesis

When working on the conclusion of your paper, it is prudent to be confident that you provided ample proof in the body. Therefore, as you restate the thesis, you should not make apologetic statements because they undermine your argument. Such statements, which you should avoid, include:

“It appears that …. “ “It is possible that …” “It is my opinion that …”

The only time when using such statements when restating your thesis might be okay is when the topic of discussion was simply a possibility.

Restate Thesis Statement by Varying the Tense

When writing an paper, the thesis statement at the introduction might have been done in the future tense, informing the reader what to anticipate in the rest of the paper.

For example, a paper looking at coal production might have a thesis such as this, “ I will examine the effects of using coal in Azerbaijan ….” When restating the thesis, you can change the tense, and put it in the past, so that it looks something like this, “ I evaluated the how harmful the use of coal is to the environment in Azerbaijan …”

Seek Writing Help to Restate Thesis of Your Paper

When you work on any piece of assignment, how you wrap it up, especially in the conclusion, is very important to avoid leaving your reader in suspense. In this post, we have demonstrated how to restate a thesis statement, but you should consider reading a carefully done restate thesis and practice more to hone your skills. However, if you are still finding the task a challenge, even after reading a restate thesis example, consider seeking writing help from an expert.

We have a pool of qualified writers who are ready to help you with your academic assignments, and all you have to do is ask us for help to “restate my thesis.” They know how to start a paper, write the body professionally, and restate the thesis like pros. Furthermore, our services are cheap, and you can count on our writers for quality work and top grades.

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How to Restate Your Thesis: 5 Strategies

November 22, 2023

Examining the Purpose of Restating Your Thesis

Restating your thesis in the conclusion of your essay serves a vital purpose in reinforcing the main argument and leaving a lasting impact on your readers. This section will explore the significance of restating your thesis and why it is not merely a repetitive exercise.

• Reinforcement: Restating your thesis reaffirms the central idea of your essay. By reasserting your main argument, you emphasize its importance and remind readers of the key point you want them to remember.
• Summarization: Restating your thesis allows you to summarize the main points and evidence presented in your essay. It provides a succinct overview that helps consolidate the information and reinforce your main argument.
• Closure: Restating your thesis brings a sense of closure to your essay. It signals to the reader that you have reached the end of your discussion and allows for a satisfying and cohesive conclusion.
• Lasting Impact: By restating your thesis effectively, you can leave a lasting impression on your readers. It helps solidify your argument in their minds and prompts them to reflect upon the ideas presented long after reading your essay.

In the following sections, we will explore various strategies and examples to help you master the art of restating your thesis in a compelling and impactful way.

5 Strategies for Effective Restatement of Your Thesis

Restating your thesis effectively requires more than simply repeating your thesis statement. Instead, it involves summarizing your main points and findings while communicating the overall significance of the argument.

Summarize Your Main Points

Summarizing your main points is a crucial step in restating your thesis effectively. It allows you to remind your readers of the key arguments, evidence, and examples presented in your essay. Here are some strategies to help you summarize your main points:

• Identify the main points: Review your essay and identify the main arguments or supporting points that you have made. These are the key ideas that contribute to your overall thesis.
• Condense the information: Take each main point and condense it into a concise statement that captures its essence. Avoid going into too much detail or providing new information. Focus on the core message of each point.
• Use bullet points or numbered lists: If applicable, present your main points as a list. This can help readers grasp the key arguments quickly and easily. Bullet points or numbered lists also create a visual break in the text, making it more reader-friendly.
• Order your main points strategically: Arrange your main points in a logical order that reinforces the flow of your essay. Consider prioritizing the most impactful or strongest evidence first.
• Avoid repetition: While summarizing your main points, be mindful of avoiding repetition. Restate each point in a way that adds value and emphasizes its significance without redundantly restating the exact same information.

By effectively summarizing your main points, you provide a concise overview of your essay’s key arguments and reinforce the foundation of your thesis.

Paraphrase Your Thesis Statement

Paraphrasing your thesis statement is an essential aspect of restating your thesis effectively. It involves expressing the main idea of your essay in a different way, using different words and sentence structures. Here are some strategies to help you paraphrase your thesis statement:

Change the sentence structure: Instead of using the same sentence structure as your original thesis statement, try rearranging the words and sentence structure to create a fresh and engaging restatement.

Example: Original thesis: “Climate change is a global problem that requires immediate action.” Paraphrased restatement: “Urgent measures are necessary to address the worldwide issue of climate change.”

Use synonyms and alternative words: Replace specific terms in your thesis statement with synonyms or related words. This not only helps avoid repetition but also adds depth and clarity to your restatement.

Example: Original thesis: “Education is crucial for societal progress.” Paraphrased restatement: “The advancement of societies heavily relies on the importance of education.”

Maintain the core message: While paraphrasing your thesis statement, ensure that the main idea or message remains intact. The restatement should still convey the central argument of your essay.

Example: Original thesis: “The government should implement stricter regulations on the usage of plastic to reduce environmental pollution.” Paraphrased restatement: “To combat environmental pollution, it is imperative for the government to enforce more stringent regulations regarding plastic consumption.”

By effectively paraphrasing your thesis statement, you provide a fresh perspective on your argument while staying true to the core message of your essay.

Connect Your Thesis to a Larger Idea or Context

Connecting your thesis to a larger idea or context helps emphasize the broader significance of your argument. It allows readers to understand the relevance and implications of your thesis statement in a broader context. Here are some strategies to help you connect your thesis to a larger idea or context:

Highlight the broader impact: Discuss how your thesis statement relates to a larger societal, cultural, or academic issue. Explain why understanding or addressing your thesis statement is essential in the larger scheme of things.

Example: Original thesis: “The portrayal of women in media perpetuates harmful stereotypes.” Restatement connected to a larger context: “Challenging the portrayal of women in media is an integral part of the ongoing fight for gender equality and empowering women.”

Provide historical or current examples: Demonstrate how your thesis statement connects to historical events, current affairs, or prominent figures. This highlights the relevance of your argument in a larger and recognizable context.

Example: Original thesis: “Corruption undermines the integrity of democratic systems.” Restatement connected to a larger context: “Throughout history, instances of corruption have been notorious for eroding trust in democratic institutions and fostering public disillusionment.”

Discuss the wider implications: Analyze the consequences or wider implications of your thesis statement beyond the scope of your essay. This helps readers understand the significance of your argument and its potential impact.

Example: Original thesis: “Automation in the workforce necessitates the need for reskilling and upskilling.” Restatement connected to a larger context: “The rapid advancement of automation technology not only requires individuals to adapt and acquire new skills but also poses significant challenges for educational institutions and policymakers in preparing the workforce of the future.”

By connecting your thesis to a larger idea or context, you demonstrate the broader relevance and impact of your argument, providing a deeper understanding for your readers.

Adding New Information or Ideas

While restating your thesis, you may want to introduce new information or ideas that support or expand upon your original argument. This can help enrich your restatement and provide further insight for your readers. Here are some strategies to add new information or ideas when restating your thesis:

• Present additional evidence: Introduce new evidence or examples that strengthen your argument and support your thesis statement. This shows that your original thesis is well-founded and backed by solid evidence.
• Include relevant statistics or research findings: Incorporate relevant statistics or research findings that further validate your thesis statement. This adds credibility and demonstrates a deep understanding of your topic.
• Discuss alternative perspectives: Address counterarguments or opposing viewpoints and explain how your thesis statement still holds strong despite these alternatives. This showcases critical thinking and strengthens the overall persuasiveness of your argument.
• Propose future implications or areas for further exploration: Suggest possible future developments or areas for further research and analysis related to your thesis statement. This expands the scope of your argument and encourages further engagement with the topic.
• Connect to current events or trends: Relate your thesis statement to ongoing current events or emerging trends. By highlighting the relevance of your argument to contemporary issues, you make your restatement more relatable and impactful.

Remember to integrate new information or ideas seamlessly into your restatement, ensuring they enhance and build upon your original thesis in a cohesive and logical manner.

Changing the Stance of Your Thesis

Sometimes, it can be effective to restate your thesis by presenting a different perspective or changing the stance of your original argument. This adds complexity and nuance to your restatement, engaging readers with a fresh viewpoint. Here are some strategies for changing the stance of your thesis:

• Acknowledge counterarguments: Address opposing viewpoints or critiques of your original thesis statement. Show that you have considered alternative perspectives and are open to a balanced discussion.
• Present a different angle: Introduce a related but contrasting aspect of your topic. This allows you to present a new interpretation or highlight a lesser-known aspect, challenging conventional thinking.
• Offer a qualified stance: Adjust the certainty or absoluteness of your thesis statement. Use words and phrases like “it is probable,” “it is likely,” or “there may be exceptions” to indicate a more nuanced or conditional stance.
• Explore the limitations: Discuss the limitations or constraints of your original thesis statement. This demonstrates critical thinking and an understanding of the complexities involved in your topic.

By changing the stance of your thesis, you demonstrate intellectual flexibility and engage readers with a thought-provoking restatement that encourages further exploration and discussion.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Restating Your Thesis

Restating a thesis statement is a crucial step in effectively summarizing your main argument and reinforcing its significance. However, there are some common mistakes that should be avoided in order to maintain clarity and coherence. Here are some pitfalls to steer clear of when restating your thesis:

• Repetition of the exact same words: While restating your thesis, strive to express the main idea using different words and sentence structures. Repetition can make your restatement sound monotonous and redundant.
• Adding new information or ideas: Remember that restating your thesis is about summarizing and reaffirming your original argument, rather than introducing new information or ideas. Avoid incorporating unrelated or irrelevant content in your restatement.
• Changing the meaning of your thesis: Ensure that the restatement maintains the same core message or main argument as your original thesis statement. Avoid altering the meaning or taking a completely different stance without proper justification.
• Being too vague or general: Avoid being overly broad or generic when restating your thesis. Aim to provide a concise and specific restatement that accurately captures the main focus of your essay.
• Not addressing the main points of your essay: Your restatement should reflect the key points and supporting arguments discussed in your essay. Neglecting to encompass these important elements can weaken the overall effectiveness of your restatement.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you can successfully restate your thesis statement in a manner that reinforces your main argument while maintaining clarity and coherence.

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How to write a thesis statement

Published March 20, 2021. Updated May 1, 2022.

Thesis Statement Definition

A thesis statement is the main claim that you are making in your paper.

Overview of Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is usually one sentence and is located near the beginning of your paper, usually at the end of your introduction paragraph. It tells your readers what stance you take on an issue. Most of the time, when you are writing a paper, you will be responding to a prompt. Analyzing the prompt is essential in making sure your thesis statement actually addresses the question you are trying to answer. The thesis statement needs to directly answer this prompt in a focused and specific way. Some thesis statements also acts as a guide for your paper by telling readers the order in which premises will appear in the paper. This can help the reader be prepared for what you are going to say and to anticipate some of the ideas that you may write about.

Worried about your writing? Submit your paper for a Chegg Writing essay check , or for an Expert Check proofreading . Both can help you find and fix potential writing issues.

Steps in Writing a Strong Thesis Statement

Writing a thesis statement can feel overwhelming at first, but by following these steps, you can make the process less daunting.

Step 1: Analyze the Assignment Prompt

While it seems simple, analyzing the prompt is essential in making sure your thesis statement actually supports the question you are trying to answer. If you are given a prompt by your instructor, read it carefully several times. You may want to underline or circle key action words like “claim” or “analyze” and key terms from your class. Then, try to rewrite it in your own words. Even if it doesn’t sound perfect, putting it your own words will ensure that you really understand what it is asking.

Example assignment prompt: In a well-developed essay, explain how writers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as Enlightenment ideas, sparked the French Revolution.

Rewritten in your own words: Write a clear, well supported essay. This essay will not only be about HOW the French Revolution started, but it will be on ideas and writings (not events), specifically those of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Be sure to include other ideas from the Enlightenment.

At this point you will hopefully have a basic answer to the question presented in the prompt. It is okay if you don’t know exactly how to answer it, but you should jot down a simple answer to help you begin your writing.

Step 2: Do Your Research

A strong thesis statement will be clear and specific, and it will be later supported by evidence from your research. You won’t be able to write a statement like this until you do your research.

The research will look different depending on your task. If you are writing a literary analysis essay, you may need to search the text and identify important plot events, character changes, and quotations. This research may feel a lot like brainstorming. If you are writing an argumentative essay, you may need to find articles and books in the library or in databases.

While researching your topic, keep the assignment prompt and your general answer in mind. Try to see if your research supports your initial idea or if you will need to revise your idea based on the information you find.

Step 3: Narrow Your Focus

Chances are, after you complete your research, you will have more information than you need. Now is the time to look at all of the evidence, data, and sources you collected, and determine what relates specifically to your assignment prompt and your general answer and what does not. If you have irrelevant information, put it to the side and save it in case it becomes relevant later.

Next, try to categorize the research you have into a few distinct groups. If your prompt asks you to compare and contrast, you may sort based on similarities or differences. If your prompt asks you to analyze the character development of a character in a novel, you might create your categories based on changes in that character.

Step 4: Write the “Working Thesis”

Now that you understand the prompt and have completed thorough research, draft a version of your thesis. This statement is often called a “working thesis” because you will likely revise it several times throughout the writing process. Try to be clear and specific, answer the prompt directly, and state a claim you will prove in the rest of your writing.

Revising Your Thesis Statement

After you have written the first draft of your essay, it is time to go back and make sure your thesis statement still matches what you actually wrote about. Reread your thesis statement and the topic sentence of each paragraph. Make sure that all of the topic sentences directly support the thesis and that the thesis statement encompasses the ideas you presented in your body paragraphs. If you find that they don’t perfectly align, you may need to revise your thesis statement to match what you wrote.

Now is also a good time to make sure your thesis statement uses effective language. Make sure you have used active verbs instead of passive and that your tone is professional and academic. If you have words like “very” or “extremely,” you could replace them with stronger and more specific options like “significant” or “acutely.”

Examples of Working Thesis Statements and Thesis Statements

Let’s take a look at a few examples of working thesis statements and thesis statements. For this first example, your assignment prompt asked you to discuss the impact of reading on children. After a bit of research, you may land on the following idea:

It is important for children to read often when they are in early elementary school.

This statement is a good working thesis, but it is not strong enough to be your final draft. It does make a claim, but it is vague and does not provide a roadmap for the reader. It also does not discuss the impact of reading. Why is it important for children to read? What are the benefits of children reading? A stronger thesis statement might say:

Children who read often in early elementary school develop strong vocabularies and improve their reading comprehension skills, increasing their confidence in reading increasingly complex texts.

This revised thesis is more focused, is likely based on research, and helps readers see the key ideas you will discuss in the paper.

Now imagine that your professor has asked you to write an essay on the role of language in George Orwell’s 1984. After you have read through your notes, read the novel, and brainstormed ideas, you may decide on the following working thesis:

Control of language is used as a source of power in 1984.

This working thesis is a good start for your brainstorming and your outline. From here, you would want to consider how language is used as a source of power and why it is used that way. A revised thesis might read:

In George Orwell’s 1984 , the Party manipulates citizens into total submission to the Party’s ideals through Newspeak, propaganda, and altered history.

This thesis statement provides a clear guide to writing. It uses active verbs (e.g., “the Party manipulates”) and clear details of language (e.g., Newspeak, propaganda, altered history) from the novel.

Before you turn in that paper, don’t forget to cite your sources in APA format , MLA format , or a style of your choice.

Key Takeaways

• The purpose of a thesis statement is to tell your readers what claim you will be proving in your paper.
• To write a thesis statement, first analyze your prompt or identify a topic, then do your research, and finally write a “working thesis.”
• Be sure your thesis is clear, is direct, and makes a claim that you can support throughout your paper.
• Revise your thesis after you finish your first draft, adding detail to your claim and replacing weaker vocabulary choices with stronger ones.

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Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

Thesis Statements

What is a thesis statement.

Your thesis statement is one of the most important parts of your paper.  It expresses your main argument succinctly and explains why your argument is historically significant.  Think of your thesis as a promise you make to your reader about what your paper will argue.  Then, spend the rest of your paper–each body paragraph–fulfilling that promise.

Your thesis should be between one and three sentences long and is placed at the end of your introduction.  Just because the thesis comes towards the beginning of your paper does not mean you can write it first and then forget about it.  View your thesis as a work in progress while you write your paper.  Once you are satisfied with the overall argument your paper makes, go back to your thesis and see if it captures what you have argued.  If it does not, then revise it.  Crafting a good thesis is one of the most challenging parts of the writing process, so do not expect to perfect it on the first few tries.  Successful writers revise their thesis statements again and again.

A successful thesis statement:

• makes an historical argument
• takes a position that requires defending
• is historically specific
• is focused and precise
• answers the question, “so what?”

How to write a thesis statement:

Suppose you are taking an early American history class and your professor has distributed the following essay prompt:

“Historians have debated the American Revolution’s effect on women.  Some argue that the Revolution had a positive effect because it increased women’s authority in the family.  Others argue that it had a negative effect because it excluded women from politics.  Still others argue that the Revolution changed very little for women, as they remained ensconced in the home.  Write a paper in which you pose your own answer to the question of whether the American Revolution had a positive, negative, or limited effect on women.”

Using this prompt, we will look at both weak and strong thesis statements to see how successful thesis statements work.

While this thesis does take a position, it is problematic because it simply restates the prompt.  It needs to be more specific about how  the Revolution had a limited effect on women and  why it mattered that women remained in the home.

Revised Thesis:  The Revolution wrought little political change in the lives of women because they did not gain the right to vote or run for office.  Instead, women remained firmly in the home, just as they had before the war, making their day-to-day lives look much the same.

This revision is an improvement over the first attempt because it states what standards the writer is using to measure change (the right to vote and run for office) and it shows why women remaining in the home serves as evidence of limited change (because their day-to-day lives looked the same before and after the war).  However, it still relies too heavily on the information given in the prompt, simply saying that women remained in the home.  It needs to make an argument about some element of the war’s limited effect on women.  This thesis requires further revision.

Strong Thesis: While the Revolution presented women unprecedented opportunities to participate in protest movements and manage their family’s farms and businesses, it ultimately did not offer lasting political change, excluding women from the right to vote and serve in office.

Few would argue with the idea that war brings upheaval.  Your thesis needs to be debatable:  it needs to make a claim against which someone could argue.  Your job throughout the paper is to provide evidence in support of your own case.  Here is a revised version:

Strong Thesis: The Revolution caused particular upheaval in the lives of women.  With men away at war, women took on full responsibility for running households, farms, and businesses.  As a result of their increased involvement during the war, many women were reluctant to give up their new-found responsibilities after the fighting ended.

Sexism is a vague word that can mean different things in different times and places.  In order to answer the question and make a compelling argument, this thesis needs to explain exactly what  attitudes toward women were in early America, and  how those attitudes negatively affected women in the Revolutionary period.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution had a negative impact on women because of the belief that women lacked the rational faculties of men. In a nation that was to be guided by reasonable republican citizens, women were imagined to have no place in politics and were thus firmly relegated to the home.

This thesis addresses too large of a topic for an undergraduate paper.  The terms “social,” “political,” and “economic” are too broad and vague for the writer to analyze them thoroughly in a limited number of pages.  The thesis might focus on one of those concepts, or it might narrow the emphasis to some specific features of social, political, and economic change.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution paved the way for important political changes for women.  As “Republican Mothers,” women contributed to the polity by raising future citizens and nurturing virtuous husbands.  Consequently, women played a far more important role in the new nation’s politics than they had under British rule.

This thesis is off to a strong start, but it needs to go one step further by telling the reader why changes in these three areas mattered.  How did the lives of women improve because of developments in education, law, and economics?  What were women able to do with these advantages?  Obviously the rest of the paper will answer these questions, but the thesis statement needs to give some indication of why these particular changes mattered.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution had a positive impact on women because it ushered in improvements in female education, legal standing, and economic opportunity.  Progress in these three areas gave women the tools they needed to carve out lives beyond the home, laying the foundation for the cohesive feminist movement that would emerge in the mid-nineteenth century.

Thesis Checklist

When revising your thesis, check it against the following guidelines:

• Does my thesis make an historical argument?
• Does my thesis take a position that requires defending?
• Is my thesis historically specific?
• Is my thesis focused and precise?
• Does my thesis answer the question, “so what?”

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Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

• An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
• An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
• An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

The paper that follows should:

• Explain the analysis of the college admission process
• Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

• Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

• Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

Research Paper: A step-by-step guide: 3. Thesis Statement & Outline

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. Topic Ideas
• 3. Thesis Statement & Outline
• 4. Appropriate Sources
• 5. Search Techniques
• 6. Taking Notes & Documenting Sources
• 7. Evaluating Sources
• 8. Citations & Plagiarism
• 9. Writing Your Research Paper

About Thesis Statements

Qualities of a thesis statement.

Thesis statements:

• state the subject matter and main ideas of a paper.
• appear in the first paragraph and announces what you will discuss in your paper.
• define the scope and focus of your essay, and tells your reader what to expect.  
• are not a simple factual statement.  It is an assertion that states your claims and that you can prove with evidence.
• should be the product of research and your own critical thinking.
• can be very helpful in constructing an outline for your essay; for each point you make, ask yourself whether it is relevant to the thesis.

Steps you can use to create a thesis statement

1. Start out with the main topic and focus of your essay.

youth gangs + prevention and intervention programs

2. Make a claim or argument in one sentence.  It can be helpful to start with a question which you then turn into an argument

Can prevention and intervention programs stop youth gang activities?  How?  ►►►  "Prevention and intervention programs can stop youth gang activities by giving teens something else to do."

3. Revise the sentence by using specific terms.

"Early prevention programs in schools are the most effective way to prevent youth gang involvement by giving teens good activities that offer a path to success."

4. Further revise the sentence to cover the scope of your essay and make a strong statement.

"Among various prevention and intervention efforts that have been made to deal with the rapid growth of youth gangs, early school-based prevention programs are the most effective way to prevent youth gang involvement, which they do by giving teens meaningful activities that offer pathways to achievement and success."

5. Keep your thesis statement flexible and revise it as needed. In the process of researching and writing, you may find new information or refine your understanding of the topic.

You can view this short video for more tips on how to write a clear thesis statement.

An outline is the skeleton of your essay, in which you list the arguments and subtopics in a logical order. A good outline is an important element in writing a good paper. An outline helps to target your research areas, keep you within the scope without going off-track, and it can also help to keep your argument in good order when writing the essay.  Once your outline is in good shape, it is much easier to write your paper; you've already done most of the thinking, so you just need to fill in the outline with a paragraph for each point.

To write an outline: The most common way to write an outline is the list format.  List all the major topics and subtopics with the key points that support them. Put similar topics and points together and arrange them in a logical order.    Include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. 

A list outline should arrange the main points or arguments in a hierarchical structure indicated by Roman numerals for main ideas (I, II, III...), capital letters for subtopics (A, B, C...), Arabic numerals for details (1,2,3...), and lower-case letters for fine details if needed (a,b,c...). This helps keep things organized.  

Here is a shortened example of an outline:

Introduction: background and thesis statement

I. First topic

1. Supporting evidence 2. Supporting evidence

II. Second Topic

III. Third Topic

I. Summarize the main points of your paper II. Restate your thesis in different words III. Make a strong final statement

You can see examples of a few different kinds of outlines and get more help at the Purdue OWL .

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How To Write A Thesis Statement | Essay Writing Part 1 [2022 UPDATE]

Guide Chapters

• 1. Thesis statement
• 2. Introduction structure
• 3. Topic sentence
• 4. Body paragraph structure
• 5. Conclusion

This post, How to Write a Thesis Statement, is the first post in our 5 part Essay Writing Series. In this series, we will break essay writing into a series of parts and solve some commonly asked questions to give you the tools to write consistent essays.

Some common questions about essay structure are:

What is a thesis statement?

• What does a thesis statement do?
• Is the thesis statement important?
• How do I write a good thesis statement?

In this post, we’ll give you an overview of essay structure and explain why a thesis statement is important for your essay. We’ll then give you a step-by-step guide for writing a Band 6 thesis.

Table of Contents

• Essay Structure
• What is a thesis statement
• 1. Underline key words in the question
• 2. Note down relevant topics/themes
• 3. Decide on the argument you want to present in your thesis statement
• 4. Turn that argument into a thesis statement

Common mistakes that students make in their thesis statements

What should you do instead, essential essay structure: how to write a thesis statement | essay writing part 1.

Learning how to write a good essay is something developed through practice and logic, not innate skill or talent. Anybody can write a good essay with practice and instruction.

In this series of posts, we will show you some of the skills that Matrix students use as they learn to write Band 6 responses. First, we will learn about the structure of an essay, and then we will look at why the thesis is the solid foundation on which we build our argument.

What is Essay Structure?

Essay structure is the logical sequencing of information we use when composing a written argument. When you break it down, essay writing is actually a fairly straightforward process.

• Introduce your main argument ( thesis )
• Explain the key 2 or 3 ideas ( themes ) that will support your main argument
• Explain how these ideas fit together logically
• Introduce a specific idea
• Present evidence that supports your idea
• Connect this idea to your main argument
• Repeat these ‘2. Body Paragraph’ steps for the other ideas that support your main argument
• Restate your argument
• Make a concluding statement

When you break essay writing down into a process, it becomes straightforward and systematic.

We can take the process of essay writing and look at it in a diagram:

In this post, we will look at the first step of this process. The thesis statement.

Let’s have a look at what it does.

Last chance to finesse your thesis statement writing!

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The thesis is the foundation of your essay. It structures your argument. Having a good thesis is essential to getting a Band 6 result, regardless of what module or level of English you are doing.

Your thesis needs to be concise, but also answer the question. It must introduce an idea that you can readily repeat throughout your essay so that your reader is constantly aware of what you are arguing.

Now we know what a thesis is and how it functions within an essay, let’s look at a step-by-step process for writing one!

How to write a thesis statement – A step-by-step guide

We’ll now look at the process for writing a thesis statement. To do so, we will use a HSC question as an example and develop it throughout this series.

Step 1: Underline key words in the question

You need to properly address the question to score a Band 6. Underlining key words in the question will take less than a minute and give your essay clear direction.

Let’s look at how we would annotate the 2021 HSC question for the Common Module:

Analyse how your prescribed text represents the ways individuals respond to the challenges they face.

Step 2: Note down relevant topics/themes

Now that you know the key points that the question wants you to discuss, you can jot down relevant topics/themes from your prescribed you’d want to discuss in your essay.

Step 3: Decide on the argument you want to present in your thesis statement

Your argument is essentially your super passionate response to the question. It’s subjective and opinionated, which is why you need a whole essay to try to convince your marker that you are right.

You don’t have to use fancy wording to get your point across. Write it how you would say it in a conversation; this step is for you to know what you are going to spend the next 40 minutes writing furiously about.

Be strategic about it. Pick a stance that:

• You can back up with evidence — if you can’t remember any quotes from the text that support your argument, you probably want to quietly come up with a different argument that you can confidently discuss.
• Aligns the module statement — a lot of really smart people spent a long time coming up with the module statements, so you’ll probably have a hard time arguing that individuals don’t have experiences or responses to challenges. If you want to flex your creative side, do that in your nuanced analysis of the textual evidence, instead of blatantly rejecting everything your teachers spent an entire year teaching you.

You don’t necessarily have to personally believe that your argument is true. You can play devil’s advocate or be overly pessimistic if you think that’s the easiest route to take.

Here’s an example of an argument that you can make in response to the 2021 HSC  Common Module question:

“Even though everyone responds to challenges in different ways, at the end of the day, we all selfishly prioritise our own needs and safety before anyone else.”

It’s a very drastic and upsetting thing to believe, but you can see how we could effectively use evidence from Nineteen Eighty-Four to prove it.

Step 4: Turn that argument into a thesis statement

Now that you know exactly what your overarching argument is going to be, you can write a thesis statement from that. To turn your argument into a thesis statement, you need to:

• Specify details relevant to the themes in your prescribed text
• Be as concise as possible
• Avoid using first or second-person language

Don’t write the 94851 th essay that your marker has to read with these mistakes.

Mistake 1: Repeating the question

The most common error when composing thesis statements is repeating the question.

As senior students, you are expected to analyse the question and construct a personal and logical response to it. Repeating the question back at the marker as a thesis statement does not demonstrate an understanding of the question, module, or text. Instead, such a response demonstrates that you have a limited understanding of both.

Let’s look at the 2021 HSC question for Module A:

How do the extracts provided contribute to a broader textual conversation between the pair of prescribed texts that you have studied in Module A?

You can find the extracts the question refers to here .

We’ve written examples for the prescribed texts The Tempest and Hag-Seed .

Mistake 2: Using uncertain terms

Don’t be vague or use low modality words and expressions in your thesis.

Students have it drilled into them that “they know nothing” or “don’t have the experience” to say things with certainty. This is said to stop students making broad sweeping statements about human existence or genres of writing, but it must not apply to your understanding of the text.

Let’s have a look at the 2020 HSC Module A question to see what we mean:

In textual conversations, the later text is often seen as a shadow, lacking the originality and power of the earlier.

To what extent is this statement true of the two prescribed texts you have studied in Module A?

A common thesis mistake was to state something along the lines of:

“Margaret Edson’s play ‘W;t’ (1995) may appear to merely echo the concepts John Donne explores in his poems. However, her play could be also seen as nuanced commentary of Donne’s poetry that creates a highly engaging textual conversation about the death, separation and salvation of one’s physical and mental being.”

This statement uses the verb “could” which lacks certainty. You want to avoid verbs like “may,” “might,” or “could” , or replace them with verbs like “will,” “does,” and “shall” that have high-modality or high certainty.

 People are more inclined to give credibility to assertive and confident voices.  This is why the following thesis statement sounds so authoritative:

“It would be grossly unfair to say that Margaret Edson’s later play ‘W;t’ (1995) merely echoes the concepts that John Donne explores in his poems. In fact, Edson’s nuanced commentary of Donne’s poetry creates a highly engaging textual conversation about the death, separation and salvation of one’s physical and mental being.”

Mistake 3: Trying to fit it all in one sentence when it really doesn’t fit

The term thesis statement can be misleading. We hear “statement” and we often think “sentence.” The two words are not synonymous, though. It is far better to use an extra sentence to add detail to your sentence rather than stubbornly pack it into one. You need to explain the logic of your argument in a thesis, not just outline an argument.

Compare these two thesis statements:

“The storytelling of narratives that have been denied or repressed leads individuals to reconsider their knowledge of things.”

“The storytelling of narratives that have been denied or repressed profoundly impacts an individual’s perspective of society. The process of uncovering these stories compels individuals to reassess the political regime they live in and adjust their understanding of truth in their world.”

The second thesis is obviously better, but why?

The first thesis statement is competent, but it does not help the marker into your understanding of the module or the question. By splitting the statement over two sentences in the second example, we detail the logic of our argument. The second statement explains how the process of storytelling works, rather than merely noting that it occurs. 

Mistake 4: Not answering the question asked

Too often students will write the thesis they have prepared and not the one that responds to the question they have been given. This is common amongst students who prefer to write “generic” essays and “mould” them to suit a question.

Let’s consider the 2021 HSC question for Module B:

‘Literature forces us to ask questions and look for answers. Even if those answers do not exist.’

To what extent is this true?

In your response, make close reference to your prescribed text.

One of the key things to note is that this question asks you ‘ To what extent is this [statement] true’. You can answer that in a range of ways:

1. The statement is completely true

2. The statement is completely false

3. The statement is partly true

In an exam, you usually won’t have enough time to write out all the different stances you could make to address the question. However, at the very least, you should dedicate a minute to annotating parts of the question that you agree and disagree with, and think about how you can use the evidence you remember to support your thesis.

You have already got off to a good start by going through these steps to writing a thesis statement. From here, it’s all about practice and making sure you don’t let down your fabulous thesis statement with the rest of your essay.

Tip 1: Practice

Essay writing is a skill that develops the same way as juggling a soccer ball or playing the panpipes. You will not become adept unless you invest many hours writing and rewriting responses to a variety of questions.

If you want to learn how to produce that killer thesis go to the NESA website  and work your way through their practice questions until you’re an expert.

Tip 2: Learn how to write a thematic framework

Now you’ve got a thesis, you need to use it to structure an essay. The next step is to choose the themes that you will discuss and introduce them to your reader.

How to Structure Your Essay Introduction | Essay Writing Part 2

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How can I restate a thesis statement effectively?

This is the second of three chapters about Thesis Restatements . To complete this reader, read each chapter carefully and then unlock and complete our materials to check your understanding.   

– Introduce four tips for writing effective thesis restatements

– Explore the four elements of a thesis restatement 

– Provide guidance on restating a thesis restatement using paraphrasing techniques

Chapter 1: Why are concluding thesis restatements important?

Chapter 2: How can I restate a thesis statement effectively?

Chapter 3: Can I see example academic thesis restatements?

Before you begin reading...

• video and audio texts
• knowledge checks and quizzes
• skills practices, tasks and assignments

In Chapter 1 of this short reader we introduced the basic elements of a concluding paragraph and compared the introductory thesis statement   with the concluding thesis restatement . In Chapter 2, we next attempt to deconstruct and reconstruct some example thesis restatements to exemplify how these elements can be written most effectively. This exemplification can be broken down into four tips. Continue reading to learn about how to apply these simple tips to your own writing.

Tip 1: Include the Elements

As was mentioned at the end of Chapter 1, there are four key elements that build a thesis statement – and these same elements can be used to build thesis restatements too. The first is the inclusion of task language. The task language provided in the table below works to inform the reader of both the format of the assignment  ( essay , dissertation , etc) and its type ( discuss , evaluate , etc.). From this information, an experienced reader should then be able to predict the likely structure of the essay based on their experience:

The second and third aspects are usually constructed from the topic of the essay and its key arguments. While the topic is simple as it’s often taken directly from the essay question, the writer’s key arguments are somewhat more complex as they’re drawn from the body-paragraph main ideas – as outlined in the essay’s topic sentences . As can be seen in the following table, however, these aspects are straightforward enough to write once the body section is complete (a thesis restatement should not be written before this stage):

When writing a thesis restatement, students should also remember to provide their main ideas in the same order as presented in the body section of their essay, also including stance (writer opinion) as the fourth element wherever required:

Tip 2: Paraphrase the Thesis Statement

While it’s important that the meaning of the original thesis   is restated by the writer in the concluding paragraph , this doesn’t mean that precisely the same words should be used. In fact, doing so might appear lazy or repetitive to the reader. Instead, writers should use a wide variety of techniques to help them restate their thesis in different words and linguistic structures.

The most helpful techniques are listed for students below:

• alter the grammar
• alter the sentence structure
• change the order of information
• change the word order
• modify the word forms
• use antonyms and synonyms

Students should remember, of course, that it’s not necessary to paraphrase every word. Names, collocates  and subject-specific words should be maintained, as can small grammatical words such as prepositions and determiners .

Tip 3: Be Specific and Concise

An effective thesis restatement should always be specific and concise . Specificity is critical as being vague will only confuse your reader or lead them to believe that you’re as unsure about your topic as they are. Likewise, overwritten text may be tiring for the reader and will use up your limited word count . To see this in action, take a look at the two example thesis restatements below and see why example A has the best balance of specificity and concision:

Tip 4: Edit Carefully

Finally, remember to check every aspect of your essay carefully for grammar and spelling errors before submission, including your concluding thesis restatement. Should a reader spot too many errors in your writing, their confidence in your argumentation will be reduced (and so too may your grade).

To reference this reader:

Academic Marker (2022) Thesis Restatements . Available at: https://academicmarker.com/essay-writing/concluding-paragraphs/thesis-restatements/ (Accessed: Date Month Year).

• Harvard University Writing Center
• University of North Carolina Writing Center
• University of New England

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Once you’ve completed all three chapters in this short reader about Thesis Restatements , you might then wish to download our Chapter Worksheets to check your progress or print for your students. These professional PDF worksheets can be easily accessed for only a few Academic Marks .

Chapter 1 explores the topic: Why are concluding thesis restatements important? Our Chapter 1 Worksheet (containing guidance, activities and answer keys) can be accessed here at the click of a button. 

Chapter 2 explores the topic: How can I restate a thesis statement effectively? Our Chapter 2 Worksheet (containing guidance, activities and answer keys) can be accessed here at the click of a button. 

Chapter 3 explores the topic: Can I see example academic thesis restatements? Our Chapter 3 Worksheet (containing guidance, activities and answer keys) can be accessed here at the click of a button. 

To save yourself 2 Marks , click on the button below to gain unlimited access to all of our Thesis Restatements Chapter Worksheets. This  All-in-1 Pack includes every chapter, activity and answer key related to this topic in one handy and professional PDF.

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How to Restate a Thesis Statement: Examples & Tips

What is the most important part of any essay or research paper? Of course, it’s the thesis statement —a sentence that expresses the paper’s main idea and guides the readers through your arguments.

But where do you place the thesis? You’ve probably answered, “in the introduction.” However, that’s not all of it—you also need to restate the thesis statement in the conclusion. Moreover, it should be paraphrased using a more diverse vocabulary.

If you’re unsure about how to restate a thesis, this article by Custom-Writing.org will be helpful for you. Here, you will find:

• various rephrasing strategies,
• a step-by-step guide,
• the most actionable thesis restatement tips.
• ✍️ Thesis Restatement Definition
• ✅ Step-By-Step Guide
• 💡 Rephrasing Strategies
• 📋 Example Sentences
• 🖼️ How to Reframe
• ✨ Bonus Tips

🔍 References

✍️ what is a restated thesis.

A restated thesis is a reworded and restructured version of the original statement. It is presented in a conclusion or any other part of the essay requiring a recap of the paper’s main idea. It shouldn’t repeat the thesis statement word for word: instead, it’s better to focus on its content.

Why Restating Your Thesis Is Necessary

For a solid, effective academic work, a restated thesis in a conclusion is a must. Here’s why:

• A restated thesis helps reintroduce your central argument, thus enhancing its perceived significance.
• A correctly restated main claim makes the transition to the implications smoother.
• A paraphrased thesis restatement signals the readers about the wrap-up of your paper.

✅ How to Restate a Thesis Step by Step

Now, let’s dwell on the restatement process in more detail. We recommend you follow the steps we described below. It will help you make your paraphrased thesis effective without undermining your persuasive arguments.

💡 How to Rephrase a Thesis: Different Strategies

You can approach the restatement of thesis in several ways. Here are the best strategies that will make your argument effective and easily understood.

How to Restate a Claim by Substituting Synonyms

English is a language rich in synonyms, so you’ll hardly experience any trouble finding suitable substitutes for the words you’ve used in the original thesis. You can also try out an online reword generator or thesis statement maker to get different versions of your central claim.

For instance, imagine that this is your thesis:

People of color have achieved pronounced success in the fight for their civil rights and equality in the USA over the last century,

You may experiment with synonyms as freely as you want. Here are some variants:

• The 20-century civil rights movement gave many rights and freedoms to the minorities in the United States.
• The situation with racial equality improved significantly over the past 100 years, giving racial minorities a strong voice in American society.

Restating Your Thesis by Altering the Sentence Structure

The syntax is also a rich source of inspiration for thesis changes. If the original statement is compound, divide it into several shorter sentences. If you’ve used several simple sentences in the first version, consider combining them into one longer statement.

Here is an example of altering the thesis’ structure without changing the main points:

In the original version, we started by focusing on diabetes. In the reworded thesis, we presented the numbers as the first piece of data. This way, we’re directing the reader’s attention to the gravity of the problem.

How to Restate Your Thesis by Changing the Tense

In most cases, the original thesis statement uses future or present tense. It helps to inform the readers about what they are about to read. For instance, it can start with an introductory phrase:

I will argue that homework should be canceled to give students more free time and ease the burden of high school studies.

In this example, the thesis statement is written in the present tense. It links to the general statistics of time students spend on their homework. You can transform this statement into a past-tense sentence in the conclusion, showing that your argument has been proven.

The presented evidence showed that students benefited from homework cancellation and had more quality time for their hobbies and relaxation.

Restating a Thesis by Shortening or Lengthening It

The length of your thesis statement also matters. You may present it in a shorter way at the beginning of your paper, focusing only on the gist of your research question. Later on, once the arguments are laid out and explained in detail, you can present a more extended version of the initially formulated problem.

In this restates thesis example, we have extended the original idea, explaining what “assigned seating” and “school bullying” mean. This way, the reworded version could embrace the evidence discussed in the argumentative essay’s body.

Restating a Thesis by Linking It to the Research Problem

The strategy we’re about to describe is suitable for use in research paper writing. You will need to tie the thesis statement to the problem you’ve outlined in the introduction, linking it to the issue you’re examining.

For instance, in an essay on child obesity in the USA, you can restate the thesis as follows:

Although preventive healthcare has witnessed much advancement in the past decade, evidence proves that child obesity is still on the rise, with alarming annual increase rates.

📋 How to Restate a Thesis: Example Sentences

Now, let’s examine how to rephrase a sentence in practice. Have a look at these examples:

Example # 1

Here, we expanded the thesis statement by making it longer and adding some details.

Here, we have changed the sentence structure by switching the first and second parts. The first example focuses on the legalization of marijuana, while the second version starts by mentioning the rising rates of teenage weed consumption.

In this example, we’ve changed the thesis statement’s tense from future to past, showing how an intention transformed into a completed task.

🖼️ How to Reframe a Reworded Thesis?

Once you’ve approached the conclusion paragraph of your work, it’s time to think about reframing your main claim. It’s important not to duplicate the introductory thesis because its role in the final section is different. Here are some workable reframing suggestions:

• Reword the original thesis and put it at the beginning of your conclusion. It will bring the focus back to your initial research purpose.
• Enumerate the central claims you’ve focused on. They can be compiled from topic sentences used in the body paragraphs.
• After restating the thesis, you can dwell on the broader significance of the problem you’ve examined. Make a logically related call to action based on the cited evidence. You can also mention your study’s limitations and clarify what additional research is needed.

✨ Bonus Thesis Statement Tips

Now, it’s time to give you a bonus for careful reading: our tried-and-tested tips for good thesis rewriting. Check them out:

As you can see, rephrasing a thesis statement requires effort. Using extensive vocabulary and syntax will help you restructure the content and retain its meaning. And, of course, make sure to follow our tips!

Further reading:

• Best Thesis Statement Examples with Expert Comments
• How to Write a Conclusion for a Research Paper: Examples & Tips
• How to Write a 5-Paragraph Essay: Outline, Examples, & Writing Steps
• What Are the 5 Different Types of Essays? A Complete Guide

❓ How to Restate Thesis in Conclusion FAQs

Restatement of your thesis involves restructuring and changing the vocabulary originally used in the introduction. However, the altered thesis should preserve your work’s meaning and central message.

You will typically need a reworded thesis in a conclusion paragraph. This part of your essay or research paper should wrap up everything you’ve said and summarize your claims in different words.

When composing your essay conclusion paragraph, it is vital to reword your thesis statement initially presented in the introduction. This strategy will help you make the conclusion sound non-redundant while preserving the original main idea.

When restating the claim, you do the same work as when you reword the thesis. You need to change the wording and syntax while preserving the overall meaning of the original claim.

A good example is as follows: “children should wear uniforms at school.” The reworded thesis would contain the same meaning rephrased in your own words: “Uniforms are recommended for all students.”

• Writing the Conclusion: Indiana University Bloomington
• Writing Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs: University of Minnesota
• How to Restate a Thesis Statement: Classroom: Synonym
• Writing a Paper: Conclusions: Walden University
• Conclusions: Purdue University
• Ending the Essay: Conclusions: Harvard University
• Thesis Statements: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Narrative essays are unlike anything you wrote throughout your academic career. Instead of writing a formal paper, you need to tell a story. Familiar elements such as evidence and arguments are replaced with exposition and character development. The importance of writing an outline for an essay like this is hard...

Discourse is the way people talk about any specific topic. It’s also the way in which language is used to convey social and historical meanings. Discourse analysis is the process that helps to understand the underlying message of what is being said. Sounds interesting? Keep reading to learn more.  This in...

A précis is a brief synopsis of a written piece. It is used to summarize and analyze a text’s main points. If you need to write a précis for a research paper or the AP Lang exam, you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide by Custom-Writing.org, you’ll...

A synthesis essay requires you to work with multiple sources. You combine the information gathered from them to present a well-rounded argument on a topic. Are you looking for the ultimate guide on synthesis essay writing? You’ve come to the right place! In this guide by our custom writing team,...

Do you know how to make your essay stand out? One of the easiest ways is to start your introduction with a catchy hook. A hook is a phrase or a sentence that helps to grab the reader’s attention. After reading this article by Custom-Writing.org, you will be able to...

A critical analysis essay is an academic paper that requires a thorough examination of theoretical concepts and ideas. It includes a comparison of facts, differentiation between evidence and argument, and identification of biases. Crafting a good paper can be a daunting experience, but it will be much easier if you...

Critical thinking is the process of evaluating and analyzing information. People who use it in everyday life are open to different opinions. They rely on reason and logic when making conclusions about certain issues. A critical thinking essay shows how your thoughts change as you research your topic. This type...

Process analysis is an explanation of how something works or happens. Want to know more? Read the following article prepared by our custom writing specialists and learn about: So, let’s start digging deeper into this topic! ♻️ What Is Process Analysis? A process analysis describes and explains the succession of...

A visual analysis essay is an academic paper type that history and art students often deal with. It consists of a detailed description of an image or object. It can also include an interpretation or an argument that is supported by visual evidence. In this article, our custom writing experts...

Want to know how to write a reflection paper for college or school? To do that, you need to connect your personal experiences with theoretical knowledge. Usually, students are asked to reflect on a documentary, a text, or their experience. Sometimes one needs to write a paper about a lesson...