Constructing Effective Thesis Statements

Much like the mythical hero Theseus, Your thesis must lead the charge for your essay. The most important part of your essay is the thesis statement. Your thesis statement lays the framework for the rest of your paper.

When writing a thesis statement, consider the three P’s:

Prompt: is your thesis actually addressing the prompt you have chosen to write on? Your thesis must relate to the key concept in the prompt. For instance, if the prompt asks about power and authority, then you need to reference power and authority in your thesis.

Provable: You need to be able to prove your thesis through textual support (examples and quotes). Be sure they are worthy of being proven; for instance, it is not necessary to prove that Caesar dies since no one would disagree with you.

Purpose: You should state why the author creates a situation or why he/she does what he/she does. What is the purpose of the author’s writing? This is called thematic purpose and should also reflect a major theme in the work. Purpose is the most important part of your thesis. This should show how the message of the novel is universal and goes beyond the author’s text.

All thesis statements must take some type of bold leap forward in making a claim about the book or author. This is how you add purpose in your thesis statement; it takes critical thinking on your part and the willingness to be bold (like Indiana Jones). I can’t tell you what the purpose of your thesis statement is! Only you can do that!

Example:

Fact: In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, blood imagery is used frequently when describing Macbeth’s downfall.

Weak Thesis: Shakespeare uses blood imagery to portray MacBeth as someone who loses his moral compass and allows fate to override his inner most feelings.

Stronger Thesis: Shakespeare uses blood imagery to illuminate the severity of MacBeth’s decisions in order to emphasize how people’s moral compasses can go astray.

Remember, a good thesis statement goes beyond the

text and becomes universal.