Guidelines for Thesis Statements (from LitWeb)

The information pasted below is from the following LitWeb Writing About Literature website. I've extracted the most important parts for you to remember as you write your essays:

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/litweb05/welcome.asp

It is important that you discover and create your thesis before attempting to draft the essay. The thesis statement is the guide which helps the writer move through the ideas of the essay.


LitWeb: "A thesis must be debatable—a claim that all readers won’t automatically accept. It’s a proposition that can be proven with evidence from the text. Yet it’s one that has to be proven, that isn’t obviously true or factual, that must be supported with evidence in order to be fully understood or accepted by the reader. The following examples juxtapose a series of inarguable topics or fact statements—ones that are merely factual or descriptive—with thesis statements, each of which makes a debatable claim about the topic or fact."

Once you have discovered and carefully thought about your thesis, you will be able to begin looking at secondary sources (research materials such as articles, book chapters, interviews, internet sources, etc.) "The chief advantage of this approach is that you can look at secondary sources more selectively and critically, seeking information and opinions that will deepen, confirm, or challenge your argument. And since you’ve already formulated your opinion, you may be in less danger of becoming overwhelmed by others’."

"There are, however, several things to watch out for if you take this approach. First, you must be especially careful not to ignore, distort, or misrepresent any source’s argument in the interest of maintaining your own. Second, you must strive to keep your mind open, remembering that the goal of your research is to test and refine your opinion, not just to confirm it. A compelling argument or new piece of information may well require you to modify or broaden your original argument."