what is thesis driven

DEAN’S BOOK w/ Prof. CONNIE GRIFFIN

Honors291g-cdg’s blog.

How to Write a Thesis-driven Research Paper

What is a thesis-driven research paper? The formal thesis-driven research paper entails significant research and the use of sources located outside the course materials. Unlike a personal essay, which doesn’t require outside research because it details your feelings and opinions on a topic, a thesis-driven research paper requires you to search out the solution to a problem that you have proposed in the paper’s thesis statement and to present what you have learned through research in a well-written, coherent paper. Following are some rules of thumb to make this possible: •    Choose a suitable design and hold on to it: Planning must be a deliberate prelude to writing. o    Generate ideas to sketch a plan: Before beginning a first draft, spend some time generating ideas. Think about your subject while relaxing. Write down inspirations. Talk to others about what you plan to write. Collect information and experiment with ways of focusing and organizing it to best reach your readers. o    Assess the situation: The key elements of the writing situation include your subject, the sources of information available to you, your purpose, your audience, and constraints such as length, document design, and deadlines. •    Make the paragraph the unit of composition: o    How to Write a Good Paragraph: •    Topic Sentence: Generally, begin each paragraph either with a sentence that suggests the topic or with a sentence that helps the transition. An opening sentence should indicate by its subject the direction the paragraph is to take. As readers move into a paragraph, they need to know where they are – in relation to the whole paper – and what to expect in the sentences to come. •    Develop the Main Point: Topic sentences are generalizations in need of support, so once you’ve written a topic sentence, ask yourself, “How do I know this is true?” Your answer will suggest how to develop the paragraph. •    Use the active voice: The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive. For example: Why was the road crossed by the chicken? Compare to: Why did the chicken cross the road? Active voice is direct, bold, clear, and concise. Passive voice occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. For example: The lab assistant weighed the soil samples. Compare to: The soil samples were weighed by the lab assistant, OR, worse yet, The soil samples were weighed. o    Occasionally, you should prefer passive voice over active: •    Those writing in science and technology often prefer passive voice. This is because they are more interested in what happened, or what was observed, than in who did the observation. •    Political writing sometimes prefers passive voice. In any case when the action is more important than the actor, passive voice is fine. •    Lawyers sometimes prefer passive voice when, for example, defending a criminal defendant: The car was stolen, RATHER THAN Mr. Smith is charged with stealing the car or, worse yet, Mr. Smith stole the car. Lawyers avoid putting their clients’ names in the same sentence as the crime. •    Put statements in positive form: Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language. o    He was not very often on time. o    COMPARE TO: He usually arrived late. •    Use definite, specific, concrete language: o    Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract. •    The mayor spoke about the challenges of the future problems concerning the environment and world peace. •    The mayor spoke about the challenges of the future problems of famine, pollution, dwindling resources, and arms control. •    Omit needless words: Good writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentence. This doesn’t mean that all sentences must be short or avoid all detail. Rather, every word should have a purpose.  For example, the word “that.”  Add the word that if there is any danger of misreading without it.  Otherwise, omit it: The value of a principle is the number of things [that] it will explain. •    Use plain English: Avoid legalese or other complex and difficult to understand wording when ordinary English words will work just as well.  Use English; not Latin or Greek. Use short (not long) sentences.  Keep it simple.  Explain – don’t confuse. Long, complicated sentences do not make you appear smarter. Sometimes, in fact, they do just the opposite, demonstrating that you don’t know the topic well enough to paraphrase in simple, concise, understandable language. •    Simplify: o    Write sentences that are easy to understand and clear. o    Don’t write a sentence that needs another sentence to explain it. o    Unless a date or location is critical, leave it out. o    Use very few, if any, footnotes – they distract. o    Don’t overdo it: Sparingly use ALL CAPITALS, italics, bold, and underlining. Use either italics or underlines, but never use both. Don’t use several font types. 12 point Times New Roman font is easiest to read. o    Watch the length of your paragraphs: A paragraph should seldom exceed 2/3 of a page. Shorter paragraphs are better. A long paragraph is like a speaker that drones on and on and on and on. . .

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 14, 2022 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

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, 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.

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.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

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 .

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.

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 .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2022, September 14). How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/thesis-statement/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to write an essay introduction | 4 steps & examples, how to write topic sentences | 4 steps, examples & purpose, academic paragraph structure | step-by-step guide & examples, what is your plagiarism score.

• Social Sciences
• Agriculture & Farming

How to Write an A+ Thesis-Driven Paper

• Author: K. Nichole

Tips for writing a great paper

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Writing a good paper is a process, but it doesn’t have to be full of frustration. Here are a few tips that, with practice, will help you take the anxiety out of writing that dreaded paper.

1. Find a Topic and Narrow a Thesis

The first step of writing any paper is finding a topic (or using one that has been assigned) and narrowing your thesis. A thesis is essentially your conclusion. It’s the reason you are writing the paper, other than the fact you need to pass the class. A good thesis has at least these four characteristics:

• Clarity: Your thesis should be clear. Not only should it be easy to understand, but it should be introduced in your paper in a way that makes it clear that it is the thesis of the paper. As a reader, I should not get past the introductory paragraph and still not know what is being argued in the paper.
• Concision: Your thesis should be concise. It should take up one to two sentences max for the average paper (5–8 pages). Don’t use too many decorative words or unneeded phrases.
• Significance: Your thesis should be significant, not obvious. It should be something that can be disagreed with. You should not be arguing for something that is taken as fact in the academic world.
• Modesty: While it should carry significance, it shouldn’t carry too much. A good thesis makes a point but doesn’t reach too far. You should not try to make an argument that seeks to change the academic landscape surrounding your topic, nor should it be essentially opinionated, e.g., “the best...,” “the most important.” This may seem counter-intuitive, but it is advised because of the difficulty of supporting such arguments with evidence.

2. Make an Outline

Outlines are underrated. They help keep you from getting “stuck” and also help you avoid rambling. The key is not to try to have an extremely clear-cut topic for every paragraph but to explain to yourself the purpose of writing each paragraph. For example, some paragraphs will be used to explain background information that helps your reader clearly understand what your paper is about.

Others will be used to support your thesis with evidence. Some will be used to explain other scholars’ arguments or to explain a conflict in the scholarly world. Still others will be objections and responses to the argument you are making.

3. Research

Find sources to support your argument. Most colleges allow access to research tools like JSTOR and Academic Search Complete, as well as many other more specific databases. The key to a good search is to use the advanced search option and search the article abstracts (usually an option in the drop-down boxes beside the search bars).

Also, remember to search many databases and consider using the library! Books may be overwhelming, but using specific, relevant chapters from those books will be useful and help you add to the range of kinds of sources used. You do not need sources that support your exact thesis so much as you need sources that support parts of your thesis that you can tie together for yourself. Remember to quote and cite these sources within your paper. And, of course, .com s are not usually legitimate sources!

4. When You Get Stuck, Skip Over It!

The most dreaded part of the paper-writing process for me is that point where I just can’t think of the next thing to write: that point where I am just stuck. It is hindering. It can make you procrastinate. Worse, it can make you ramble and waste time writing unimportant sentences that you will ultimately just delete. The best way to keep yourself from this frustration is to skip over whatever it is that you can’t seem to write about and write something else for your paper, following your outline.

To remind myself to come back to something that I am stuck on, I write in bold all-caps FINISH THIS , NEED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS , or whatever else I can’t seem to write about. It doesn’t have to be an entire paragraph you get stuck on either. Maybe it’s just one sentence you just can’t seem to word right. Whatever it is, skip it! Go back to it later.

5. Do Not Get Too Attached

Don’t be afraid to delete sentences and maybe even entire paragraphs that, in the end, are not essential or important to your paper. If the paragraph doesn’t help support your thesis in some way, it should be deleted. If a sentence is added just because it is interesting or as a filler, it should be deleted. Every part of your paper should have a purpose, and that purpose should be to support your thesis in some way.

6. Present It as an Argument

For 100-level classes, a paper can be about 1/2 background information ad 1/2 arguing for a thesis. For upper-level classes, though, the background information should be minimized and the argument expanded. Your paper should also come full circle; to some extent, your thesis should be repeated towards the end because you should have presented a solid argument with evidence supporting it.

Use words like “because,” “thus,” and “therefore” to help lead your reader through your line of reasoning. Also, make sure that your thesis doesn’t change throughout your paper. Sometimes, during the research and writing process, I unconsciously “change my mind” about whatever it is I am writing, but this means I am writing for a different thesis than I stated earlier. Therefore, I must go back and change my thesis in order to be as consistent and clear as possible.

7. Cite Last

Citing sources in a bibliography or works cited and within your paper itself may be the most annoying part of writing a paper. It is also interrupting to the writing process. To solve this, I always do my citations last.

In order not to forget where the quote came from, I enter only the necessities: the author’s name and the page number. Make sure to cite correctly, and do not trust any internet tool that claims to do the citation for you. They usually do not cite properly. Here are some internet tools for learning common citation styles:

• MLA : https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/09/
• Chicago : http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
• APA : https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

I hope these tips and tricks help make your next paper-writing experience as quick and painless as possible!

how to write a thesis driven essay

• March 9, 2022

How to Write a Thesis -driven Research Paper What is a thesis -driven research paper? The formal thesis-driven research paper entails significant research and the use of sources located outside the course materials. Unlike a personal essay, which doesn’t require outside research because it details your feelings and opinions on a topic, a thesis -driven research paper requires you to search out the solution to a problem that you have proposed in the paper’s thesis statement and to present what you have learned through research in a well-written, coherent paper. Following are some rules of thumb to make this possible: • Choose a suitable design and hold on to it: Planning must be a deliberate prelude to writing. o Generate ideas to sketch a plan: Before beginning a first draft, spend some time generating ideas. Think about your subject while relaxing. Write down inspirations. Talk to others about what you plan to write. Collect information and experiment with ways of focusing and organizing it to best reach your readers. o Assess the situation: The key elements of the writing situation include your subject, the sources of information available to you, your purpose, your audience, and constraints such as length, document design, and deadlines. • Make the paragraph the unit of composition: o How to Write a Good Paragraph: • Topic Sentence: Generally, begin each paragraph either with a sentence that suggests the topic or with a sentence that helps the transition. An opening sentence should indicate by its subject the direction the paragraph is to take. As readers move into a paragraph, they need to know where they are – in relation to the whole paper – and what to expect in the sentences to come. • Develop the Main Point: Topic sentences are generalizations in need of support, so once you’ve written a topic sentence, ask yourself, “How do I know this is true?” Your answer will suggest how to develop the paragraph. • Use the active voice: The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive. For example: Why was the road crossed by the chicken? Compare to: Why did the chicken cross the road? Active voice is direct, bold, clear, and concise. Passive voice occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. For example: The lab assistant weighed the soil samples. Compare to: The soil samples were weighed by the lab assistant, OR, worse yet, The soil samples were weighed. o Occasionally, you should prefer passive voice over active: • Those writing in science and technology often prefer passive voice. This is because they are more interested in what happened, or what was observed, than in who did the observation. • Political writing sometimes prefers passive voice. In any case when the action is more important than the actor, passive voice is fine. • Lawyers sometimes prefer passive voice when, for example, defending a criminal defendant: The car was stolen, RATHER THAN Mr. Smith is charged with stealing the car or, worse yet, Mr. Smith stole the car. Lawyers avoid putting their clients’ names in the same sentence as the crime. • Put statements in positive form: Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language. o He was not very often on time. o COMPARE TO: He usually arrived late. • Use definite, specific, concrete language: o Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract. • The mayor spoke about the challenges of the future problems concerning the environment and world peace. • The mayor spoke about the challenges of the future problems of famine, pollution, dwindling resources, and arms control. • Omit needless words: Good writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentence. This doesn’t mean that all sentences must be short or avoid all detail. Rather, every word should have a purpose. For example, the word “that.” Add the word that if there is any danger of misreading without it. Otherwise, omit it: The value of a principle is the number of things [that] it will explain. • Use plain English: Avoid legalese or other complex and difficult to understand wording when ordinary English words will work just as well. Use English; not Latin or Greek. Use short (not long) sentences. Keep it simple. Explain – don’t confuse. Long, complicated sentences do not make you appear smarter. Sometimes, in fact, they do just the opposite, demonstrating that you don’t know the topic well enough to paraphrase in simple, concise, understandable language. • Simplify: o Write sentences that are easy to understand and clear. o Don’t write a sentence that needs another sentence to explain it. o Unless a date or location is critical, leave it out. o Use very few, if any, footnotes – they distract. o Don’t overdo it: Sparingly use ALL CAPITALS, italics, bold, and underlining. Use either italics or underlines, but never use both. Don’t use several font types. 12 point Times New Roman font is easiest to read. o Watch the length of your paragraphs: A paragraph should seldom exceed 2/3 of a page. Shorter paragraphs are better. A long paragraph is like a speaker that drones on and on and on and on. . .

Citing sources in a bibliography or works cited, and within your paper itself, may be the most annoying part of writing a paper. It is also interrupting to the writing process. To solve this, I always do my citations last. In order not to forget where the quote came from I enter only the necessities: the author’s name and the page number. Make sure to cite correctly and do not trust any internet tool that claims to do the citation for you. They usually do not cite properly. Here are some internet tools for learning common citation styles:

Use multiple databases and the library!

In the example about European travel above, readers might be interested in travel around Europe but will they be interested in solo travel, and greater independence and confidence? Hopefully, the answer is yes. Just make sure you examine all viewpoints before investing your valuable time in a well-written piece. Think of it as a loving mother steering her children away from danger. Essay writers run the risk of getting off track and wandering into thickly wooded forests of needless tangents. (This is also why a well-planned outline is essential.) However, a solid thesis statement will help keep you in check. Refer back to it and ask have you wandered off topic? Always Be Specific

References:

http://owlcation.com/humanities/7-Tips-For-Writing-an-A-Thesis-Driven-Paper http://www2.bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/materials/inter/Fall03/DaughtersOfEve/WritingThesisDrivenPaper.htm http://examples.yourdictionary.com/thesis-statement-examples.html http://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/thesis-statement/ http://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/composition/thesis.htm

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Writing a Thesis Driven Paper

Linking Evidence and Claims:

10 on 1 Versus 1 on 10

This handout is taken from Rosenwasser and Stephen, Writing Analytically , Heinle, 2003)

A thesis and a claim are synonyms.   “By way of definition, a claim is an assertion that you make about your evidence—an idea that you believe the evidence supports.   The primary claim in a paper is the thesis .   In analytical writing, the thesis is a theory that explains what some feature of features of a subject mean.   The subject itself, the pool of primary material (data) being analyzed, is know as evidence ” (75).

“The All-Purpose Organizational Scheme”

• An analytical writer approaches evidence to refine and sharpen his or her thesis, not just to support it,
• A productive thesis changes (evolves0 as it encounters evidence,
• The paper itself should reenact in more polished form for the reader the chains of thought that led the reader to his or her conclusions.

1.   Write an introduction.

          Begin analytical papers by defining some issue, question, problem or phenomenon that the paper will address.   An introduction is not a conclusion.   It lays out something that you have noticed that you think needs to be better understood.   Use the introduction to get your readers to see why they should be more curious about the thing you have noticed.   Aim for half a page.

2.   State a working thesis

          Early in the paper, often at the end of the first paragraph or the beginning of the second, make a tentative claim about whatever it is you have laid out as being in need of exploration.   The initial version of your thesis, know as the working thesis , should offer a tentative explanation, answer, or solution that the body of your paper will go on to apply and develop (clarify, extend, substantiate, qualify, and so on).

3.   Begin querying your thesis.

          Start developing your working thesis and other opening observations with the question “So what?”   This question is shorthand for questions like “what does this observation mean?” and “Where does this thesis get me in my attempts to explain my subject?”

4.   Muster supporting evidence for your working thesis.

          Test its adequacy by seeing how much of the available evidence it can honestly account for.   That is, try to prove that your thesis is correct. But also expect to come across evidence that does not fit your initial formulation of the thesis.

5.   Seek complicating evidence.

          Find evidence that does not readily support your thesis.   Then explore—and explain—how and why it doesn’t fit.

6.   Reformulate your thesis.

          Use the complicating evidence to produce new wording in your working thesis (additions, qualifications, and so forth).   This is how a thesis evolves, by assimilating obstacles and refining terms.

7.   Repeat steps 3 to 6.

          Query, support, complicate, and reformulate your thesis until you are satisfied with its accuracy.

8.   State a conclusion.

          Reflect on and reformulate your paper’s opening position in light of the thinking your analysis of evidence has caused you to do.   Culminate rather than merely restate your paper’s main idea in the concluding paragraph.   Do this by getting your conclusion to again answer the question “So what?’   In the conclusion, this question is short-hand for “where does it get us to view the subject in this way? Or “What are the possible implications or consequences of the position the paper has arrived at?”   Usually the reformulated (evolved) thesis comes near the beginning of the concluding paragraph.   The remainder of the paragraph gradually moves the reader out of your piece, preferably feeling good about what you have accomplished for him or her.

Linking Evidence and Claims

          Unsubstantiated Claims

          Problem :     Making claims that lack supporting evidence.

          Solution :      Learn to recognize and support unsubstantiated assertions.

          Pointless Evidence

          Problem :     Presenting a mass of evidence without explaining how it relates to the claims.

          Solution :      Make details speak.   Explain how evidence confirms and qualifies the claim.

Analyzing Evidence in Depth: “10 on 1”

How do you move from making details speak and explaining how evidence confirms and qualifies the claim to actually composing a paper?

In sum, you can use 10 on 1 to accomplish various ends:   (1) to locate the range of possible meanings your evidence suggests, (2) to make you less inclined to cling to your first claim inflexibly and open the way for you to discover a way of representing more fully the complexity of your subject, and (3) to slow down the rush to generalization and thus help to ensure that when you arrive t a working thesis, it will be more specific and better able to account for your evidence.

First find 10 examples, do a 1 on 10 as a preliminary step—locating 10 examples that share a trait—and then focus on one of these for in-depth analysis.   Proceeding in this way would guarantee that your example was representative.   It is essential that your example be representative because in doing 10 on 1 you will take one part of the whole, put it under a microscope, and then generalize about the whole on the basis of your analysis.