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HOW DO I WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT?
by Kathy McLain, M.A.   For most papers in English 101 and 102 you should have a thesis statement.  A thesis statement is a single sentence statement of purpose that includes a limited topic plus a position.  The thesis statement presents your main position or point.

In most papers the thesis statement is placed in the introduction to the paper.  In a short two to three page paper, the thesis statement should come at the end of the introductory paragraph.  In longer papers, such as the research paper for English 102, it usually comes somewhere in the introduction to the paper.  Sometimes the introduction in a seven to ten page research paper will be more than one paragraph long, so the thesis statement may not be in the first paragraph, but will come instead at the end of the introductory paragraphs or section.

To create a thesis statement do the following:

1.  Choose a general topic.

Example:  Drug testing in sports

2.  Limit the topic to some very focused aspect of that issue.

Example:  drug testing at the Olympics

3.  Decide what position to take regarding the topic.

Example:   drug testing during Olympic competition needs to be improved because of abuses within the current Olympic drug testing program
 
4.  Combine the limited topic and the position into a single sentence statement of purpose.

Example: Because of abuses within the current Olympic drug testing program, changes need to be made to prevent drug abusers from participating in Olympic events.