Success with WritingOnline Workshop

Part 5 : Thesis statement

Created by : Jane Mangano

What is this thesis statement all about?

• The thesis statement is usually placed at the end of the introduction.

• The thesis statement tells the reader (clearly and concisely) what the essay is all about.

• The body paragraphs explain, support and defend the thesis statement.

Sample thesis statements

• Discuss the contributions post war migrants have made to Australian culture.

• Post war migrants have made valuable contributions to modern Australian culture in three main ways.

• The thesis may list the subtopics.• Post war migrants have made valuable

contributions to modern Australian culture in the areas of arts, sport and cuisine.

How do I develop a thesis statement?

• First of all, analyse the question.• Secondly, use pre-writing strategies to develop

your ideas and argument.• Sort your ideas into three or four ‘like’ groups.• Give each group a heading.• Use your headings as the basis for your

provisional thesis statement.

Pre-writing strategies

• Listing – list all possible ideas, topics, thoughts. Go back and group ‘like’ ideas together. Keep refining ideas until you have three topics.

• Free writing – free write on the topic. Go back and analyse writing. Group ideas into like points. Refine, until you have three topics.

• Brainstorm – brainstorm for ideas. Group like ideas together. Refine until you have three topics.

Your turn!

• Create a provisional thesis statement for this topic.

• Discuss the impact of fulltime study on mature age students.

• Remember to analyse the question first.• Use one of the pre-writing strategies on the

previous slide to develop your thesis statement.• This should take you about 10 minutes.

Did your thesis statement look like this?

• Fulltime study may impact upon mature age students socially, emotionally and financially.

• Notice how the sentence uses parallel construction?

• ‘socially, emotionally and financially’

End of Part 5

Please ensure you have completed each of the tasks in section 5 online.