Thesis statement

Whereas the research question is the question your writing departs from, the thesis statement is the point or claim that you make in your text. In many cases, this claim also represents the answer or a solution to the research question.

It is, naturally, not easy to formulate a strong thesis statement at the start of an essay project, but just as writers need to start thinking of what they will investigate, they early on need to form an idea of what their claim or argument will be. Creating a tentative thesis statement early on will help you navigate through your project, even though you may need to rephrase it at a later stage. In other words, just like you can expect to have to revise your research question, having to develop and revise your thesis statement is a natural part of the writing process. 

To clarify what your argument is, consider using phrases like these for your tentative thesis statement:

•    This paper argues that… 
•    It will be argued that…
•    My main claim is…
•    In the following, an argument will be made for…
•    This paper attempts to show that …
•    The central thesis of this paper is that …
•    In the pages that follow, it will be argued that …
•    In this essay, I attempt to defend the view that … 

Please note that depending on discipline, you may or may not be expected to use first-person pronouns in the thesis statement, and you may be expected to use other verbs than in the examples above. If you are unsure of the conventions in your field and at your department, ask your teacher.