Let's get to the point! Thesis Statements

The thesis statement is both literally and metaphorically a central pillar of writing. In your essays, the thesis statements says exactly WHAT you are talking about, WHY it matters, and HOW you plan to prove it. While there are many philosophies to writing a thesis statement, I showed you two formulas to start you off on being excellent writers.

The "Freer" Model from the University of the District of Columbia. This model is for those of you who feel confident in your writing abilities. Additionally, these elements are strongly geared toward English literature content. There are three goals to this model, but can be arranged in any order and sentence structure. Issue, Point, and Significance are the three elements.

The "Mrs. Heck" Model is a compilation from my experience with various writing resources, my own student years (20), and the 10s of 1,000s of papers I have graded so far as a teacher. This model is for those of you who are inexperienced or feel like you need more guidance with your writing. If you follow these steps, you will have a strong sentence for any subject or paper that you must write. The five steps of the process (simplified, please find the full explanation on the PowerPoint) are:

1. Name the issue.

2. Add a strong verb.

3. What are you proving?

4. Add a transition word/phrase.

5. List the topics of your supporting paragraphs.