1	Better Thesis Statements Dr. Gideon Burton / Brigham Young University
2	Why bother? A thesis statement gives coherence An argumentative paper is more engaging Professors will expect it!
3	A Quick Method Topic Issue Rationale Qualification Reorder and Revise
4	Step 1: Topic Gather and review your prewriting and notes My Topic: Animal rights --those PETA idiots --are bacteria rights next? --insensitivity to humans --that guy who argued it isn’t the same as minority rights
5	Step 2: Issue Take a stand on the topic, turning it into an issue Consider these types of issue claims: Policy claim (“should”) Definition claim (“is” / “was”) Comparison claim (“is like/unlike”) Evaluation claim (“is good/bad”) Cause/Effect claim (“results/resulted in”) (these and several other types of claims are demonstrated further below)
6	Step 2: Issue Take a stand on the topic, turning it into an issue My Topic: Animal rights My Claim: “Animals should not be given the same rights as humans” (policy claim)
7	Step 3: Rationale Create a “because” clause to follow your main claim, giving the main reason or rationale for your position My Claim: “Animals should not be given the same rights as humans” My Rationale: “…because they are fundamentally different from humans.”
8	Step 4: Qualification Create an “although” clause to introduce your claim, one that provides a context or acknowledges an opposing view. My Qualification: “Although some claim that all life is equally sacred…” My Claim: “Animals should not be given the same rights as humans”
9	Step 5: Reorder and Revise Combine the previous steps to make a single, polished thesis statement. Qualification (“Although…”) Issue (Claim) Rationale (“because...”)
10	Step 5: Reorder and Revise Combine the previous steps to make a single, polished thesis statement. “Although some claim that all life is equally sacred… (Qualification) animals should not be given the same rights as humans… (Claim) …because they are fundamentally different from humans.” (Rationale)
11	Step 5: Reorder and Revise Combine the previous steps to make a single, polished thesis statement. “Although some maintain that all life is equally sacred, animals should not be given the same rights as humans because they are fundamentally different from them.”
12	Your Thesis as Outline Consider using the parts of your thesis as structural divisions in your paper’s outline. Introduction Arguments about the sacredness of life My claim: Don’t give animals human rights Evidence: Difference between humans and animals Conclusion
13	Some cautions A thesis statement in this form may not be the best way to outline your paper. It does, however, suggest vital elements that ought to be included. While a qualifying statement and a rationale can flesh out a good thesis statement, the “issue” (where you state a claim) is the core of your thesis.
14	A good thesis statement… is specific goes beyond affirming what is already known or accepted will divide an educated audience suggests that something is at stake gives the reader a clear sense of what is to come in the full argument
15	Some mediocre thesis statements The Wife of Bath demonstrates medieval feminism. [not very specific, not a new idea] Both Christian and pagan elements can be found in Beowulf [This merely restates well known facts]
16	Some mediocre thesis statements The Tempest proves that Shakespeare was a master of drama. [Shakespeare’s reputation is already established] Malory’s Morte D’arthur is inconsistent with historical information about King Arthur. [Even if true, this is unsurprising]
17	Better thesis statements Although Chaucer’s Wife of Bath discusses gender issues, it is the form in which she frames her tale that says most about the state of medieval women. [note how this claim invites close analysis comparing form and content, and tying this to the historical context]
18	Better thesis statements Those themes most central to Beowulf are most at odds with Christianity, despite the presence of certain explicit Christian elements in the poem. [note how this claim suggests a clear pattern for the coming paper: key themes will be identified and shown to be inconsistent with Christian elements—which we can also expect to be identified]
19	Better thesis statements While many have found a critique of colonialism in The Tempest, Shakespeare’s play actually reinforces contemporary attitudes in support of colonial practices. [note how this claim will engage the audience by challenging a commonly held assumption about the play]
20	Better thesis statements The historical inconsistencies in Malory’s Morte D’arthur suggest that Welsh and Norman influences each shaped the famous King Arthur legend very differently. [note how this claim is highly specific and invites a nuanced analysis of differing literary influences]
21	Other model thesis statements Policy claim Though its theological clarifications are indeed tempting, Milton’s treatise, On Christian Doctrine should not be treated as the key to understanding his Paradise Lost.
22	Other model thesis statements Definition claim Although dissimilar to other early British writings, The Wanderer nevertheless clearly establishes the elegiac mode of that period’s literature.
23	Other model thesis statements Comparison claim While John Donne’s erotic verse may appear to be in contrast with his devotional poetry, these are closer in theme and form than they are different.
24	Other model thesis statements Evaluation claim New historicism does bring to light material conditions of 18^th century London that are important to understanding Defoe’s novel; however, Marxism and feminism prove better methods for assessing the impact of Moll Flanders.
25	Other model thesis statements Cause/Effect claim Shakespeare’s monologues may seem wordy to today’s audiences, but they were the product of an ideal of “copious” language emphasized in the classrooms of Renaissance humanists.
26	Other kinds of claims for literature Source claim Biographical claim Linguistic claim Aesthetic claim Reader-response claim Psychological claim Archetypal claim
27	Other kinds of claims for literature Source claims While Ulysses is clearly patterned on Homer’s Odyssey, it is as loosely connected to the ancient Greek work as is the recent Cohen brothers film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? Despite clear differences in approach, Shakespeare’s Hamlet draws significantly from Thomas Kyd’s revenge play, The Spanish Tragedy
28	Other kinds of claims for literature Biographical claim The Prelude does not so much reflect Wordsworth’s experiences in the natural world of the lake district as much as his political experiences in post-revolutionary France.
29	Other kinds of claims for literature Linguistic claim Because the Elizabethan pronunciation of “nothing” was “noting,” we can surmise that Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing has as much to do with the latter as the former.
30	Other kinds of claims for literature Aesthetic claim The alternating point of view in Dickens’ Bleak House provides a delicate balance between the impersonal world of Victorian London and the personal world of his female protagonist.
31	Other kinds of claims for literature Reader-response claim Uncle Tom’s Cabin so effectively evokes an emotional response from its readers that they are blind to its profound aesthetic and ideological faults.
32	Other kinds of claims for literature Psychological claim Despite the moral dynamics intended by Fielding in Tom Jones, his lead character ends up as he began—a slave to his id.
33	Other kinds of claims for literature Archetypal claim Leander’s swim across the Hellespont in Marlowe’s Hero and Leander is not simply a gesture of desperate love; it is his pagan baptism into the rites of love.
34	Other kinds of claims for literature There are as many kinds of claims as there are critical methods or theories. These have been a few samples of common types of literary arguments.