Stating The Obvious - Your Thesis

A "thesis statement" is nothing more than a sentence that describes your overall belief on a particular topic. A thesis statement should not be a statement of fact but of opinion. An opinion is an idea or position that can be debated.

For example, people who live in Connecticut, during baseball season, are divided down a line. A distinct line. A Red Sox-Yankees line. A Red Sox fan, although he may think his statement is fact, would express the opinion that "The Red Sox are the best team in baseball." This is obviously a debatable opinion since a Yankees fan would argue that the Red Sox are not the best team. In fact, a Yankees fan would argue not only that the Yankees are the best team in baseball, but that the Red Sox are the worst.

Most of us have opinions. Your thesis statement is simply your opinion put into words. Even a simple, "Green Day is the best band ever" is an example of a thesis statement. Forming the appropriate thesis statement to your essay is a bit more problematic.

A thesis statement for an essay depends partly on the length of the essay to be required. Although many Red Sox and Yankees fans could discuss for days the merits of each team, an essay of this sort would be limited in how long it could be.

For shorter papers, a more direct thesis is appropriate. For a short paper regarding a movie, a simply thesis statement would be enough. For example, "The movie Crash contained several themes that affect today's society." This would allow you to choose several themes in the movie Crash and then discuss them, showing how these themes are present in today's society.

However, for a longer paper, a more detailed thesis would allow you to go into greater depth. For example, "The movie Crash depicts not only the racism present in today's society but shows how individuals' lives are shaped by this prejudice without their realizing it." This thesis indicates several different elements to each argument. First, you have to discuss how racism is present in our society. Then you have to show that Crash has examples of this racism. Then you have to show how an individual character's life is influenced by racism and also show how the character is unaware of this racism.

Both of these theses about the same movie contain an opinion. However, the second thesis requires more argument and proof to prove its point than the first one. Thus, it is more fitting for a longer essay, in which you need to write more.

Another example of a thesis that would be better for a shorter paper is "Christina Aguilera is a better solo artist than Britney Spears." In an essay such as this, you would be comparing and contrasting two solo artists based on a limited number of albums. In addition, you are limiting your arguments to the singing of the two artists which would ignore anything such as movies and/or personal life controversies as being useful to your argument. However, if you were to argue, "Christina Aguilera's professional career and her relationship with the media make her a role model for female teens," your argument would be one that not only discusses Aguilera's musical history, but incorporates interviews with her and interactions with the media. In addition, since you are arguing her position as a role model for female teenagers, you must also explain why her actions make her someone whom young women should aspire to be like. The second thesis is far more complex in that it deals with abstract ideas such as what makes a good role model and why people would want to think of Christina Aguilera as a good role model. Meanwhile, the first thesis is limited in that it discusses specifically two female singers and only their professional careers.

When faced with an assignment, think carefully about how long the assignment is, how much you have to say on any given idea and how much support you have. If you are unsure of your opinion, try writing a few arguments. Once you have done that, go back and connect them to the essay topic somehow. It may be that your opinion is not what you thought it was! Also, sometimes looking at how the arguments interact will help you clarify your point of view into a coherent, single statement of your opinion.