Academic Essays and Thesis Statements: The Essentials

This article will evaluate some of the key components of an essay, the basic organization of an essay, and the construction of a strong thesis statement.

In almost all career fields, academic and personal endeavours, the ability to evaluate ideas, form and argue personal opinions, effectively communicate thoughts to an audience and to order and present views and opinions effectively, are essential skills. In many cases, these written and oral abilities are honed in secondary and post-secondary school through such written assignments as argumentative essays.

Argumentative essays are factual, prose compositions, which present a main point to be argued, usually within the first paragraph or two. The aim of the body of the work, then, is to prove this point through the use of arguments and supporting evidence.

This article will evaluate some of the key components of an essay, the basic organization of an essay, and the construction of a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement is the main point of argumentation to be proven in the form of smaller arguments and documented evidence. Before any of these steps can occur, however, every essay must be carefully planned and considered; thus, the planning stage is where this article will begin.

An essay is typically composed of an Introduction, which will generally end with the thesis statement, the "body paragraphs," each of which will detail one argument or body of evidence in support of the thesis statement, and the concluding paragraph.

Before any writer, novice or professional, can put thoughts to paper, thoughts must first exist. Written works usually begin with a spark of inspiration that can come from any source or any experience and, as any writer can attest, these little epiphanies are wont to spark related ideas and insights; it is for this reason that writers will almost always carry a pen and notebook to record ideas when they surface. This and any residual recording of thoughts and ideas is known as “brainstorming.” These ideas form the backbone of an essay, which, when expanded upon closer evaluation and research, and then organized into paragraphs detailing supporting arguments, form a completed essay!

The mark of a successful essay, technically speaking, is one in which all points of argumentation and all pieces of presented evidence support the main point or thesis statement originally presented early in the paper. Your main goal as an essay writer online is to convince your reader that what you are saying is fact, even if all thoughts stem from a personal opinion. If this can be accomplished, you have argued your point well and your essay will be a success!

The key point to keep in mind when writing your thesis statement is to ensure that it encompasses your complete point to be argued, and does so in a focused and direct manner. A good thesis statement is just one sentence long. As arguably the most important sentence in your entire paper, make sure it is a good one! It must grab your reader’s attention and make him or her want to know how you plan to support your claim.

Consider the following: If a writer were to argue that a certain brand of laundry detergent (let us call it “Deep-Clean” laundry detergent) were more effective than another brand, which thesis statement would be more effective?

1. “Deep-Clean” laundry detergent works better than other brands because it gets clothes cleaner.

2. As a result of extensive tests in cold, warm, and hot water, tests involving both pre-treated clothing and otherwise, as well as testing with a variety of stains and residues, “Deep-Clean” laundry detergent proves to be more effective after having produced the cleanest loads in all three cases.

The answer is clear. Thesis statement number two is the obvious victor in this example as it gives a complete explanation of the point to be proven, as well as a breakdown of how it will be proven in one clear and focused, yet detailed sentence.

In this case, each test will be an argument used to prove that “Deep-Clean” is a superior detergent, and each argument will be outlined in detail in the body the essay. After all cases are made, the reader will be certain that “Deep-Clean” is more effective; thus, the arguments will have effectively proven the thesis statement originally presented. Although there is much to know and much to learn about the art of writing an essay, if you have accomplished this, you are off to a great start!