Introduction

In many of your courses—such as English, history, psychology, and philosophy—you are asked to write essays arguing one point or another. A good essay begins with a statement of purpose—a controlling idea which predicts and confines the subject you are covering in your essay. This controlling idea, or thesis, is your essay's life and spirit, for without it, your chances of running amuck in your essay, of dragging your reader through a series of unrelated ideas, are more than increased—they are guaranteed. In this GLA you will learn how to construct a good thesis statement.

Student Learning Outcomes By the end of this activity, you should be able to: Define the concept of thesis statement Identify and contrast weak and strong thesis statements Narrow a thesis statement from general to specific Compose a coherent, unified thesis statement Preparation Before you start, you'll need to make sure you that have the handouts for this activity and the Supplemental Learning Workbook. If you don't, ask a tutor to help you. Begin the Activity Once you have all the needed materials, you may procede to the activity by clicking on the button below. If at any time you need help, please ask a tutor. Click here to begin.

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