EXAMPLES OF THESIS STATEMENTS
The words in purple font indicate the kind of development that the writer will use in the essay. The words in orange font give a preview of the main points the writer will develop.
Comparison and Contrast
- A digital television signal provides a better picture than an analogue signal.
- A diesel engine has several advantages over gasoline powered engines.
- History has demonstrated the superiority of the
capitalistic economic system over the communistic system.
- There are many differences between the proposals by the president and congress for a prescription drug program for seniors.
Division and Classification
- The federal government is composed of three coequal branches:
the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.
- The parts of an essay are the introduction, body, and the conclusion.
- The kinds of argument provided by a public speaker may fall into four categories:
logos, ethos, pathos, and mythos.
- There are many different styles of jazz music.
Cause and Effect
- The American public has yet to understand the causes of the hostile feelings of the Islamic world.
- The effects of the attack on the World Trade Center have been
economic, political, social, and military.
- Politicians and economists argue over the reasons for the downturn in the economy.
- There were several contributing causes to the downfall of the Enron Corporation.
Problem and Solution
- The high unemployment numbers call for drastic actions by the federal government.
- Crime in America could be reduced by giving criminals
stiffer prison terms, by educating about crime, and by permitting citizens to carry concealed weapons.
- Deaths due to fires in nightclubs can be reduced bystringent fire codes, strict inspections, and aggressive enforcement.
- The lives of many more people waiting for organ donations could be saved by
educating the public and improving the system for procuring and distributing donated organs.
Process
Rebuilding an automobile engine is a lengthy process involving a number of detailed procedures.
Installation of the new Alert Antivirus software on your computer can be completed in three easy steps.
To write a successful essay, you should follow the process of
prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.
Analogy
In an essay where analogy is the mode of exposition, the main idea sentence may be a direct statement of the analogy to be developed. Here is an example:
"So relative to the cosmos we inhabit that, as we gaze upon the outer galaxies available to the reach of our telescopes, we are placed in about the position that a single white blood cell in our bodies would occupy, if it were intelligently capable of seeking to understand the nature of its own universe, the body it inhabits" (Eiseley 363).
Or the main idea may be a conclusion based on the analogy.
Example or Illustration
Essays that use example or illustration as the primary mode of development may be organized either inductively or deductively. If the organization is inductive, then the example will be given first and the main idea will be placed at the end as a conclusion drawn from the example. This is the case in some fiction. For example, fable with an appended moral is organized inductively.
On the other hand, the organization may be deductive. Here the writer states his idea first and then gives examples to illustrate it.
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