What is a thesis statement?
Developing Academic Writing

What is a thesis statement• A thesis statement– is a statement– makes an objective claim about the world– is not trivial; can be debated– is specific enough to treat completely• Generally an “answer” to a research question

A thesis statement is• a statement telling your reader what you
discovered or what your research is about.
– Factual– Objective– Non-trivial– SpecificA thesis statement is factual.
• Hello.
• What did you eat for lunch today?
• Rye bread is good for lunch.

A thesis statement is objective.
• Rye bread is good for lunch.
• Danish people think that rye bread is good foryour health.
• Copenhagen schools serve rye bread forlunch.

A thesis statement is non-trivial.
• Copenhagen schools serve rye bread forlunch.
• The 22 students at Kost nursery school ate
fruit and vegetables with rye bread, leftover
pasta, or leftover rice for lunch.
• Danish teachers value rye bread differently
from other foods.

A thesis statement is specific.
• Danish teachers value rye bread differently
from other foods.
• Danish teachers view rye bread as a typical‘healthy’ food.
• Danish teachers treat traditional food items,
such as rye bread, as superior to other foods
that minority children regularly bring.

Much socialization of children into healthy food practices
takes place in the education system. However, teachers’
understandings of healthy food may differ from those ofstudents and parents. Furthermore, health is connected
to respectability. Thus, food socialization concerns morethan nutritional values. This study examines lunchtime
interactions between minority students and majority teachers
in a Danish classroom. I show that certain traditional
items (rye bread) are treated as superior to certain
others that minority children regularly bring. Children
are accountable for lunch boxes, and cultural and personal
preferences are disregarded if at odds with dominant
understandings of healthy food. (Karrebaek 2012)

Using the thesis statement• “Normally, if an academic writer is very clear
about his or her research, he or she should be
able to state the central research idea in just
one sentence. Thus, if the writer cannot state
the central research idea in just one sentence,he or she is not very clear about his or herresearch” (Lai 2011).

When do I write one?
• While researchingor• After researching• Before writing the paper

Why do I write one?
• Clarify your thinking• Guide your writing• Explain your paper to others

How do I write one?
• Various strategies…
• Lai’s “recipe approach”

Thesis recipe
1. Key word to describe
your main topic

TOEFL reading
comprehension test

Thesis recipe
2. Add a verb orpredicate

TOEFL reading
comprehension test
evaluates students’study skills.

Thesis recipe
3. Turn the sentence
into a question

Which study skills does
the TOEFL reading
comprehension test
evaluate?

Thesis recipe
4. Answer the question

TOEFL r.c. test evaluates
global comprehension,ability to quickly locate
specific information,
word recognition, andability to resolve
anaphoric reference. It
does not test intelligence,
listening comprehension,or reading strategies.

Thesis recipe
5. Summarize the answer
in one sentence

TOEFL reading
comprehension test
evaluates decoding
and comprehension
skills but notlearning strategies.

Thesis recipe
6. Clear relationshipbetween subject andpredicate

TOEFL scores arepositively correlatedwith decoding andcomprehension skills
measured by othertests, but not learning
strategies observed in
the classroom.

Thesis recipe
7. Remove ambiguity

Students’ scores on
TOEFL reading
comprehension tests arepositively correlated withother test scores for global
comprehension andability to decode word orsentence meaning, but do
not correlate withclassroom observations oflearning strategies.

Try it!
1. Keyword to describe your main idea
2. Add a verb or predicate.
3. Turn the sentence into a question.
4. Answer the question.
5. Summarize the answer in one sentence.
6. Clear relation between subject, predicate
7. Remove ambiguities.

Evaluate your thesis• Unified – one topic• Focused – single argument; complete answer• Clear – avoid abstract, ambiguous words• Originalbut also

• Relevant to your field