Scarborough Home Mistakes students make Although students often want to focus on grammar when they first seek help with their writing, most have larger problems with structure and organization that have to be dealt with first. This page describes the three major problems students face and suggests tips for improving. Once you can recognize problems in your own work you can take steps to correct them. This paper has no thesis.
Most students believe that they have thesis statements in their papers.
The first example is too broad. If the student tried to continue writing, he or she would produce a paper that was unfocused, unoriginal, and superficial. By contrast, the second example is much more focused. The proposition it makes is not self-evident and will require careful argument to prove. If the student kept writing, he or she would be able to address a single, narrowly defined issue in depth.