solved A claim that is not debatable does not qualify as
A claim that is not debatable does not qualify as a thesis—for example:
“Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a play about a young man who seeks revengeâ€.
That doesn’t say anything-it’s basically just a summary and is hardly debatable.
Here is an example of a stronger, more debatable thesis:
“Hamlet experiences internal conflict because he is in love with his motherâ€.
This is arguable, controversial even. The rest of a paper with this argument as its thesis will be an attempt to show, using specific examples from the text and evidence from scholars, (1) how Hamlet is in love with his mother, (2) why he’s in love with her, and (3) what implications there are for reading the play in this manner.
Note that a thesis, just like the Point in your paragraph is an opinion/claim. The difference is that the thesis is the claim of the whole essay while a Point is the claim of that specific paragraph. Often the Points are reasons/sub-claims for the big thesis.Â
I like to think about the thesis in terms of a limited subject (what you are talking about) and an attitude (what you have to say or argue about the topic.) For our purposes for Essay 1, the limited subject is Gaiman’s argument in “Why Our Future Depends on Libraries” and your attitude is whether you agree with him or not.
Learning Objective:
You will practice writing a strong thesis statement in order to later develop effective, thesis-driven essays which demonstrate the principles of argumentation.
Directions:Let’s Write
Essay structure is important, and we will be learning more about that, but all good essays begin with a good introduction that includes a strong, clear thesis. Â The thesis is the last sentence of your introduction, and it makes the overall argument for the whole essay.Â