Formulating a thesis - A writing process

In the thesis or hypothesis stage, the writer uses the work done in the first two stages to craft the position he or she will argue or prove. This position may be presented as a thesis or as a hypothesis.

A thesis is a succinctly worded declarative sentence that clearly states the argument the writer will pose in his or her work. When a thesis is used to frame a piece of writing, it is usually presented as an assertion at the beginning of the work. In subsequent paragraphs, the writer presents evidence to support the assertion.

A hypothesis is a writer’s supposition presented as a possible response to a question the writer will investigate. When a hypothesis is used as the framework for a piece of writing, it is typically presented as a speculation at the beginning of the piece. Through the process of research, analysis, or critique, the writer attempts to prove whether his or her hypothesis is correct. At the conclusion of the work, the writer revisits the hypothesis to either confirm or refute it.

A well-conceived thesis or hypothesis will lay the groundwork for a well-documented and logically organized text.

Examples

Thesis #1: Given the author’s deliberate symbolic representations of the four main
characters in his novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850), Nathaniel Hawthorne did not intend for his protagonist, Hester Prynne, to represent Hawthorne’s preference for the combination of head and heart in human thought and behavior.
Hypothesis #1: Guiding question: Why did Nathaniel Hawthorne choose to separate his preferred combination of head and heart in human thought and behavior in his symbolic representations of the four main characters in his novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850)?; Hypothesis: Perhaps Nathaniel Hawthorne had no choice but to disqualify his adult female protagonist, Hester Prynne, as his preferred combination of head and heart because of the limitations placed upon females during the historical period during which Hawthorne wrote.
Thesis #2: Biff’s eventual recognition and acceptance of truth about himself and his
family make him the preferred example of Arthur Miller’s thesis about the common man’s deserving of epic hero status.
Hypothesis #2: Guiding question: Why did Arthur Miller reject Biff, Willy Loman’s elder son, as the example of the playwright’s thesis about the common man’s deserving to be an epic hero?; Hypothesis: Perhaps Biff could not serve as Arthur Miller’s characterization of his thesis about the common man’s deserving of epic hero status because of Biff’s unstable working history and delayed resolution about his identity.

Framing the topic

Thesis writing can be an arduous process. Teaching students to write an effective thesis can be equally tedious and tiresome. The examples listed above illustrate the differing requirements teachers often give students for writing an effective, teacher-approved thesis. The first example (thesis and hypothesis #1) includes the author’s first and last name; the title, genre, and publication date of the text; the character’s name; and the statement to be argued or proven. The second example identifies the first and last name of the playwright, the names of two characters upon whom the writer will focus, and the statement to be argued or proven.

Innumerable variations exist, including more formulaic requirements that address a teacher’s preferences or the guidance of a thesis writing style manual. The salient point is that a thesis is usually a brief declarative statement that must be argued or proven through the assembling and discussing of relevant, irrefutable evidence, typically known as textual support in literary analysis, and as documentation and evidence in other fields of study.

The what and where of thesis writing

A thesis is usually one declarative sentence but could be more than one sentence. More advanced writers might even word their theses as rhetorical questions that are crafted as interrogative examples of declarative assertions. In other words, such questions can be declarative sentences in disguise. A thesis can be located anywhere in the text but is usually found within the first paragraph, often at the end, but sometimes in the middle or at the beginning of the opening paragraph. A very long text that includes chapters might include the thesis at the conclusion of the first chapter or after the introductory material has provided sufficient background for the thesis to be understood by the reading audience.

A thesis is not a topic sentence, even though a topic sentence can be worded as a thesis. The structure of a paragraph (topic sentence, supporting details, and concluding sentence) lends itself to including the thesis somewhere in that structure. However, even though the thesis must logically fit within the structure of the paragraph in which it is located, the thesis is not defined by its place in the structure of a paragraph. It’s important to use clear transitions to ensure that the thesis flows naturally within the paragraph’s structure.

The following example of a social studies thesis paragraph illustrates the transition of sentences within a paragraph into a thesis statement:

The Russian Revolution of 1917 typically does not interest most 21st century students, many of whom cannot envision the past international conflicts that characterized interactions among nations such as England, Germany, and Russia. Today’s youth often refer to historical events occurring more than ten years ago as being “in the day,” meaning the distant past for them, thus revealing their disconnection with events that do not match their sense of current reality. However, current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan touch the lives of young people worldwide, even as those wars despoil the youth of those warring countries, since many of the military casualties of war are adolescents and small children trained to be soldiers and suicide bombers. Such practices do not surprise Vietnam veterans who faced the enemy in the seemingly innocent approach of children unwittingly serving as human carriers of bombs. The psychological impact upon society of children serving as human casualties and weapons of war blurs the line for many adults between being protectors and destroyers of society’s young.

Adjusting the fit

What happens when a thesis no longer fits the text that has been written? Some teachers permit the student to rewrite the thesis to fit the text that has been written. Other teachers require the student to revise the text to fit the original thesis. Some teachers also advocate writing the text first, and then writing a thesis that fits the text. The instructional and learning goals and the student’s needs usually guide the decisions teachers make about thesis writing. Time constraints and special student needs (e.g., the rapid conclusion of the teaching unit or academic year, an IEP, or a 504 medical plan) might influence decisions about thesis writing. Regardless of the approach taken to making a text fit with its thesis, the point for this stage of the writing process is to teach students to write a clearly crafted, effective thesis.