More Sample Thesis Statements

Example #1:

I do agree with Stephen L. Carter in his essay.  People have no idea how to balance integrity and honesty. . . . I think that this is true more than ever.

Example #2:

Many people create a name for themselves by how much they gossip.  It is impossible to have a normal conversation with your best friend without saying or hearing some form of gossip.  It allows for bonds to be built between two people and it also allows for bonds to be broken.  Even with gossip, it is possible to have secrets.

Example #3:

In life people don't usually think of the need for secrets, they are just something that are always there. . . . I agree with Sante that we have a basic need for secrets.  Also many of Sante's other ideas can be related to life in general.

Example #4:

I think most of her essay is her opinion of gossip but I believe she proves her point of using gossip to face matters of life and death with one statement that she makes toward the end of her essay.

Example #5:

I believe we need secrets, there are things that devalue secrets, there are types of secrets, and there are ways to confess one's secrets.

Hints to Find Your Rough Draft Thesis Statement

1.  Look in your introductory paragraph(s).

2.  Look in your conclusion paragraph.

3.  It's not there yet, so list your main ideas and then write a sentence that "forecasts" your main ideas.

4.  It's not there yet, so list your main ideas and then write a sentence that covers all of your main ideas in broader terms -- an "umbrella" statement -- but does not list each of your main ideas.

5.  Remember: a thesis "statement" can be longer than one sentence.

6.  Remember the thesis "formula": THESIS =  the subject or topic of the essay + the writer's position (or point of view, etc.) about the subject/topic.

7.  When you have finished, double-check your thesis to be sure that it "matches" your paper, that it covers the ideas you will include in your paper, that it doesn't give readers a false sense of approach or direction, that it doesn't promise something that it doesn't deliver.