Make an Argumentative Claim
The overall claim you developed as you built your argument provides the foundation for your thesis statement — a brief statement that conveys the main point you want to make about your issue. In an argumentative essay, a thesis statement should be debatable, plausible, and clear.
- A debatable thesis statement is one with which readers can disagree. Saying that we should take good care of our children, for example, isn’t particularly debatable. Saying that we need to invest more public funding in mandatory immunization programs, however, would almost certainly lead some readers to disagree. Even though your goal in writing an argumentative essay is to convince readers to accept or act on your argument, there’s little to be gained in arguing for something with which everyone will agree. An argumentative essay is useful only if it makes people think and, ideally, change their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors.
- A plausible thesis statement appears at the very least to be reasonable, and in fact the claim it makes might appear to be convincing or persuasive on its own. That is, although your claim should be debatable, don’t make it so extreme that it comes across as ridiculous or absurd. For example, it’s one thing to argue that the news media should pay more attention to political candidates’ platforms and leadership qualities than to their personal failings; it’s quite another to argue that a candidate’s criminal record should be ignored.
- A clear thesis statement advances a claim that is easy to follow. It explains what readers should believe or how they should act. Typically, this involves using words such as should, must, or ought. It’s important to remember that you are attempting to convince or persuade your readers. Unless you tell them what to believe or how to act, they won’t be sure of your position.
An effective thesis statement will shape your readers’ understanding of the issue, directing their attention to particular aspects of the issue and away from others. Consider, for example, the following thesis statements about athletes’ use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Thesis statement 1: If for no other reason, athletes should avoid the use of performance-enhancing drugs to safeguard their personal health.
Thesis statement 2: To eliminate the use of performance-enhancing drugs, athletes themselves must take the lead in policing their sports.
Thesis statement 3: National and international governing bodies for sports should engage in a coordinated effort to educate aspiring athletes about ethics and sportsmanship.
Is your thesis statement focused enough? See Chapter 14 for help.
These thesis statements would lead to significantly different argumentative essays. The first thesis statement directs readers’ attention to the health consequences for athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs. The second suggests that athletes themselves should take charge of efforts to eradicate this form of cheating. The third thesis statement focuses attention on the contributions that might be made by what are essentially large corporate and government agencies. Each thesis statement is plausible and debatable, and each one tells readers what they should believe or act on. Yet each leads the reader to view the issue in a significantly different way.