Your main point in an argument is the position you take on the issue you are writing about. When you are free to choose an issue, choose something you care about. When you are assigned an issue, find something about it that you feel strongly about and take a definite position.

Take a few minutes to think about the issue, talk it over with a partner, or jot down ideas related to it. Once you have decided on your position, write a thesis statement that includes the issue and your position on it.

Sometimes the thesis combines the issue and the position, as in the following statement.

Make the thesis statement for any argument as specific as possible to help guide your writing and your readers.

Many thesis statements for arguments use words such as the following because they clearly express a position.