Drafting an analytical thesis statement for a written text
An effective thesis statement for analytical writing responds to a question about a text or tries to resolve a problem in the text. Remember that your thesis isn’t the same as the text’s thesis or main idea. Your thesis makes an argument based on your analysis of the text. You argue for a way of reading and responding to that text.
As you draft your thesis, try asking what, why, and how questions to form a judgment about a text you are reading.
- What has the text’s author overlooked or failed to consider? Why does this matter?
- Why might a reasonable person draw a different set of conclusions about the subject matter?
- How does the text complicate or clarify something else you’ve been thinking about or reading about?
If student writer Emilia Sanchez had started her analysis of an article on big-box stores with the following thesis statement, she merely would have repeated the main idea of the article.
INEFFECTIVE THESIS STATEMENT
Big-box stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot promote consumerism by offering endless goods at low prices, but they do nothing to promote community.
Instead, Sanchez wrote the following thesis statement, which offers her judgment of Taylor’s argument.
EFFECTIVE THESIS STATEMENT
By ignoring the complex economic relationship between large chain stores and their communities, Taylor incorrectly assumes that simply getting rid of big-box stores would have a positive effect on America’s communities.