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.

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.

Writing guide: Analysis essay

Analysis essay: “Big Box Stores Are Bad for Main Street”