The comment: Unclear thesis
C-66
Similar comments
- Vague thesis
- State your position
- What is your main point?
Understanding the comment
When readers point out that your thesis is unclear, the comment often signals that they have a hard time identifying your essay’s main point.
Strategies for revising
- Ask questions. What is the thesis, position, or main point of the draft? Can you support it with the available evidence?
- Reread your entire draft. Because ideas develop as you write, you may find that your conclusion contains a clearer statement of your main point than your working thesis does. Or you may find your thesis elsewhere in your draft.
- Try framing your thesis as an answer to a question you pose, the resolution of a problem you identify, or a position you take in a debate. And put your thesis to the “So what?” test: Why would a reader be interested in this thesis?
Related topics:
Drafting an introduction
Placing the thesis statement in the introduction
Stating your position in your introduction
Backing up the thesis with lines of argument
Drafting a working thesis
C-67
Putting your working thesis to the “So what?” test
Testing a working thesis statement