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After my presentation in St. Ignatius course, I have several questions regarding to Thesis Statement. I hope this writing can help you in joining writing competition.

What is thesis statement?
A thesis statement is a sentence that explicitly identifies the purpose of the paper or previews its main ideas. It tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. Thesis statement can also act as a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. From the thesis statement, the readers know directly how you answers the question . A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel. It is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively.

In short, the thesis statement is normally the last sentence in an introductory paragraph. It has three purposes:
1. It states the specific topic of the essay
2. It may list the the subtopics of the main topic.
3. It may also mention the method of organisation.

Thesis statement iadalah suatu pernyataan yang tegas tidak sekedar memberi pernyataan atas suatu fakta.

COntoh sekedar fakta: People use many lawn chemicals.

Thesis: People are poisoning the environment with chemicals merely to keep their lawns clean.

Thesis statement menunjukkan dimana posisi saudara bukan hanya sekedar pemberitahuan.

Contoh pemberitahuan: The thesis of this paper is the difficulty of solving our environmental
problems.

Thesis: Solving our environmental problems is more difficult than many environmentalists believe.

Sebuah thesis adalah ide utama bukan judul. Dengan demikian sebuah thesis statement harus diekspresikan dalam kalimat lengkap yang berisi rincian dari apa yang hendak Saudara tulis.

Contoh Judul: Personal Computers.

C0ntoh Thesis: Personal computers have especially revolutionized communication and business
practices in the past twenty years.

Sebuah thesis statement tidak baik kalau terlalu umum karena akan menjadi kabur.

Broad: The American steel industry has many problems.

Narrow: The primary problem if the American steel industry is the lack of funds to renovate
outdated plants and equipment.

Sebuah thesis statement sebaiknya dapat didiskusikan tidak terlalu kabur dan umum.

Kabur: Hemingway’s war stories are very good.

discussible: Hemingway’s stories helped create a new prose style by employing extensive dialogue,
shorter sentences, and strong Anglo-Saxon words.

Thesis statement memiliki satu ide utama dan tidak memiliki beberapa ide utama. Karena lebih dari satu membuat pembaca bingung dan tidak memahami apa yang menjadi buah pikiran penulis.

Contoh Thesis yang memiliki lebih dari satu ide utama:
Stephen Hawking’s physical disability has not prevented him from becoming a
world-renowned physicist, and his book is the subject of a movie.
COntoh Thesis yang memiliki Satu Ide Utama:
Stephen Hawking’s physical disability has not prevented him from becoming a world
renowned physicist.

Remember You can revise your thesis statement whenever you want to while you are writing your essay.