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Tutor's Column USU Writing Center
12-7-2017
Tutors: “Theses” the Problem: Students and Thesis Statements Tutors: “Theses” the Problem: Students and Thesis Statements
Jackson Bylund
Utah State University
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Jackson Bylund
7 December 2017
ENGL4910—Writing Center Tutors Practicum
Tutors: “Theses” the Problem: Students and Thesis Statements
Key Words: thesis statement, main idea, essay, writing, argument, understanding,
comprehension, introduction, conclusion, evidence
Abstract: Although it is a common element of academic writing, the thesis statement is woefully
misunderstood and misused by many new college students. The Writing Center staff spends too
much time reexplaining this principle and helping visiting students construct a solid thesis; time
that could be better spent on other key aspects of their essays, like content and organization. This
essay strives to explain what a thesis statement is, how it is crafted, how and why students have
such a poor understanding of the concept, and what can be done to fix this obnoxious issue.
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Jackson Bylund
Star Coulbrooke
ENGL 4910
12 December 2017
“Theses” the Problem: Students and Thesis Statements
This sentence is not a thesis statement. That comes later; this part is the introduction. The
thesis statement, or main idea, is almost always required to appear at the end of the introduction.
These rigid requirements can frustrate new or unskilled college students and writers. Incoming
freshmen students of the Utah State University do not often seem to understand the value of the
thesis statement within their written work. Indeed, students rarely understand thesis statements.
The Writing Center spends too much time reteaching such a key concept when the time should
be spent on improving the content of the essay. The thesis statement is extremely important in
academic writing, the center of western argument. The teaching and reteaching thereof by
instructors—not by tutors—should be of prime concern, so the Writing Center can help students
with other elements of their writing.
According to the University of North Carolina Writing Center, a thesis statement is “a
road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the
paper.” A thesis statement encapsulates the main idea of the essay “in one or two sentences”
(Writers Tips). A thesis should not be something long, like a paragraph. Clarity and conciseness
are the core of it. Everything that follows thereafter must pertain to this one sentence in some
way or another. In fact, Purdue OWL writes that a thesis “should cover only what you will
discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence” (Developing a Thesis).
The evidence that Purdue OWL refers to makes up the remainder of the essay. The University of
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Illinois Writing Center urges writers to be “as clear and specific as possible.” A strong thesis
statement is the keystone in the arch of a paper. Without it, the stance of the written work
collapses. The statement should make an argument, or “a claim that others might dispute”
(Writers Tips). Without a thesis statement, an essay collapses and “the writing loses focus”
(Writers Tips). In summarizing the primary theme of a given written work, the thesis statement is
vital to the organizational integrity of any argument.
Newer university students often do not understand thesis statements or at least have a
poor comprehension thereof. This has become clear to me after many Writing Center sessions,
though I am not myself a seasoned tutor. I have straightforwardly asked a student, “what is your
thesis statement?” Just as many times, he or she often hesitates and stumbles over an ambiguous
explanation. Usually, what they explain is either too vague or intricately detailed. For instance, I
asked a student who was writing about gun control for their thesis statement. They gave a brief
discourse about the betterment of humanity with almost no mention of an actual stance on
firearms or the Second Amendment. Time was then spent clarifying what was wrong with that
idea of a thesis statement and how to recraft it to cover a stance and establish an argument. When
I made same inquiry to another visiting student, they were by no means indefinite in their
answer. Indeed, he was far too thorough. They pulled out a written outline from their backpack
and explained it in excruciating detail. A large portion of our session was spent on narrowing
down the student’s outline to a concise statement that covered all the points. They ended up
utilizing a method I taught them that I learned from a professor. Neither of those were originally
thesis statements, but could be fixed to be so. While these are easy ways to teach students about
thesis statements, we as tutors spend time reexplaining a principle of writing that should be
thoroughly ingrained in the scholar’s academic consciousness.
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Other tutors with varied experience agree that newer university students do not fully
understand the idea behind thesis statements. Andrea Carlquist, a relatively new Writing Center
tutor, said that new college students “absolutely do not understand [thesis statements]. They
often just point to the first or last sentence of their introduction, but only because they know
that’s where it’s supposed to be, not because they actually know it’s a thesis statement”
(Carlquist). Jessica Hahn had a similar opinion, though she felt that newer students do sometimes
understand; “they sometimes have it right,” she said, “But they give very rudimentary, basic
answers” (Hahn). Even when they do understand, it is usually too simple. Brittney Allen, an
experienced tutor, agreed that 1010 and 2010 students do not fully comprehend thesis statements,
saying, “they don’t get it because pretty often they’re stuck on the ‘requirement’ that their thesis
statement has to be at the end of a paragraph. Many times, it ends up as an ‘I feel’ stance
statement without elaborating further” (Allen). I am not the only tutor who feels that our clients
require an in-class overhaul in their thesis education.
Students need to relearn thesis statements. This uncertainty regarding such a large part of
academic writing is toxic and wasteful. Multitudes of arguments have been put forward as to
how to improve student writing in both secondary and higher education. These solutions include
emphasizing content over grammar and revolutionizing writing topics. These are all valuable
contributions to the solution. Reteaching the concept of thesis statements is just as important a
resolution. The thesis statement is often taught once or twice in middle school and high school
and then left behind and forgotten, presumed to be part of the students’ permanent repertoire. It
should not be forgotten. It needs to be taught and retaught and reinforced in class as a principle
most imperative to writing as a whole. The teaching of this principle belongs to high school
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instructors and college professors. This topic needs to be hit hard. Students are not understanding
thesis statements, but they need to.
The Writing Center exists to help students improve their writing; too much time,
however, is spent on teaching the thesis statement. True, it is an integral part of the content of an
essay, but we are tutors, not teachers. Students should already have a firm grasp of the concept.
Without a strong thesis as a foundation, any essay is bordering on disaster. Crafting a thesis,
especially one revolving around an essay that has already been written, takes time. When thesis
statements are weak, too much time in a session is required restructuring them, often making a
new one completely. This time in sessions can be spent on other parts of the essay, other
weaknesses in the students’ writing: the content of their arguments, the order and manner in
which they present stances and research. The Writing Center should help with thesis statements.
That is not the issue. Students, particularly from English 1010 and 2010 consistently come for
appointments without understanding what professors are expecting from them regarding their
theses. That is the true issue. While the tutors at the Writing Center are happy to reteach and
reapply this concept, instructors should have already explained the idea and their expectations.
There are a variety of ways thesis statements can be taught; for instance, theses can be
taught through examples. A thesis statement can be crafted with relative ease, though it may
require time and thought. Purdue OWL gives an excellent example of a thesis statement about
the college admission process: “An analysis of the college admission process reveals one
challenge facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with strong
extracurricular backgrounds.” Purdue goes on to explain that “the paper that follows
should…explain the analysis of the college admission process” and “explain the challenge facing
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admissions counselors” (Developing a Thesis). Like the latter example, the ideal thesis statement
should capture the main idea, but also, the points that reinforce said idea.
Thesis statements can also be taught by giving basic thesis structures and letting students
fill in the blanks. Utah State University’s own Dr. Shane Graham, an English professor, also has
an excellent and simple method for structuring theses. His system is so good, I have personally
taught it to several visiting students. Other tutors also teach it. That is how great it is. It begins
with an acknowledgement of the opposite opinion in the form of an “although” statement. A
definite declaration of the actual main idea follows. For example, “Although many people think
the Star Wars prequel trilogy is terrible, it does have redeeming qualities.” A secondary sentence
may follow to clarify the thesis further (Graham). This is not the required format for a thesis
statement, but is an excellent one to use if one does is unsure how to construct their own thesis.
Other structures can be used. Theses are not difficult to construct. They do, though, require time
and thought to write well. Although there is no perfect way to write a thesis statement, teaching
structures like Dr. Graham’s, while featuring the featuring the above disclaimer, can help
students to understand the idea better. A lack of understanding is the only true barrier to crafting
a strong thesis statement.
If more time were spent in high school classes and in early college-level English classes
teaching about thesis statements, this would not be a problem. In my experience, I was taught
about thesis statements in middle school, and the concept was almost never brought up again. I
had a decent comprehension of theses, but an imperfect one. It was only working with
professors—during their office hours, not during class time—that I was able to understand what
was expected of me in terms of the thesis in a more complete sense. This can regularly be the
case for other students. So many students come into the Writing Center talking about how much
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they dislike writing or how they are a bad writer. These students do not know where to begin
with their projects. Something as simple as reteaching a student about thesis statements and
helping them make one gives them such a huge feeling of relief. Their stress and their worries
would not have happened if they had just been retaught thesis statements. Just one day, maybe
even half a class period, spent reteaching this important aspect of writing could help students
from all majors write more confidently and enjoy the process. Everyone wins when theses are
retaught.
As in the introduction, this is not a thesis statement, either. This is the beginning of the
conclusion. Here the writer synthesizes their points, whatever that means. The restated thesis
does not come until the end of the conclusion. It often comes with a call to action. The thesis is
of utmost importance to persuasive writing; it gives one’s argument and writing both direction
and clarity. Many incoming students do not seem to understand the significance of the thesis.
Hopefully, professors and high school teachers can begin reteaching this principle and make a
point of emphasizing its necessity in academic writing. As they do so, the Writing Center can
help students improve on a far more diverse set of writing skills, and these students will come to
enjoy writing all the more for it.
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Works Cited
Allen, Brittney. Personal Interview. 1 November 2017
Carlquist, Andrea. Personal Interview. 1 November 2017
Curzan, Anne. “Why I Don’t Ask Students to Write the Thesis Statement First.” The Chronicle
of Higher Education. 25 Jul. 2017.
https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/07/25/why-i-dont-ask-students-to-
write-the-thesis-statement-first/
Developing a Thesis. Purdue OWL Engagement.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.
Graham, Shane. Personal Interview. 13 April 2017
Hahn, Jessica. Personal Interview. 1 November 2017
Tips and Tools: Thesis Statements. University of North Carolina: The Writing Center.
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements. Accessed 26 Oct. 2017
Writers Tips: Thesis Statements. University of Illinois Center for Writing Studies.
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/thesis. Accessed 27 Oct. 2017.
