Sense of Direction

A woman and her child were strolling at the mall. The place was crowded as usual. The child clutched her mother’s hand, showing her fear of losing the way. The mother smiled at her daughter and held her hand. She reassured the child, “Do not worry, I am here. I will not leave you. I will show you the way.”

In most things in life, people need a sense of direction. There must be a guiding factor that will lead them to the right path. The same goes in writing. There should be an element that will lead the progression of the written piece. This element is the Thesis Statement.

The Thesis Statement is a very significant part of an essay.  It is the main idea presented in the whole piece. It is the subject of the discussion. It is the core of the article. Without the Thesis Statement, the essay will be pointless, meaningless and senseless. It is basically because the Thesis regulates the flow of the essay. It sets the limits and boundaries of the discussion and decides on how wide or narrow the scope of the debate is.

One must learn first how to correctly formulate a Thesis Statement. Etymologically speaking, of course it must be a complete sentence and not a fragment. It must be a statement that declares an opinion from the point of view of the writer. It must be taken from the viewpoint of the writer and not just a mere recollection of facts. It is usually written in the last sentence of the first paragraph.

There are three vital parts in making a Thesis Statement: topic, controlling idea and predictors. The topic is the central point of the essay. There must be one controlling idea in the Thesis Statement because otherwise, the details given will be irrelevant to each other. The predictors are clues and details given in the Thesis Statement that connect the topic and controlling idea to each other. It establishes the relationship between them.

With the Thesis Statement, the writer is putting forward an argument. He is claiming something in his essay that he believes is true. That belief in oneself is enough power to put into paper whatever it is that is in his mind. And with that confidence, the writer leads the direction in his essay. After all, the Thesis Statement is a contract made by the writer with his readers.