The thesis statement is the most critical aspect of your paper. Why, you ask? Have you ever gotten into the car for a road trip without the slightest idea of where you were going, what you would do, or how long you would be gone? Probably not. Planning is essential for a great journey. Knowing where you are going dictates many things: how much money do I need, what should I pack, and what I will do there? If you asked me to join that mysterious car trip, most likely I would refuse.

Writing is much the same. Without a clear purpose for the point we are trying to make, how do we know what references to gather, how to organize the information, and how to engage the reader to read our work? The thesis statement provides the purpose for your 'road trip' and encourages the reader to take a front seat for a wonderful adventure.

The thesis statement establishes important information for the writer and the reader in the first paragraph:

What is the topic?

What is the claim?

What is the evidence to verify the claim?

Placing this information into the last sentence of the introduction becomes the purpose and the map for the contents of the writing.

A potential thesis statement for a simple essay on elder healthcare might look like this:

Quality healthcare for Medicare patients is reduced due to inadequate coverage of service expenses, decreased ability to pay for medications, and inconsistent healthcare delivery for all populations.

Now let's break it down to see if this thesis statement is strong by presenting the topic, the claim, and three supporting facts to be discussed.

Quality healthcare for Medicare patients [the topic] [focused more narrowly for a simple paper] is reduced [the claim] due to inadequate coverage of service expenses [1], decreased ability to pay for medications [2], and inconsistent healthcare delivery for all populations [3] [three supporting facts].

These "facts" at this point are really assertions. The assertions become more factual (and less opinion) as you add scholarly citations and references. The more of these, the stronger your assertion is seen as factual.

Yes, it looks like we have a compelling purpose statement. Not only does this inform the reader, but it actually provides the outline for your paper right here! Nice! This is wonderful place to start, but as you go through your researched sources, you may find that you need to adjust the thesis statement somewhat. That's okay. You have your initial map, and everyone knows where you are headed!

Now, you try it!

Include the following aspects

create a possible thesis statement for each of the topics below. [You do not need to find resources upon which to base your statement since these topics are general.]

Include a narrowed topic, a claim, and three reasonable supporting ideas.

Divide each thesis statement as the colored example above and place the information in the following table.

Topics - 1. The opioid crisis 2. Online education 3. Flu vaccinations

Include a title page and a page 2 with a title, following APA style, and the table.

Table form:

	Broad topic as provided above	Narrowed topic	Claim	Evidence #1	Evidence #2	Evidence #3	Entire thesis statement
1
2
3