My college instructor is asking me to define and discuss one of the themes the entire class read about for homework. I've chosen to do a paper on Americanization of the Mexican American woman. However I don't understand how I should define and discuss the theme while writing my essay.

Question

A few questions:
1) Should my thesis statement be written in a way so that I define the theme and my body paragraphs will serve to discuss the theme?

I'm not familiar with writing essays within an history class so I don't know how I should write a thesis statement for this kind of setting. If possible, I'd like to hear some examples of thesis/central point ideas.

Writeacher · Answer

Follow the writing process, whether you're writing for science, history, English, or any other class:

Prewriting: Brainstorm, research, plan, outline, thesis statement**

Writing: Write first draft by starting with section II of your outline; write the introduction after the body of the paper is written; write the conclusion last.

Polishing: Revise, concentrating first on the body of the paper, then the intro, then the concl (revision = making sure ideas are logical and sequential and support your thesis); proofread (spelling, grammar, usage, etc.)

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/catalogue.html#org
from http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/catalogue.html

http://www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess/

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Check in the Essay & Research Paper Level.

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** Your thesis statement must include factual information plus your position/opinion/stance. Without your position on the topic, it isn't a true thesis statement. So think of this sentence as the angle you want to take on the topic and what you intend to prove by the end of your paper. (If your statement is simply factual, then there's nothing to prove!)

http://blog.eduify.com/index.php/2009/06/21/5-tips-on-how-to-write-a-strong-thesis-statement/
Read carefully and follow ALL directions.

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/thesistatement.html
This is one of the very best places I've seen online to help students write good thesis statements. It shows you sentences that aren't thesis statements and how to turn each one into real thesis statements.