Writing

Thesis Statements

It will state the subject of the writing prompt.
It will repeat the key words of the writing prompt.
It will directly respond to each part of the writing prompt with a specific purpose (for informational essays) or point of view (for persuasive essays).
It will justify discussion and exploration; it won’t just list a topic to talk about. For example, “Elephants are really big mammals” would not justify discussion or exploration.
It must be arguable, if the thesis introduces a persuasive essay. For example, “Terrorism is really bad and must be stopped” is not an arguable point of view.

For short essays, a good thesis statement is characterized by the following:

It is one or two declarative sentences (no questions).
It is placed at the end of the introduction. This is not a hard and fast rule; however, the thesis statement does appear in this position in fifty percent of expository writing and the typical organization of an introductory paragraph is from general to specific.
It does not split the purpose or point of view of the essay into two or more points to prove. It has a single purpose or point of view that multiple topic sentences will address.
It may or may not include a preview of the topic sentences.

These guidelines are intended to be generic and should be adapted to suit the particular needs of the question.

8-9 points

Thesis is explicit and fully responsive to the question.
Organization is clear, consistently followed, and effective in support of the argument.
Essay is well balanced; all major topics suggested by the prompt are covered at some length.
All major assertions are supported by multiple pieces of relevant evidence.
May contain errors that do not detract from the argument.

6-7 points

Thesis is explicit and responsive to the question.
Organization is clear and effective in support of the argument but not consistently followed.
Essay is balanced; all major topics suggested by the prompt are covered at least briefly.
All major assertions in the essay are supported by at least one piece of relevant evidence.
May contain an error that detracts from the argument.

4-5 points

Thesis is explicit but not fully responsive to the question.
Organization is clear and effective in support oft he argument but not consistently followed.
Essay shows some imbalance; some major topics suggested by the prompt are neglected.
Most of the major assertions are supported by least one piece of relevant evidence.
May contain a few errors that detract from the argument.

2-3 points

No explicit thesis or a thesis that merely repeats/paraphrases the prompt.
Organization is unclear and ineffective.
Essay shows serious imbalance; most major topics suggested by the prompt are neglected.
Only one or two major assertions are supported by relevant evidence.
May contain several errors that detract from the argument.