The UVic Writer's Guide

The ideal thesis (like the topic itself) will be neither too broad nor too narrow for the compass of your essay. Clearly a 3000-word essay will have a more complex argument, and correspondingly a more complex thesis, than an essay of 600 words. One of the most common problems with essays is that they are based on a thesis that is too obvious to be worth arguing--a truism. Here are some examples of possible theses:

Specific topic:

How commercials manipulate their audience

A thesis that is a truism:

"Television Commercials attempt to sell their products to the largest possible audience."

A thesis that is too broad:

"Several tactics are used to entice consumers to buy the advertised product."(This thesis is likely to produce an essay that is simply a shopping list of examples, dull both

for the writer and reader.)

A sharper thesis:

"Commercials sell their products by suggesting that those who buy them will instantly enter an ideal world where they are irresistably attractive."

Too limited:

"Molson Canadian commercials are offensive."

Specific topic:

Problems in fighting the medieval fire-breathing dragon.

A thesis that is a truism:

"Fighting fire-breathing dragons was hell."

A thesis that is too broad:

"The flames of passion in courtly love claimed more knights' lives than all the fire-breathing dragons in medieval Europe." (The topic is unwieldy because it involves two areas of research, courtly love and fire-breathing dragons.)

A sharper thesis:

"Fewer knights would have been broiled in their armour if the medieval world had known of fire-extinguishers."

Too limited:

" 'Puff the Magic Dragon' is a sweet song."