Thesis statement

Thesis statement is that sentence (maximum two sentences) that tells the readers exactly what the essay is about. It contains the focus of your essay, therefore the entire text should be neither narrower nor broader than what is stated in the thesis statement. It is also sometimes refferred to as the "umbrella" of the essay, and the essay itself represents things under it. So the text should fill all the space under the umbrella, but watch not to get too big so that nothing gets wet.

Where to put the thesis statement

Thesis statement should be somewhere in the first paragraph of the essay, or somewhere close to the beginning. The classic spot to put thesis statement into is the last sentence of the first paragraph.

• Example of poor thesis statement: A town is a populated area with buildings and cars.
• Example of strong thesis statement: A town is a settlement with population of minimum 12 thousand dwellers, in which industry outweights agriculture.

It is very simple; just ask yourself, "what is the main idea I want to tell my readers about?"

It is believed that every essay must have a thesis statement, however the truth is that there are several types of compositions that do not need thesis statements. For example, a lot of narrative essays do not contain a thesis statement at all. Biographies and fiction do not have thesis statements either.