Thesis Statement

Thesis Statement

• Guide to an essay contains a map of what the essay will argue and prove
• Should argue if the website is valuable
• Criteria used to reach that assessment
• Details the overall purpose of and sets up the angle for your judgment
• should argue the value or lack of value of your particular topic based on the criteria you have established

Example

• The NIMH’s website meets accuracy, objectivity, and authority by providing a well-put-together and informative site describing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Shows...

• what website is being evaluated
• what the verdict is on whether it meets or does not meet the criteria
• what criteria were used to determine value
• only one sentence at the end of the introduction paragraph

Think about...

• what thesis statement would fit your essay?
• including the value of the website you have reviewed
• list the criteria that you chose to evaluate

Three Criteria Only

• remember not to overwhelm your essay with disproportionate amounts of criteria to examples you will be able to provide

For a website with a good review...

• and proving it through evidence that it does meet the criteria.
• The ________website meets the first criteria, second criteria, and third criteria to____________because it reaches ________(audience) through its ...(do what?).

For a website with a bad review...

• and proving it through evidence that it does not meet the criteria.
• The __________website does not meet the first criteria, second criteria, and third criteria because it fails to _____________(audience, purpose).

For a website with a mixed review

• ​and proving it with evidence for each criteria accordingly
• The __________website meets first criteria and second criteria, however it fails to meet the third criteria because ______.

Example Thesis Statement:

• Example Thesis Statements: The _______website does not provide a valuable source of information to the audience due to its failure to establish authority, objectivity, and accuracy.​

These are just examples. Try to be clear and unique. Stay away from run-on sentences and refrain from using faulty parallelism.

References

• Chapter 9 Writing with purpose textbook
• Professor Petty's examples and resources