15 Argumentative Thesis Statements

In Chapter 13, we discussed the opportunities for analytical thesis statements. In this chapter, we will explore an argumentative thesis statement, one that is written for a different purpose.

Parts of an argumentative thesis statement

The general guidelines for thesis statements still apply from Chapter 13.   In an argumentative text, in particular, your thesis statement will assert a claim (make an argument) about the way something should be. As opposed to the analytical thesis statement, the argumentative thesis is focused on change, with a topic, a claim (demanding change), and a reason (for that change).

In this example, we get the following:

The topic is what you think needs to change (a law, a process, etc.), and the claim (often beginning with the word “should” suggests a new way of conducting the process, or a new law, or a change to the law). In this example, the topic is the college admission process, and what should change is how they evaluate students.

In the following activity, try to identify the parts of a thesis statement.

Adding a reason to our argumentative thesis statement

While some argumentative thesis statements only have a topic and claim, some thesis statements also include a reason, or what some people call the “so what” of a thesis.

You might have been taught to list 3 reasons that you then explore in 3 paragraphs as part of a five-paragraph essay. For college writing and beyond, we encourage you to move beyond this structure to more sophisticated reasons that you then unpack for the reader. Sometimes, the most difficult part of writing the thesis is making the “reason” broad enough to prepare the reader for your essay without just listing three ideas. They should give meaning to your piece, or a purpose (“so what”) for your argument. Try identifying the topic, opinion, and reason in the next thesis statement. The statement in this activity is adapted from Kimiya Shokri’s “The Persian Under the Rug [New Tab].”

In the following activity, try to identify the parts of a thesis statement.

Connection to Embodied Rhetorics

Argumentative thesis statements can continue our work of ensuring that we understand ourselves as writers through embodiment. The final thesis example is from “The Persian Under the Rug,” an argument written by Kimiya Shokri about her lived experience as a Persian-American striving to become an actor in America. She wrote the piece in her first year at Saint Mary’s College.

In the following reflection, we invite you try to consider your lived experience and identities as a way to create your own thesis statement.