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Civics CBA: Thesis Development

What's the fuss about the thesis?

Five Tests for a Good Thesis

Five Tests:
  1. Does the thesis inspire a reasonable reader to ask, "How?" or Why?"
  2. Would a reasonable reader NOT respond with "Duh!" or "So what?" or "Gee, no kidding!" or "Who cares?"
  3. Does the thesis avoid general phrasing and/or sweeping words such as "all" or "none" or "every"?
  4. Does the thesis lead the reader toward the topic sentences (the subtopics needed to prove the thesis)?
  5. Can the thesis be adequately developed in the required length of the paper or project?

PurdueOWL Thesis tutorials