Tentative Thesis Statement

Tentative Thesis Statement

What is a Tentative Thesis?

What happens when a student is asked to write an assignment that he or she understands so well? There could be several answers to this question, but one that probably would be common among the responses is that they will accomplish the task without hesitation. Interestingly, all the writing assignments may on the surface look easier, but the truth is that writing is a process that must take into account some elements. An example of a great cog to the whole wheel of writing is a tentative thesis statement. Yes! You read it right…a tentative thesis. So what is a tentative thesis statement?

Imagine a 50 story building without supporting pillars. The building despite looking magnificent may not last will probably tumble down. In fact it will collapse. It is unimaginable to go that high without having strong support structures for a building? By all architectural standards this will be considered as a disgrace to the practice and will probably lead to prosecutions. Luckily for writer’s, you may not be prosecuted but when you write an article that is based on no theme or thesis, it will face rejection from the readers and your credibility will be tarnished.

A tentative thesis is like the support structure that carries all the weight of the article. We can refer various components of the article to the thesis. In other words, the tentative thesis serves as the driver of the paper given that is the main argument presented by the writer. Adaptation of the tentative thesis to the purpose of the paper is normally a challenge for most of the students, and that is why they need to have tentative thesis examples to guide them.

Where to Place a Tentative Thesis

While writing the article, academic papers are normally structured in a way that they have an introduction a body and a conclusion. Some introductions may have more than one paragraph while others may just be a single paragraph. Good tentative thesis examples are those that are not buried in the body section of the article. To make the readers to know where you are taking them in your paper, it is important to have the tentative essay in the introduction paragraph. It is usually placed in the last sentence of the paragraph

What is the Length of the Tentative Thesis?

If the writer wants to give his or her readers a good gift and a reason to read the paper, then the tentative thesis should be as short as possible. Considerably, the length should not exceed two sentences; otherwise, the writer might fail to organize his or her thoughts in the final document in a much more clear way. Just like the example of the 50 story pillars play some very specific roles, and so is the tentative thesis. Too much information may derail the focus, and less information may as well lead to a weak document.

Style of the Tentative Thesis

It is imperative to look at some of the tentative thesis statement example to appreciate the role of writing style. Usually, various organizations or universities have their policy of how an assignment is supposed to be presented. Among the common styles include APA, MLA, and Chicago and so on. APA will require the student to use Times New Roman 12 as the font and font size. Also, it has its own organization style which is explained in the manual.

Writing a Thesis

With the right materials and information in place, how to write a tentative thesis may not be such a big deal. It is important to note that the principal pillar even for a tentative thesis is a topic. Once a topic has been identified, the formulation of a tentative thesis may begin. Writing of a clear and well-focused tentative thesis should be the central concern for a student because the tentative thesis might be subjected to grading. The fact that one will have to alter the final thesis by refining the tentative essay implies that it is important to get it right with the first statements.

Notably, there are several tentative thesis based on the type of the essay and the topic. This underlies the Importance of understanding what one is writing in addition to subject of discussion.

These are some of the assignments that are commonly assigned in colleges and universities. The topics are generated based on the type essay and so is the tentative thesis:

  1. Review essays: a student may be asked to review a book and present his or her findings in the form of an essay. What is important to remember is that the purpose which in this case is to carry out a review will be helpful in generating a tentative thesis. The topic will be dictated by the subject being reviewed, for example, A review of the Government Inspector by Nicolai Gogol.
  2. Critique Essay: we will derive our tentative thesis statement from the purpose, which in this case, is to critique possibly a book or an academic journal. Just as the one mentioned above, the topic will largely be influenced by the journal or the book itself, for example, a critique of corporate communication.
  3. Compare and Contrast essays: when tasked with an assignment of comparing and contrasting two situations or more, the topic will be easy to generate given that the writer may opt to name comparable elements. It will also be a great foundation for a tentative thesis statement.
  4. Essay on Personal Reflection: this is another interesting topic to handle. In fact the topic is easy to generate given that the writer speaks more of his or her personal experience. Also, we can write a great tentative thesis statement reflecting the whole purpose which according to this type of article is about one’s life.

With a strong understanding of the purpose of the assignment, everything seemingly falls into place. Not only does the writer get easy time in formulating the topic, but he or she also find the formulation of the tentative thesis easy to do. In summary, understanding whether you are required to write an analytical, argumentative, personal evaluative or comparison article will give the writer a head start in creating the tentative thesis statement. Never forget that the tentative thesis should never be a contrast of the writing goal.

Formulation of a Tentative Thesis Statement

Given the fact that different learning institutions grade their students differently, some may require the students to hand in a tentative thesis statement example they have formulated for grading. The requirement may be scary, especially when a student does not know how to write a tentative thesis statement. What is important is that even with minor mistakes, the tentative thesis is not the final document, so there is no need for a student to panic.

Purposefully, a tentative thesis should be a guide that helps the writer to put the needed points in the correct order and explanation. Even in as much as it is tentative, there must be some supporting evidence for the tentative thesis. The development of the thesis up to the final one is very much dependent on the first draft which in this case is the tentative thesis.

When a writer embarks in planning, he or she should clearly define the tentative thesis so that the focus can be aligned to the collated evidence. There must be a complementary role between the evidence and the tentative thesis statement example in the sense that the evidence should eventually inform the final thesis that the writer settles.

Some writers or scholars who appreciate the analytical approach have made recommendations to the effect that one must question him or herself in the following manner when they are writing the tentative thesis statement:

  1. What are the possible relationships between the patterns that emerge in the evidence and the tentative thesis?
  2. What are the specific needs in terms of the evidence the tentative thesis statement requires for it to fulfil the purpose of the writer?
  1. Is it possible to get all the evidence, and if not, what are some of the evidences that are beyond the scope of my purpose that should be ignored?
  2. Are there gaps or grey areas between the tentative thesis and the collected evidence that need some improvement?
  3. What is the best way of writing while accommodating the new evidence gathered in the course of writing the article?

The beauty with constant readjustments of the tentative thesis statement in order to reflect the evidence leads to a much more polished thesis that is defensible in the final paper.

An Example of a tentative thesis

‘Technological advancement has seen the rise in teenagers owning smartphones and accessing online social platforms, thus leading to the rise in cyberbullying.’

Revised tentative thesis

“With the growing number of young people using social media and smartphones, cybercrime is increasingly affecting teenagers and exerting a lot of pressure on them. Depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies have been recorded. It is important that the parents and teachers collaborate to control the use of smartphones at home and at schools to deal with the problem immediately.”

While we acknowledge the importance of a tentative thesis in any writing, some are more interesting than others simply because they have been revised, refined and more ideas added to them. It is not a question of how best one can write, but what is important is one’s ability to connect with the readers through his or her thesis. It is important to identify loopholes or deficiencies in the tentative thesis before the writer delves much deeper into the article. Write only a tentative thesis that is as good as the final thesis statement despite the fact that it might still be subject to some changes.

It is equally recommended that element such as interesting paradox or contradictions or tension between two variables in a situation can be a great way of creating good tentative thesis examples. Writing the tentative thesis to reflect a contradiction will present the writer with a very firm foundation to bring out his or her argument. How you bring out complex issues in a tentative thesis is equally important in the sense that it means that one is taking his or her time to formulate a strong argument.

Tentative Thesis Statement Example Based on Contradiction

“Although the president speaks of the need to empower women, most of the companies owned by the government continue employing a big percentage of men and not women”

Complex Sentence example of a Tentative Thesis

“Even though modern day writers rely on technology to edit their articles, the older generation of writers apply the use of good sentence structures and good language to put emphasis on the meaning of their articles and to relay an assortment of well thought of ideas.”

Good tentative thesis examples should compose of information that is tightly connected through subordinating conjunctions consisting of the things that are already in the public domain about the topic and a presentation of less obvious information thus making the tentative essay more interesting.

To establish the strength of the tentative thesis statement, the writer should ask the following questions:

  • Are elements such as analysis, the in-depth ideas captured in the thesis?
  • Is there an aspect of argument with regards to the critical information and is the wording well expressed?
  • Does the thesis raise an argument of not?
  • Can the thesis be defended or is it lacking defense?
  • Is the tentative thesis statement original or does it presents an idea that is already known?
  • Does it give me an answer to what is a tentative thesis in my mind?

Conclusion

While appreciating the task of writing, it is important to note that how to write a tentative thesis does not largely differ with the writing of the final thesis statement. Therefore, writers should put more emphasis on laying a stronger foundation for the article by beginning with equally a stronger tentative thesis. Various components and ideas that will form the final thesis should be very clear when writing the tentative thesis; otherwise, a weaker statement will impact the final claim. A writer can also compare tentative thesis statement examples to have an understanding of how he or she can best create a good one.