Purpose Of Thesis Introduction

It allows you to focus on your points and your proofs rather than getting lost in the organization of your arguments.

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The academic essay is merely a specific writing genre–as is the love letter, newspaper editorial, or pop-fiction.

As a result, a major convention of the academic essay is that: Having stated a thesis, you are expected to then go and prove it through the body of the essay.

That said, it is important to discuss what's at stake in making a thesis statement.

What makes them simple is that in terms of their logical structure, they only take on one line of proof, and hence, their organization of proof will be simple.

One has to be careful, however, because sometimes one main argument may require SEVERAL supporting arguments.There are four basic logical forms for a thesis statement: • A banal thesis statement • A simple thesis statement • A complex thesis statement • An impossible thesis statement Let's discuss each of these quickly before moving on.A banal thesis statement is a statement that does not really say anything–it is in fact meaningless because it is either so overly general or so evident as to not be of significance. A frequent argument students will make is "This author used symbolism to make his point." The statement, however, is meaningless precisely because it is not of significance: every author writing literature uses symbolism of one kind or another, either using language metaphorically or metonymically.It still meets an introduction's purpose of orienting the reader, it just does so in a very specific manner.Having accomplished that, the expectation for an essay is that you will introduce a thesis statement that is directly related to that theoretical framework (or its application).The purpose of the academic essay is to persuade by reasoned discourse.Scholars use the essay amongst themselves to advance ideas.Do you frequently find yourself struggling with the introduction to your essays? Do you find yourself searching for a generalizing statement that will get things going, and trying to find a delicate balance between BS'ing and saying something meaningful?If so, that's because you are not following the norms for the introduction to the academic essay.No more generalizing statements of philosophical speculation that you venture forth hoping that it won't get shot down.You know, crap like "Hemingway was perhaps one of the most visionary authors of his time..." or "The Western is perhaps the most uniquely American of all the genres..." Rather, if the purpose of the essay is to demonstrate that you have appropriated a theory and applied it independently to produce results, then the function of the introduction becomes more focused: to introduce the theory–or theoretical framework–that you have decided to use.