Although Some of Her Evidence Is Either Irrelevant Or Unrepresentative, Most of It Is Both

The thesis statement should:

· Be a general statement about the essay(s) as a whole. Save the examples for the body of your paper.

· Clearly state an assessment of the evidence, and an assessment of the reasoning (assumptions).

o The assessments are different—how you evaluate reasoning is different from how you evaluate evidence.

o The assessments are presented next to each other.

o The assessments use the key terms (evidence: S,R,R; reasoning: assumptions)

In an essay evaluating a single article, the thesis statement should also state whether the article is, on balance, persuasive or unpersuasive, based on the evaluation of evidence and reasoning.

In a comparative essay (comparing two different articles), the thesis statement should also state which of the two articles is more persuasive, based on the evaluation of evidence and reasoning.

Sample thesis statement for single-article essay:

Although some of her evidence is either irrelevant or unrepresentative, most of it is both relevant and representative, and the total quantity is more than enough to prove her claim. Likewise, a few of her assumptions are faulty, but the most important ones are sound. Therefore, overall her argument is persuasive.

Sample thesis statement for two-article essay:

While Obama uses powerful examples to sway the audience, McKinney’s evidence is more plentiful and more representative, and her assumptions are stronger, making hers the more persuasive article.