Thesis Statement VS Statement of Purpose
NOTE:
Most
academic writing will require a Thesis statement.
LEO Thesis Statements
Do not
announce the thesis of your paper with phrases such as
“I will discuss……”
or “This
paper will……”
A thesis
sentence should both identify the topic of the paper and indicate the
author's attitude toward the topic or position on the topic. Thus, it should
do more than announce a topic. "Announcements" take the form This paper will
do such-and-such or In this paper I will . . . ..
Alice L. Trupe,
2001,
Bridgewater College
From
University of Madison-Wisconsin Writing
Center:
A thesis statement . . .
· Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
· Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
· Is focused and specific enough to be "proven" within the boundaries of your paper.
· Is generally located near the end of the introduction; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
· Identifies the relationships
X: In this paper, I will discuss how ABC……..
OK: ABC has made a significant impact on the teenage population due to its . . .
Statement of Purpose
From University of Madison-Wisconsin Writing Center:
A purpose statement announces the purpose, scope, and direction of the paper. It tells the reader what to expect in a paper and what the specific focus will be.
"This paper examines . . .," "The aim of this paper is to . . .," and "The purpose of this essay is to . . ." are common beginnings.
· A purpose statement makes a promise to the reader about the development of the argument but does not preview the particular conclusions that the writer has drawn.
· A purpose statement usually appears toward the end of the introduction. The purpose statement may be expressed in several sentences or even an entire paragraph.
· A purpose statement is specific enough to satisfy the requirements of the assignment. Purpose statements are common in research papers in some academic disciplines, while in other disciplines they are considered too blunt or direct. If you are unsure about using a purpose statement, ask your instructor.