Creating a Defensible Thesis for Argument

The following subsections give some aid in creating effective theses that won't pigeon-hole you when writing timed essays.

When drafting a thesis, it is extremely important to be mindful of the assertions you make. Obviously, don't draft a thesis that states the obvious or argues points that have no direct correlation to the prompt at hand. On the contrary, don't try to support a thesis that is an extreme response to the prompt as it will be extremely difficult to support your prompt without holes in your reasoning. Your ideal thesis is one that effectively answers the prompt with a concrete qualifiers that make it easily supportable. It may be helpful to outline what questions you should be trying to answer in order to completely fulfill the prompt.

Should chess be considered a sport?

What does the prompt want?

• It wants a definition of a sport
• It needs to know how chess fits/doesn't fit the criteria.
• Propose whether or not it is a sport.

A good thesis should cover all three of the listed questions without being overbearing or biting off more you can chew in the timeslot given.

Chess should not be considered a sport because it is a terrible waste of time and there is nothing to gain from board games.

While obviously no one will write a thesis this stringent in practice, its clear that this thesis won't be easily supported without flaws in logic that are ultimately subjective. While this may be your gut feeling, avoid this if at all possible as you won't be able to cover all of your points effectively¹⁾. Plus, your reader will probably counter your point themselves as they read, which diminishes the effectiveness of your paper.

Despite being a more passive activity, chess should be considered a sport as it challenges its competitors in ways similar to traditional sports.

This thesis answers everything given in the outline and doesn't claim anything too overbearing or not effectively supportable. This is the best one of the examples and you should strive for theses like this one.

Chess should be considered a sport because it is a really hard game and requires alot of mathematic skills.

The issue with this thesis is that, while it does attempt to provide a claim, it fails to support why is should be considered a sport. Yes, the game is difficult and requires good mathematics and logical skill, however how are those necessarily required for a sport? The Moderate thesis answered this by comparing chess to other sports, drawing similarities. This one, however, does not. Honestly this type of claim is by far the worse as the too extreme thesis atleast has an argument you can write about, while with this thesis everything you can write about doesn't even support answering the prompt. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!