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Locating Explicit and Implicit Thesis Statements

The document discusses locating explicit and implicit thesis statements in different types of writing. [1] In academic writing and journalism, the thesis statement is usually explicit and located near the beginning. [2] In literature, the thesis is usually implicit and conveyed indirectly throughout the work. [3] Academic writing sometimes also uses implicit thesis statements.

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Emelda Cañas Abay-abay
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230 views

Locating Explicit and Implicit Thesis Statements

The document discusses locating explicit and implicit thesis statements in different types of writing. [1] In academic writing and journalism, the thesis statement is usually explicit and located near the beginning. [2] In literature, the thesis is usually implicit and conveyed indirectly throughout the work. [3] Academic writing sometimes also uses implicit thesis statements.

Uploaded by

Emelda Cañas Abay-abay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Locating Explicit and Implicit Thesis Statements

Lumencandela

In academic writing, the thesis is often explicit: it is included as a sentence as part of


the text. It might be near the beginning of the work, but not always–some types of
academic writing leave the thesis until the conclusion.

Journalism and reporting also rely on explicit thesis statements that appear very early in
the piece–the first paragraph or even the first sentence.

Works of literature, on the other hand, usually do not contain a specific sentence that
sums up the core concept of the writing. However, readers should finish the piece with a
good understanding of what the work was trying to convey. This is what’s called
an implicit thesis statement: the primary point of the reading is conveyed indirectly, in
multiple locations throughout the work. (In literature, this is also referred to as
the theme of the work.)

Academic writing sometimes relies on implicit thesis statements, as well.

This video offers excellent guidance in identifying the thesis statement of a work, no
matter if it’s explicit or implicit.

Topic Sentences

We’ve learned that a thesis statement conveys the primary message of an entire piece
of text. Now, let’s look at the next level of important sentences in a piece of text: topic
sentences in each paragraph.

A useful metaphor would be to think of the thesis statement of a text as a general: it


controls all the major decisions of the writing. There is only one thesis statement in a
text. Topic sentences, in this relationship, serve as captains: they organize and sub-
divide the overall goals of a writing into individual components. Each paragraph will
have a topic sentence.
It might be helpful to think of a topic sentence as working in two directions
simultaneously. It relates the paragraph to the essay’s thesis, and thereby acts as a
signpost for the argument of the paper as a whole, but it also defines the scope of the
paragraph itself. For example, consider the following topic sentence:

Many characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun have one


particular dream in which they are following, though the character Walter
pursues his most aggressively.

If this sentence controls the paragraph that follows, then all sentences in the paragraph
must relate in some way to Walter and the pursuit of his dream.
Topic sentences often act like tiny thesis statements. Like a thesis statement, a topic
sentence makes a claim of some sort. As the thesis statement is the unifying force in
the essay, so the topic sentence must be the unifying force in the paragraph. Further, as
is the case with the thesis statement, when the topic sentence makes a claim, the
paragraph which follows must expand, describe, or prove it in some way. Topic
sentences make a point and give reasons or examples to support it.

The topic sentence is often, though not always, the first sentence of a paragraph.

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