II.G. THE REVISED / FINAL THESIS

    As you continue your research, you should review all materials at hand and ask yourself, "What question am I answering?"  Some places to look for questions include: where experts disagree, where problems are unsolved, where more knowledge is needed to answer a question, or where a more logical organization could be applied.
 
    The statement that answers the question becomes the revised thesis, which is placed as the last sentence in your introduction.

    The thesis statement is more successful if:

1. The words are exact, and you eliminate all words such as good, bad, a lot, many, best, worst, etc. Weak Example: Summer vacation is a nice time for everyone. ("nice" is too general a word for a thesis)
2. The subject is limited, and you avoid comparisons that are impossible to develop in a limited paper. Weak Example: Patton was the most effective World War II commander. (Here Patton must be compared to all army and navy commanders in all militaries of World War II.  That cannot be done in a short paper).
3. The thesis is not trite.  Weak Example: Football is a competitive sport.  (Everyone would agree that football is a competitive sport.   Therefore, the paper does not spark the reader's interest).

Sample Final Thesis Statements
     The final thesis statements that follow are revisions made to the working thesis statements from page II.F.  They have been refined following research to make a statement that has several main sections that will be supported in different sections of the research paper.

1. The Puritan forefathers left England not only to seek religious freedom but also to develop economic and political freedom.
2. Odysseus’s adventures showed him to have three important characteristics of the mythological hero:  God-like powers, a test or a journey, and important cultural values.
3. The stops on the Underground Railroad in Bucks County were important because of their geographical location, philosophy of the residents, and accessibility to water.
4. Two of William Faulkner’s short stories, “Barn Burning” and “That Evening Sun,” illustrate racial strife through their violence and unorthodox view of death.