How to Write a Thesis on the History of American Business

Writing guide
Posted on January 17, 2017

In the previous two guides, we discussed 10 facts for a thesis on the history of American business and 20 topics for a thesis on the history of American business, to help you built a strong foundation so that you can write a great thesis for your paper.

In this final guide, we discuss how you will actually plan and write your thesis on the history of American business. Reading this guide will help improve your thesis in a number of ways by adding high credibility and worthiness to it.

Here is how to write a thesis on the history of American business:

Develop a Thesis First

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that you are a member of a jury whose main purpose is to listen to the lawyer proposing an open argument. What would you want from that lawyer? You would want to know if he/she believes the accused is guilty. You’ll also want to know why he believes so, and how he plans to convince you of this notion. That is pretty much how your readers think while reading your thesis. Consider your audience as jury members. They want to know what you will argue about and how you plan to do it.

An effective thesis isn’t a topic, a fact or an opinion. Instead, a good thesis discusses two key points of your paper:

  1. What you plan to argue.
  2. How you plan to argue “it” or your main take-away; i.e. what your support for your claim is and where it’s going to go in your essay.

How to Construct a Thesis

Here is how a thesis is ideally constructed:

  1. Analyze your primary sources first.
  2. Seek tension, ambiguity, complication, controversy and interest.
  3. Know if the author contradicts himself/herself or not.
  4. Keep an eye out for a point that’s made then reversed later.
  5. Find out the deeper implications of the author’s argument, if there are any.

Seek out what we have described above and you’ll have a clear idea on developing a thesis that actually works and sounds like a thesis.

Write down the thesis as soon as you have a working one. It is very frustrating to have a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it due to losing your train of thought. Writing down a thesis will make you think clearly, concisely and logically. Be wary though; your first written thesis would not serve as a final draft. However, you’ve written something that’s appropriate for your audience, so good job!

Readers are used to finding thesis at the end of the introductory paragraph (generally, this is a rule of thumb in academic papers), usually in a 5-15 page essay. So it’s always recommended to have your thesis statement where it belongs which allows the reader to automatically pay more attention to it. However, seek advice from your professor about the placement of your thesis statement, since it can vary from paper to paper.

Note that every argument houses a counterargument and you should anticipate which ones need to be refuted later on. This helps in refining your thesis even more, strengthens it further, and makes it more convincing and interesting to read.

The Traits of an Effective Thesis

To make your thesis admirable, convincing, solid and interesting to read, keep in mind the following traits which make for an effective thesis:

  1. It’s never a question.
  2. It’s never a list.
  3. It isn’t vague, confrontational or combative.
  4. It holds an arguable and definable claim.
  5. It is as clear and specific as a thesis can be.

Now get going and do your best! We’re certain that you’re going to be admired for the hard work you put into your business thesis. Just follow our guidelines as strictly as possible and you’re all set.

Happy writing!

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