Opinions in a thesis statement
 

Are there any writing experts out there?

I am writing an essay and I am wondering about my thesis statement in my introductory paragraph. Is it Okay to state any of my opinions in the thesis statement or should i wait until the conclusion?

Thank you

re: essay writing
 

Hi Maekju, not sure what your writing level is (highschool, university, esl student, etc), so I apologize if I tell you stuff you already know.

When you write an essay, your thesis statement introduces what you are trying to prove in your essay. This is, of course, your opinion. If it were fact (e.g. "water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius) there would be no need to write an essay about it. Your thesis IS your opinion. Even a simple thesis statement such as "Shakespeare often relies on pathetic fallacy to foreshadow suprising plot developments" is an opinion, though it may not seem like it. "Often" is subjective, and someone else may disagree. Even "Korea has a rich cultural history spanning a thousand years" is an opinion (one with which many would agree of course). You need to show why this is true.

Perhaps what you are really wondering about is how much info to give in your opening paragraph. You don't want to give EVERYTHING in your opening statement, nor do you need to. You are simply telling the reader what you are going to prove to them, and a rough outline of how you will do that.

Hope this helps. There are a lot of essay writing resources on the net. Here are a few:

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/
http://essayinfo.com/
http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/essay/

:)

Thanks chocopie! :)

That clears up my confusion!