Think of something that you care about deeply and find an aspect of that interest that may need changing. The topic could be in politics, art or sports for example. But it must not simply tell a story because a thesis is not a narrative. You could write a thesis about why or why not college athletes should receive a salary or stipend for playing college sports.

Collect evidence. You must collect evidence so that you can build a strong case for making the claim you make in your thesis. Without evidence, your thesis will not be able to hold up in an argument and it will be ineffectual. You can use various resources such as the public library or Internet to research both the arguments that help you prove as well as disprove your thesis.

Read voraciously. Actively prepare yourself for an upcoming paper that will require a thesis by reading as much as you can about the subject. The more you read about a topic, the more familiar you will become with its nuances. You will also be able to see more perspectives about a topic which may induce you to take one approach over another in developing your thesis.

Search for articles in scholarly journals for academic articles. Scholarly journals provide very credible information for a wide variety of fields. Some scholarly journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine are world renown for the information they publish. Highly trusted sources are usually at the forefront of the current thought about a particular topic so they are useful tools for developing your thesis.

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Analyzing the Primary Source

• Pay close attention to the physical appearance of the object you are studying. If it is a letter, was it written on fancy stationery with elegant handwriting? Or was it scribbled on tattered paper? Visual clues can help you to better understand the person who created or produced the primary source, and their state of mind or physical circumstances at the time.
• Consider what, if anything, you know about the author or creator of the primary source. Gender, age, religion, occupation–these are just a few factors which may have influenced the author’s perception of an event or time period.

• Decide whether the source is prescriptive or descriptive. If it is prescriptive, then it reflects the author’s opinions or predictions about what she thought would or should happen. If it is descriptive, then it is the author’s description of what she saw or heard.
• Determine the intended audience of the source. A source intended to be private, such as a journal, will carry different implications than a source intended for the public eye, such as a newspaper article.
• Remember that any author or creator of a primary source will always have their own bias in terms of an event or another person. Analyze the document carefully, keeping in mind that this is one person’s opinions and perceptions and so may not tell the whole story. An author who was lady-in-waiting to a duchess may have a very different story to tell about her than an author who was the duchess’s friend and peer.
• Remember that the closer the connection between the author and the time, place or event described, the more reliable the source. An author who actually fought in a battle is a more reliable source than an author who recounts what his older brother related to him about that battle.

Writing the Analysis

• Give your analysis paper a title which reflects its place and importance in history.
• Include a photograph or photocopy of your source in your analysis.
• Your primary source analysisshould answer the following four questions:1. What does the source reveal about the time period?
  2. What person or event was the source produced in response to?
  3. What larger historical context or question does this source help to shed light on?
  4. How does the timing of the source’s production relate to other social, political and economic events going on at the same time?
• Always include a works cited page which includes your primary source itself, as well as any other secondary sources you may have consulted for your research and interpretation.

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The Writing Process

The writing process for a thesis includes five key steps. The first step is determining the objective of the research. This step provides a clear declaration of the question the thesis aims to answer. The second step is obtaining information and data that will be used to answer the research question. The third step is organizing all of the data and sources. The fourth step involves an analysis of the findings. In this step, the student shows why the findings are valuable and what contribution they will make to the field of study. The concluding step is the presentation of the completed thesis.

Components

A graduate thesis commonly calls for a format which includes the title page, abstract, table of contents, the body and a comprehensive bibliography. Beyond that, the specific length, methods and style requirements of a graduate thesis vary by field. For example, a graduate biology major will have to write a scientific thesis that includes sections on resources and methods, findings, discussion, tables and graphs, and appendices. In contrast, an English major’s graduate thesis may be a creative work, a study of a particular literary style, or a comprehensive review of a single author’s work.

The Prospectus

The overall process surrounding a graduate thesis tends to be extensive. To begin with, a student is required to submit a prospectus and assemble a thesis committee. The prospectus consists of his proposal (what he intends to write) and the reason it’s appropriate for his particular field of study. The function of the prospectus is to clarify the student’s probable methodology. It lists the central details, statistics and data that will be used and presents the project’s underlying principle. Simply put, the prospectus serves as a blueprint for the student’s thesis.

Thesis Committee

Once the prospectus is approved, a thesis committee must be formed. Each program has its own requirements regarding the committee and who should be on it. A thesis committee usually comprises the student’s adviser and others who are affiliated with the student’s major area of study. The task of the committee (especially the thesis adviser) is to oversee the student’s work. They review, edit and propose changes to written work, and they ultimately support the student during her thesis defense.

Thesis Defense

After a student writes the thesis, committee members must approve it and sign it off. The group must conclude that the thesis offered an original contribution to knowledge. Part of the approval process is the thesis defense, sometimes referred to as an oral defense examination. During a thesis defense, the committee acts as a board of judges. They pose questions to the student about the research findings and results. The student must be able to support the work and conclusions.

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1. Choose a topic. This step requires lots of thought and consideration. You have to decide whether to explain an entire process or just part of it. Most often, it is best to choose a very specific process or a specific aspect of a larger process to write about. If you choose a process that is too broad, there may be too many steps involved and your reader might get confused. If you must choose a broader process, categorize the steps involved so that the reader can easily understand everything.
2. Understand the process that you’ve chosen. Make sure that you fully understand how to perform the process that you are writing about. This will make writing much easier.
3. Break up the steps involved in the process and carefully consider how to clearly explain each step.
4. Think about your audience. Knowing how much the audience already knows about the process will help you decide what to include in your essay.
5. Determine what type of process analysis that you want to write. What do you want the audience to do with the process? Do you want your reader to actually perform the process or do you just want to tell about how to do something?
6. Decide on a point of view. If your purpose is to have the audience actually perform the steps, it is best to use second person (“you”) to directly connect with the reader.
7. Develop a thesis statement. The thesis should provide an overview of the process and state its significance in one sentence. The reader should be able to read this one sentence and know exactly what the essay will be about and what to expect. Remember that the thesis statement guides the rest of the essay.
8. Write an introduction that provides some background information about the process and includes the thesis statement.
9. Organize the body of the essay chronologically. This is very important for a process analysis essay. If the steps are not in order, it can be very confusing.
10. Use clear and direct language in the body. Also, make sure that all aspects of body paragraphs directly support the thesis.
11. Include only details that are essential to each step. Including too much unnecessary information can be confusing.
12. Use transitions like “first,” “then” and others to ensure that readers follow the process.
13. Write a conclusion that provides an overview of the process. Remember not to bring up any new steps in the conclusion.
14. Try performing the process based on the steps that you have included in your essay to make sure that the information is accurate. Revise anything that is unclear.

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How People Behave

The first four of Mankiw’s 10 principles of economics outline how people behave and make decisions: people face tradeoffs; they think at the margins; people respond to incentives; and to acquire something, people must give up something else. An essay assignment could require students to explain human actions by applying these principles. Because the principles are broad and do not pertain solely to money-related activities, the actions or behaviors explored do not have to be strictly economic in nature. A student could explore economic decisions such as whether to buy a house, work in a particular industry or start a business. A student could also apply these principles to other human actions and behaviors, such as whether to get more education or start a family. Regardless of the topic chosen, essays should illustrate how these principles explain the decisions people make in these and other areas of life.

How People Interact

Three of Mankiw’s 10 principles summarize how individuals interact: a society’s standard of living depends on its production of goods and services; inflation occurs when governments print too much money; and society can face short-term tradeoffs between inflation and unemployment. An economics essay could require students to apply these principles to explain how people interact as buyers and sellers in the world marketplace, and how these interactions affect society as a whole. For example, the essay could explore when and how these interactions can trigger inflation or change the level of unemployment.

How the Economy Works

Another three of the 10 principles describe how economies work: trade benefits everyone; markets provide the best means for organizing economic activity; and governments can improve market outcomes. Combined with the other principles, students can describe consumer behavior and how the market economy organizes the actions of consumers, businesses and governments. A basic essay assignment could require students to use all or some of the 10 principles to illustrate how the national economy works. Many economics textbooks include a diagram that depicts the economy as a circular flow in which goods and services flow among consumers, businesses and the government. The essays should discuss each of these components and apply the principles to illustrate the roles these components play in the economy.

Economics and Public Issues

Four of Mankiw’s principles pertain to government and society as a whole: governments can improve market outcomes; a society’s standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services; inflation occurs when governments print too much money; and society can face short-term tradeoffs between inflation and unemployment. The 10 principles apply not only to issues of money and finance, but illustrate issues of scarcity and choice, and how they drive individual and societal decisions. Student essays can apply these principles of economics to explore a variety of public policy issues, including government taxes and spending, the environment, health care and education.

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Getting into the Field

Devote about half of your essay to the education and training needed to break into the selected career field. You’ll find much of this information in the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook. Other good places to look are college websites. From state universities to vocational schools, many institutions list specific classes and curriculum requirements for a degree or certification program. When you write your career essay, give the reader as many specifics as possible. Are there certifications required in addition to a degree? Are some schools or programs particularly dominant in the career field? How long does an apprenticeship last? What does it take to become a journeyman in the field?

Let’s use a specific field as an example. If you’re writing about graphic design as it pertains to advertising, the Occupational Outlook Handbook advises that a degree is usually required, although an associate’s degree might be enough to get you in the door. Your essay could list the pros and cons of a bachelor’s degree versus an associate’s degree, including how much student debt one is likely to accrue while pursuing each type of degree. You could also discuss the percentage of people in the field who work as freelancers or are self-employed–for graphic design, the OOH gives this figure as 25 percent. More freelance work means more freedom for those following this career path, but you should also highlight the potential drawbacks, such as a lack of employer-sponsored health care.

Job Duties in the Field

The second half of the essay should cover the job duties, working conditions and expected earnings/benefits. What types of things does this employee do on a daily or monthly basis? Is specialized equipment used? Is pay based on the number of job bids won or products sold? Describe any types of continuing education required. For example, many colleges and community colleges offer online courses, so an instructor’s continuing education might involve training with software providers like Blackboard, Inc. or Apex Learning.

Be sure and discuss the career trajectory an entry-level participant in the field might follow. For example, in the field of marketing, an entry-level database coordinator might rise to a marketing analyst position, then a customer relationship director or even a vice president title. However, it’s unlikely that a pattern cutter or fabric buyer for a design house would become the creative director or design chief, since these positions are usually filled by someone already recognized in the field. Keep your trajectory practical.

Forecast for the Field

Try to conclude your essay with a job forecast for this career field. Should a person in the field be optimistic about growth in the next few years? For example, someone entering the real estate or construction field might not have good job prospects based on the economic downtown that began in 2007. You can find statistics on job growth and job loss through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including a top 10 list of industries with highest projected growth and highest projected losses.

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Decide on the context of the paper that you are writing. Based on the type of paper, you will present the thesis in a different way. In an analytic paper, the sentences leading up to the thesis will explain all of the components of a given topic. In an argumentative paper, the sentences leading up to the thesis will provide statements that lead up to your opinion of a given topic. For an expository paper, the sentences leading up to the paper will discuss the background information of the topic that you are writing about. You might, for example, choose to write an argumentative essay.

Understand the topic that you are writing about. Before writing the thesis statement, brainstorm about what information you desire to put into the introductory paragraph. For example, an argumentative essay about why flavored water should not be substituted for regular water might discuss that although flavored water is a popular drink, that does not necessarily mean it has the same nutritional value as regular water.

Do some research about your topic. It is good to have some factual information about your topic, because it will help you to focus the information in the introductory paragraph more fully.

Examine your research notes, and highlight the ones that you want to put in the introductory paragraph. For example, you might decide that you want to put in information about the added sugars in flavored water that are not present in regular water.

Write your thesis statement. Each sentence that leads up to your thesis statement should come closer and closer to the nature of your thesis statement. Therefore, it may be good to establish the thesis first. For example, your thesis statement might be that flavored water should not be substituted for regular water because it does not have the same nutritional value.

Compose the introductory paragraph, going from the general to the specific. The first sentence should be a general idea, and the last sentence is the thesis. For example, your first sentence might be that over the years, flavored water has become a popular drink. The following sentences might state how some people have the misconception that flavored water is tantamount to regular water. You might discuss how flavored water has added calories and sugar that regular water does not possess.

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1. Write a factual statement on the board, such as “The sky is blue.” Then write an argumentative statement, such as “The sky is bluest in the summer.” Show the students the difference between the two statements and explain that a thesis must an arguable statement.
2. Write a broad question on the board, such as “What would make school less boring?” Call on students to offer answers, and list some of the best on the board.
3. Turn the answers into arguments by combining them with the question to form a single thesis sentence, such as “School would be less boring if group work was maximized in the classroom.”
4. Assign a separate topic and instruct students to brainstorm and develop their own thesis statements at home.

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Profit and Loss

The notion of profit can be a confusing one for children. Have them write an essay related to the price a business changes for an item. Then have them carefully examine the expenses that this business has to pay out from what they charge, such as utilities, supplies, rent taxes, insurance and so on.

Supply and Demand

Supply and demand is a more complex topic. Ask the children to write an essay that looks at the overall concept, explaining how it works. Then have them describe, based on what they have written about supply and demand, what might happen to the car industry should someone invent and market a car that never wears out or needs maintenance.

Opportunity Cost

One of the more difficult concepts for children and even some adults to grasp about economics is opportunity cost. Sent up a scenario in which a person might do one of several things, each of which will have a different result. For example, he might have a sum of money he could invest, buy a car or spend on travel. Have the children write about the ramifications of each decision, and decide which they would choose.

Public Good

Ask your students to write an essay on the concept of a public good. Have them list and describe some of the things generally recognized as public goods, like roads, public TV broadcasts, air and national security. Have them explain why these are considered public goods, while other things like cars or video games are not.

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Time Frame

The GMAT should be scheduled in advance, as no walk-in registrations are allowed. Also, it should be kept in mind that the GMAT results may take up to one month to be delivered to the test-taker’s designated schools.

The GMAT can only be taken once per calendar month and no more than 5 times in a 12 month period of time.

The test takes approximately four hours, and two optional breaks are allotted to test-takers. If someone takes more than the allotted time, the overage is deducted from test time.

Features

The GMAT is comprised of three different sections: the analytical writing section, quantitative section and verbal section.

The analytical writing section is comprised of two essays, analysis of an issue and analysis of an argument. Each essay is allotted 30 minutes.

The quantitative section includes 37 multiple choice questions that are either data sufficiency questions or problem solving in nature. Test-takers are given 75 minutes to finish the quantitative section.

The verbal section contains 41 questions that cover reading comprehension, critical reasoning or sentence correction and are multiple choice. This section is allotted 75 minutes as well.

Function

In the computer-adapted test (CAT), the questions adjust to the accuracy of the answers given. The first question is of medium-difficulty and if answered correctly, the next one will be harder. If incorrect, the next question will be easier.

In the CAT, only one question is shown at a time, so there is no skipping. Random guessing is not advised, as incorrect answers lower the score. Not finishing incurs a severe penalty, so it’s important to pay attention to the time and remaining number of questions, both of which are displayed on the computer screen.

Scoring

The overall or composite score ranges from 200 to 800 in ten point increments. This score is the combination of the verbal and quantitative sections.

The writing section is scored separately on a scale of 0 to 6. Each essay is evaluated by two scorers, one human and one computer. Those 4 scores are averaged and rounded to the nearest half-point.

Significance

GMAT scores are a significant factor in many competitive business schools’ admissions standards.

It’s important to note that GMAT scores can be cancelled if done immediately after taking the test, before the score is given. Scores are kept and reported for five years, not just the last score, but all of those for that time period.

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