words with thesis at the end

Words Ending With THESIS

Here's the list of all the 37 Words Ending With THESIS in the English Language.

The list is arranged by the word lengths. Click on the length below to jump to the relevant section of the page.

6-Letter Words Ending With THESIS

8-letter words ending with thesis, 9-letter words ending with thesis, 10-letter words ending with thesis, 11-letter words ending with thesis, 12-letter words ending with thesis, 13-letter words ending with thesis, 14-letter words ending with thesis, 15-letter words ending with thesis, 17-letter words ending with thesis.

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Words that end with thesis.

• anaesthesis
• antimetathesis
• biosynthesis
• cenesthesis
• chemosynthesis
• coenaesthesis
• coenesthesis
• counterhypothesis
• kinaesthesis
• kinesthesis
• narcosynthesis
• nucleosynthesis
• parasynthesis
• parenthesis
• photosynthesis
• polysynthesis
• psychosynthesis
• resynthesis
• somaesthesis
• somesthesis
• synaesthesis
• synanthesis

Following links for words that end with THESIS

Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?)

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.

Steps in Constructing a Thesis

First, analyze your primary sources.  Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)

Once you have a working thesis, write it down.  There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.  A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

Anticipate the counterarguments.  Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

Some Caveats and Some Examples

A thesis is never a question.  Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.

A thesis is never a list.  "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational.  An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim.  "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible.  Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."

Copyright 1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

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Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

• An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
• An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
• An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

The paper that follows should:

• Explain the analysis of the college admission process
• Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

• Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

• Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

• Walden University
• Faculty Portal

Writing a Paper: Thesis Statements

Basics of thesis statements.

The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper. Specific means the thesis deals with a narrow and focused topic, appropriate to the paper's length. Arguable means that a scholar in your field could disagree (or perhaps already has!).

Strong thesis statements address specific intellectual questions, have clear positions, and use a structure that reflects the overall structure of the paper. Read on to learn more about constructing a strong thesis statement.

Being Specific

This thesis statement has no specific argument:

Needs Improvement: In this essay, I will examine two scholarly articles to find similarities and differences.

This statement is concise, but it is neither specific nor arguable—a reader might wonder, "Which scholarly articles? What is the topic of this paper? What field is the author writing in?" Additionally, the purpose of the paper—to "examine…to find similarities and differences" is not of a scholarly level. Identifying similarities and differences is a good first step, but strong academic argument goes further, analyzing what those similarities and differences might mean or imply.

Better: In this essay, I will argue that Bowler's (2003) autocratic management style, when coupled with Smith's (2007) theory of social cognition, can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover.

The new revision here is still concise, as well as specific and arguable.  We can see that it is specific because the writer is mentioning (a) concrete ideas and (b) exact authors.  We can also gather the field (business) and the topic (management and employee turnover). The statement is arguable because the student goes beyond merely comparing; he or she draws conclusions from that comparison ("can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover").

Making a Unique Argument

This thesis draft repeats the language of the writing prompt without making a unique argument:

Needs Improvement: The purpose of this essay is to monitor, assess, and evaluate an educational program for its strengths and weaknesses. Then, I will provide suggestions for improvement.

You can see here that the student has simply stated the paper's assignment, without articulating specifically how he or she will address it. The student can correct this error simply by phrasing the thesis statement as a specific answer to the assignment prompt.

Better: Through a series of student interviews, I found that Kennedy High School's antibullying program was ineffective. In order to address issues of conflict between students, I argue that Kennedy High School should embrace policies outlined by the California Department of Education (2010).

Words like "ineffective" and "argue" show here that the student has clearly thought through the assignment and analyzed the material; he or she is putting forth a specific and debatable position. The concrete information ("student interviews," "antibullying") further prepares the reader for the body of the paper and demonstrates how the student has addressed the assignment prompt without just restating that language.

Creating a Debate

This thesis statement includes only obvious fact or plot summary instead of argument:

Needs Improvement: Leadership is an important quality in nurse educators.

A good strategy to determine if your thesis statement is too broad (and therefore, not arguable) is to ask yourself, "Would a scholar in my field disagree with this point?" Here, we can see easily that no scholar is likely to argue that leadership is an unimportant quality in nurse educators.  The student needs to come up with a more arguable claim, and probably a narrower one; remember that a short paper needs a more focused topic than a dissertation.

Better: Roderick's (2009) theory of participatory leadership  is particularly appropriate to nurse educators working within the emergency medicine field, where students benefit most from collegial and kinesthetic learning.

Here, the student has identified a particular type of leadership ("participatory leadership"), narrowing the topic, and has made an arguable claim (this type of leadership is "appropriate" to a specific type of nurse educator). Conceivably, a scholar in the nursing field might disagree with this approach. The student's paper can now proceed, providing specific pieces of evidence to support the arguable central claim.

Choosing the Right Words

This thesis statement uses large or scholarly-sounding words that have no real substance:

Needs Improvement: Scholars should work to seize metacognitive outcomes by harnessing discipline-based networks to empower collaborative infrastructures.

There are many words in this sentence that may be buzzwords in the student's field or key terms taken from other texts, but together they do not communicate a clear, specific meaning. Sometimes students think scholarly writing means constructing complex sentences using special language, but actually it's usually a stronger choice to write clear, simple sentences. When in doubt, remember that your ideas should be complex, not your sentence structure.

Better: Ecologists should work to educate the U.S. public on conservation methods by making use of local and national green organizations to create a widespread communication plan.

Notice in the revision that the field is now clear (ecology), and the language has been made much more field-specific ("conservation methods," "green organizations"), so the reader is able to see concretely the ideas the student is communicating.

Leaving Room for Discussion

This thesis statement is not capable of development or advancement in the paper:

Needs Improvement: There are always alternatives to illegal drug use.

This sample thesis statement makes a claim, but it is not a claim that will sustain extended discussion. This claim is the type of claim that might be appropriate for the conclusion of a paper, but in the beginning of the paper, the student is left with nowhere to go. What further points can be made? If there are "always alternatives" to the problem the student is identifying, then why bother developing a paper around that claim? Ideally, a thesis statement should be complex enough to explore over the length of the entire paper.

Better: The most effective treatment plan for methamphetamine addiction may be a combination of pharmacological and cognitive therapy, as argued by Baker (2008), Smith (2009), and Xavier (2011).

In the revised thesis, you can see the student make a specific, debatable claim that has the potential to generate several pages' worth of discussion. When drafting a thesis statement, think about the questions your thesis statement will generate: What follow-up inquiries might a reader have? In the first example, there are almost no additional questions implied, but the revised example allows for a good deal more exploration.

Thesis Mad Libs

If you are having trouble getting started, try using the models below to generate a rough model of a thesis statement! These models are intended for drafting purposes only and should not appear in your final work.

• In this essay, I argue ____, using ______ to assert _____.
• While scholars have often argued ______, I argue______, because_______.
• Through an analysis of ______, I argue ______, which is important because_______.

Words to Avoid and to Embrace

When drafting your thesis statement, avoid words like explore, investigate, learn, compile, summarize , and explain to describe the main purpose of your paper. These words imply a paper that summarizes or "reports," rather than synthesizing and analyzing.

Instead of the terms above, try words like argue, critique, question , and interrogate . These more analytical words may help you begin strongly, by articulating a specific, critical, scholarly position.

Read Kayla's blog post for tips on taking a stand in a well-crafted thesis statement.

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Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

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Words Containing: THESIS

Best scoring words with: thesis, 6 letter words.

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Words With Thesis In Them | 17 Scrabble Words With Thesis

Thesis is a playable Scrabble Word!

• Highest scoring words with Thesis
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• 10-letter words with Thesis
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The highest scoring words with Thesis

Want to go straight to the words that will get you the best score? Here are all the highest scoring words with thesis, not including the 50-point bonus if they use seven letters.

17 Scrabble words that contain Thesis

11 letter words with thesis.

• kinesthesis 18
• parenthesis 16
• resynthesis 17
• synthesists 17

10 Letter Words With Thesis

• antithesis 13
• epenthesis 15
• esthesises 13
• hypothesis 21
• metathesis 15
• prosthesis 15
• synthesist 16

9 Letter Words With Thesis

• diathesis 13
• prothesis 14
• synthesis 15

8 Letter Words With Thesis

• anthesis 11
• esthesis 11

6 Letter Words With Thesis

Faq on words containing thesis, what are the best scrabble words with thesis.

The highest scoring Scrabble word containing Thesis is Hypothesis, which is worth at least 21 points without any bonuses. The next best word with Thesis is kinesthesis, which is worth 18 points. Other high score words with Thesis are prosthesis (15), metathesis (15), parenthesis (16), resynthesis (17), synthesists (17), synthesist (16), and synthesis (15).

How many words contain Thesis?

There are 17 words that contaih Thesis in the Scrabble dictionary. Of those 4 are 11 letter words, 7 are 10 letter words, 3 are 9 letter words, 2 are 8 letter words, and 1 is a 6 letter word.

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Words containing thesis

Found 106 words containing thesis . Check our Scrabble Word Finder , Wordle solver , Words With Friends cheat dictionary , and WordHub word solver to find words that contain thesis. Or use our Unscramble word solver to find your best possible play! Related: Words that end in thesis

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22 letter words containing thesis

• retrospondylolis thesis

20 letter words containing thesis

• prespondylolis thesis

19 letter words containing thesis

• epikeratopros thesis

17 letter words containing thesis

• spondylolis thesis
• spondylolys thesis
• photosyn thesis ing
• counterhypo thesis

16 letter words containing thesis

• amorphosyn thesis
• electrosyn thesis
• perineosyn thesis
• keratopros thesis
• mechanosyn thesis
• photosyn thesis ed
• photosyn thesis es

15 letter words containing thesis

• nucleosyn thesis
• psychosyn thesis
• orthopros thesis
• morphosyn thesis
• anterolis thesis
• thermosyn thesis
• photosyn thesis e

14 letter words containing thesis

• photosyn thesis
• chemosyn thesis
• narcosyn thesis
• osteosyn thesis
• antimeta thesis
• somataes thesis
• retrolis thesis
• sacrolis thesis
• synovior thesis
• hierolis thesis
• endopros thesis
• paren thesis ing

13 letter words containing thesis

• parasyn thesis
• biopros thesis
• polysyn thesis
• tomosyn thesis
• autosyn thesis
• exopros thesis
• metasyn thesis
• paren thesis ed
• paren thesis es
• hypo thesis ing
• hypo thesis ers
• velosyn thesis

12 letter words containing thesis

• biosyn thesis
• synaes thesis
• somaes thesis
• coenes thesis
• kinaes thesis
• isosyn thesis
• parere thesis
• chemes thesis
• ecosyn thesis
• amyoes thesis
• paren thesis e
• hypo thesis ts
• hypo thesis ed
• hypo thesis er
• hypo thesis es
• syn thesis ing
• syn thesis ers

11 letter words containing thesis

• paren thesis
• kines thesis
• syn thesis ts
• resyn thesis
• somes thesis
• synan thesis
• syn thesis er
• hypo thesis e
• cenes thesis
• anaes thesis
• alges thesis
• allen thesis
• apopa thesis
• hypo thesis t
• myoes thesis
• syn thesis es
• syn thesis ed

10 letter words containing thesis

• hypo thesis
• anti thesis
• pros thesis
• meta thesis
• epen thesis
• es thesis es
• syn thesis t
• syn thesis e
• exan thesis
• anes thesis
• para thesis
• apos thesis
• enan thesis
• cyto thesis
• tele thesis

9 letter words containing thesis

8 letter words containing thesis.

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Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to write an excellent thesis conclusion [with examples]

Restate the thesis

Review or reiterate key points of your work, explain why your work is relevant, a take-away for the reader, more resources on writing thesis conclusions, frequently asked questions about writing an excellent thesis conclusion, related articles.

At this point in your writing, you have most likely finished your introduction and the body of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper . While this is a reason to celebrate, you should not underestimate the importance of your conclusion. The conclusion is the last thing that your reader will see, so it should be memorable.

A good conclusion will review the key points of the thesis and explain to the reader why the information is relevant, applicable, or related to the world as a whole. Make sure to dedicate enough of your writing time to the conclusion and do not put it off until the very last minute.

This article provides an effective technique for writing a conclusion adapted from Erika Eby’s The College Student's Guide to Writing a Good Research Paper: 101 Easy Tips & Tricks to Make Your Work Stand Out .

While the thesis introduction starts out with broad statements about the topic, and then narrows it down to the thesis statement , a thesis conclusion does the same in the opposite order.

• Restate the thesis.
• Review or reiterate key points of your work.
• Explain why your work is relevant.
• Include a core take-away message for the reader.

Tip: Don’t just copy and paste your thesis into your conclusion. Restate it in different words.

The best way to start a conclusion is simply by restating the thesis statement. That does not mean just copying and pasting it from the introduction, but putting it into different words.

You will need to change the structure and wording of it to avoid sounding repetitive. Also, be firm in your conclusion just as you were in the introduction. Try to avoid sounding apologetic by using phrases like "This paper has tried to show..."

The conclusion should address all the same parts as the thesis while making it clear that the reader has reached the end. You are telling the reader that your research is finished and what your findings are.

I have argued throughout this work that the point of critical mass for biopolitical immunity occurred during the Romantic period because of that era's unique combination of post-revolutionary politics and innovations in smallpox prevention. In particular, I demonstrated that the French Revolution and the discovery of vaccination in the 1790s triggered a reconsideration of the relationship between bodies and the state.

Tip: Try to reiterate points from your introduction in your thesis conclusion.

The next step is to review the main points of the thesis as a whole. Look back at the body of of your project and make a note of the key ideas. You can reword these ideas the same way you reworded your thesis statement and then incorporate that into the conclusion.

You can also repeat striking quotations or statistics, but do not use more than two. As the conclusion represents your own closing thoughts on the topic , it should mainly consist of your own words.

In addition, conclusions can contain recommendations to the reader or relevant questions that further the thesis. You should ask yourself:

• What you would ideally like to see your readers do in reaction to your paper?
• Do you want them to take a certain action or investigate further?
• Is there a bigger issue that your paper wants to draw attention to?

Also, try to reference your introduction in your conclusion. You have already taken a first step by restating your thesis. Now, check whether there are other key words, phrases or ideas that are mentioned in your introduction that fit into your conclusion. Connecting the introduction to the conclusion in this way will help readers feel satisfied.

I explored how Mary Wollstonecraft, in both her fiction and political writings, envisions an ideal medico-political state, and how other writers like William Wordsworth and Mary Shelley increasingly imagined the body politic literally, as an incorporated political collective made up of bodies whose immunity to political and medical ills was essential to a healthy state.

Tip: Make sure to explain why your thesis is relevant to your field of research.

Although you can encourage readers to question their opinions and reflect on your topic, do not leave loose ends. You should provide a sense of resolution and make sure your conclusion wraps up your argument. Make sure you explain why your thesis is relevant to your field of research and how your research intervenes within, or substantially revises, existing scholarly debates.

This project challenged conventional ideas about the relationship among Romanticism, medicine, and politics by reading the unfolding of Romantic literature and biopolitical immunity as mutual, co-productive processes. In doing so, this thesis revises the ways in which biopolitics has been theorized by insisting on the inherent connections between Romantic literature and the forms of biopower that characterize early modernity.

Tip: If you began your thesis with an anecdote or historical example, you may want to return to that in your conclusion.

End your conclusion with something memorable, such as:

• a call to action
• a recommendation
• a gesture towards future research
• a brief explanation of how the problem or idea you covered remains relevant

Ultimately, you want readers to feel more informed, or ready to act, as they read your conclusion.

Yet, the Romantic period is only the beginning of modern thought on immunity and biopolitics. Victorian writers, doctors, and politicians upheld the Romantic idea that a "healthy state" was a literal condition that could be achieved by combining politics and medicine, but augmented that idea through legislation and widespread public health measures. While many nineteenth-century efforts to improve citizens' health were successful, the fight against disease ultimately changed course in the twentieth century as global immunological threats such as SARS occupied public consciousness. Indeed, as subsequent public health events make apparent, biopolitical immunity persists as a viable concept for thinking about the relationship between medicine and politics in modernity.

Need more advice? Read our 5 additional tips on how to write a good thesis conclusion.

The conclusion is the last thing that your reader will see, so it should be memorable. To write a great thesis conclusion you should:

The basic content of a conclusion is to review the main points from the paper. This part represents your own closing thoughts on the topic. It should mainly consist of the outcome of the research in your own words.

The length of the conclusion will depend on the length of the whole thesis. Usually, a conclusion should be around 5-7% of the overall word count.

End your conclusion with something memorable, such as a question, warning, or call to action. Depending on the topic, you can also end with a recommendation.

In Open Access: Theses and Dissertations you can find thousands of completed works. Take a look at any of the theses or dissertations for real-life examples of conclusions that were already approved.

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adjective as in endmost

Weak matches

adjective as in last

Strong matches

• determinative
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• most recent
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adjective as in rearmost

adverb as in finally

Strongest matches

• sooner or later
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• after a while
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adverb as in lastly/last

• bringing up rear
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adverb as in once and for all

• conclusively
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Example sentences.

This tribe is called Odishkuaguma, that is, People-at-the-end-of-the-waters, by the Odjibwas.

Related Words

Words related to at the end are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word at the end . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

adjective as in furthest away

• lastly/last

adverb as in in the end; after period of time

adjective as in final; newest

adverb as in in the end

Viewing 5 / 8 related words

On this page you'll find 198 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to at the end, such as: farthest, furthest, hindermost, hindmost, last, and lattermost.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

How-To Geek

Today's nyt connections hints and answer for may 16 (#340).

Mind the spoilers at the end!

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What is connections, hints for today's connections groups, what are today's connections groups, today's nyt connections answers, how did we solve this connections game, how do you guess connections groups.

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn't—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they're usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we've got you covered.

Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they're references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.

Once you're confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit "Submit." You have only four attempts in total, so don't be too guess-happy.

Here are a few hints for the 340th Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: Picture.
• Green: Win.
• Blue: Easy motion.
• Purple: One word is something you put on a bed.

If you still need help, the actual group names are:

• Yellow: Photo
• Green: Assure, As Victory
• Blue: Move In An Effortless Way
• Purple: ____ Blanket

Photo (Yellow):

Pic, Shot, Snap, Still

Assure, As A Victory (Green):

Cinch, Ice, Lock, Secure

Move in An Effortless Way (Blue):

Breeze, Coast, Glide, Sail

_______ Blanket (Purple):

Picnic, Security, Throw, Wet

May 16th seemed harder than May 15th's game.

The first group I spotted was Blue, "Move in an Effortless Way." The words were breeze, coast, glide, and sail. I didn't actually connect them to physical movement at first, though. My original thought linked them to something just being easy.

Next I found Yellow, "Photo." I also happened to open Snapchat as I looked at the words, which might have been what made me think of pictures. The words were pic, shot, snap, and still.

The next 8 words were tougher.

Lock and secure seemed likely to be related, and security was an extremely alluring third word, but it didn't really fit. Without knowing anything else about what was going on, it seemed likely that the other two words were probably verbs. That left throw, wet, picnic, ice, and cinch. Cinch can mean "to fasten," which is vaguely related to the idea of secure (in a physical sense). Ice can also be a verb that means "to secure victory." Together, lock, secure, cinch, and ice were grouped into Green, "Assure, as a Victory."

That left Purple, which must include picnic, security, throw, and wet. I didn't wind up seeing the connection, but luckily I didn't need to. The group was named "_____ Blanket."

There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn't algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.

• Look for similar parts of speech . Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you.
• Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don't rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you.
• Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you'd actually say to prompt someone to get moving.
• Expect the red herring . Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they're lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren't.
• Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn't have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category.
• Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.

If you didn't solve this one, don't feel too bad—there's always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you're interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.

Trump leads his supporters in vulgar chants at Jersey Shore rally

• Donald Trump held a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on Saturday night.
• The former president launched vulgar jabs at his opponents and roused crude chants from his supporters.
• Trump is on trial accused of making a hush money payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Donald Trump launched a slew of vulgar jabs at his legal and political opponents and encouraged crude chants at a rally Saturday evening in Wildwood, New Jersey.

Thousands of MAGA supporters listened as Trump referred to the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, as "fat Alvin," calling him "radical" and "a corrupt guy."

The presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 elections then turned his attention to the judge presiding over his hush-money trial, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan. He said Merchan was a "highly conflicted judge."

Trump's trial , where he stands accused of falsifying 34 business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election, is about to enter its fourth week in New York.

Daniels testified before the court this week, giving granular details about a sexual encounter she claims to have had with Trump in 2006.

At the rally, Trump said the whole thing was a "Biden show trial."

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The former president said he had been indicted "more than the great Alphonse Capone… on bullshit, too." It prompted members of the crowd to chant "Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!" in response.

Trump says he’s “been indicted more than the great Al Capone, on bullshit.” The crowd erupts into a chant: “BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT!” Trump seems to realize this is not a good look, glitches hard looking for an out, and comes up with his father who was in the KKK. pic.twitter.com/wAA45wRCnz — Jim Stewartson, Counterinsurgent 🇺🇸🇺🇦💙🎈 (@jimstewartson) May 11, 2024

As Trump continued his typical attacks on the Biden administration, he asked the crowd: "Everything they touch turns to what?"

"Shit!" the crowd chanted in response.

"You can't use the word shit," Trump joked back.

Trump: "Everything they touch... turns to what?" Crowd: "SH*T!" Trump: "You shouldn't use that kind of language" pic.twitter.com/CLsZ9okHN6 — johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 11, 2024

The last time Trump was in Wildwood in January 2020, the Senate had been holding Trump's first impeachment trial. At the time, he told his supporters, "Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and deranged partisan crusades."

Trump took a similar line on Saturday night: "The radical left Democrats rigged the election in 2020, and we're not going to allow them to rig the election in 2024."

Trump predicted on Saturday that he would "win the state of New Jersey," per The Washington Post.

Wildwood is a Republican enclave in a solid blue state. New Jersey has not voted Republican since George H.W. Bush in 1988. Latest polling for the 2024 presidential election puts Biden comfortably ahead by 7%.

Watch: Trump allies flip as legal battles boil over

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Wait, why were there so many movies at the tv upfronts this year , breaking news.

• ‘Young Sheldon’ Series Finale: EP Steve Holland Talks Return Of Mayim Bialik & Jim Parsons, Why The World Needs A Sheldon Cooper Memoir

By Lynette Rice

Lynette Rice

Senior TV Writer

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• ‘So Help Me Todd’ Series Finale: Why The CBS Drama Ended On An (Awkward!) Cliffhanger & What Would Have Happened To Margaret And Her Son
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Spoiler alert! This story contains details from the series finale episode of Young Sheldon on CBS.

Good luck at Caltech, Sheldon! We know you’ll do just fine and go on to make great friends in Pasadena.

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DEADLINE: What was the very last scene you shot before Young Sheldon wrapped for good?

STEVE HOLLAND It was the family dinner scene where Mary [Zoe Perry] wants them to get baptized. George’s chair is there with a place setting, but he’s obviously passed away at that point. So we wanted to end in a scene that had as many of the characters in it as possible. And those dinner scenes have been such a staple of the show.

DEADLINE: What was that last day like?

HOLLAND: It was really emotional. I mean, honestly, the whole last month was. It was incredibly emotional writing the funeral episode and the finale and realizing how that was the last Young Sheldon script we were ever going to write. And then, when we got into production on those last three episodes … everyone knew the show was coming to an end and they were grieving that in some way, while grieving the death of the character. So there was a lot of real life emotions being mixed in with character emotions. Tears were readily available to everybody, but it literally had been weeks of saying goodbye.

RELATED: ‘So Help Me Todd’ Series Finale: Why The CBS Drama Ended On An (Awkward!) Cliffhanger & What Would Have Happened To Margaret And Her Son

DEADLINE: Why was it important for Mary to have her kids baptized?

DEADLINE: It was such a great idea to put Sheldon in a scuba suit for that.

HOLLAND: When we were talking about what it would take to get Sheldon baptized, we liked the call back to the pilot where Mary gives him an out and he says, ‘I don’t believe, but I do believe in you.’ But we also felt like Sheldon’s not going to get in that tank of water unprotected. So it was a discussion about what he would wear. At first we had him just in a wetsuit, but honestly, a black wetsuit looked kind of like a superhero costume. It looked a little too cool. So then we were trying to figure out how to gussy it up with yellow boots and a life preserver to give it color. We just kept adding and taking away until we found what seemed like the best look for him.

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DEADLINE: Did you know for several seasons that you wanted Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik in the finale?

HOLLAND: I think in the back of our minds, it was always the thing we wanted. Certainly Jim, because he’d been narrating the whole thing. As we got to the finale, I think Chuck Lorre had pitched the idea of bringing back Mayim and Jim, which was really exciting and so much fun. But then it was like a balancing act for us. We wanted to make sure that we honored this cast and not let adult Sheldon and Amy dominate the last episode. I’m really happy with the balance we found. I think that Jim and Mayim are in it a great amount, but I think the Cooper family still gets their moment to shine.

DEADLINE: So why would the world need a Sheldon Cooper memoir?

HOLLAND: He’s a Nobel Prize winning physicist. I think he might’ve assumed the world needed that, whether that happened or not, but in the wake of him being a Nobel Prize winner and perhaps going on to even more research, the world needs to know about his childhood.

DEADLINE: So was the first time that we learned Sheldon and Amy named their kid Leonard?

HOLLAND: We’d said that before, I think in the episode where Sheldon graduates from high school. I think adult Sheldon says in voiceover that they have a son named after Leonard.

DEADLINE: What was it like bringing Mayim and Jim back together?

HOLLAND: Those are actors who I love and spent a decade of my life with. I see them from time to time, and obviously Jim narrated the show, so we saw him. But that’s usually on Zoom. He lives in New York, so we’re not in the same actual room that often. So just to be in the same room with him again was great and a little surreal because it felt like no time had passed.

DEADLINE: Was that final scene shot at Caltech?

HOLLAND: Yeah. I think that might be the first time, although we shot in an office at Caltech once when Stephen Hawking was on Big Bang. But I think it was the first time we’ve actually shot outside on the campus.

DEADLINE: Even watching that episode, you can imagine the next chapter of this saga with Sheldon going to college and meeting Leonard. But I guess that’s too much to dream about?

HOLLAND: I think so. You also get into this weird thing where somehow, he would have to morph into Jim Parsons. But we at least know we’re sending him off on that hopeful note, and we know that his future is full of friends and relationships and good things.

HOLLAND: Multicam is our background. For Chuck and Steven Molaro and I, that’s how we came up in this business. The single camera show has been great and lovely, but I think in our bones we’re kind of multi-cam people and there’s nothing quite like putting a show up in front of an audience every week. It was important for Young Sheldon to be single cam, just to separate it from The Big Bang Theory, so it didn’t feel like we were just trying to copy Big Bang. This is a way to make this new show also feel like its own thing and not feel like it’s another season of Young Sheldon. It’ll give it its own identity. It’ll give it its own flavor. And putting this cast up in front of an audience is going to be really exciting.

DEADLINE: What soundstage will you be on?

HOLLAND: We’re going to be on the Big Bang stage, stage 25. I actually haven’t been back on that stage since we wrapped Big Bang. I’m excited. I think I’ve been in this business long enough to have heard the death of multi-cam many times and it’s always sort of bounced back. I think there’s something to be said for a comedy in front of an audience, a comedy that’s really about laughs. I hope audiences are ready for a return to that. I think there’s a real space for that in the world. There are so few of them now, and I have no idea how audiences are going to respond, but I know we are excited about it, and that’s been a good sort of guiding light for us throughout all this is, to try to do things we’re excited about and hope an audience follows you along.

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Why Does the Gospel of Mark End without Mention of Jesus’s Resurrection?

After the Crucifixion

The Gospel of Matthew ends with Jesus’s appearance before “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,” who had gone on Sunday morning to “see the tomb” (Matt. 28:1). We are told not only that they hear directly from Jesus (“Greetings!”) but that they actually touch his resurrected body (“And they came up and took hold of his feet,” Matt. 28:9). Later, Jesus appears to the eleven disciples in Galilee, where he announces to them—in the Great Commission—their future mission (Matt. 28:16–20). The Gospels of Luke and John offer even more extensive coverage—a total of over a hundred verses—of Jesus’s resurrection and post-resurrection appearances and activities. In Luke 24 and John 20–21 we read of Jesus’s appearances to Mary Magdalene, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and the eleven (including inviting them to touch his body, John 20:17; cf. John 20:20, 27; Luke 24:39–40); the gift of the Holy Spirit; and Jesus’s ascension into heaven.

Expository Reflections on the Gospels, Volume 3

Douglas Sean O'Donnell

Drawing from his years of pastoral experience, pastor-theologian Douglas O’Donnell provides deep exegesis, engaging illustrations, and relevant applications of the Gospel of Mark.

In contrast, Mark provides only eight verses to narrate the events after Jesus’s crucifixion, including the women’s angelic encounter at the tomb and the angel’s announcement (“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here,” Mark 16:6), with no actual resurrection appearances. 1 Moreover, the final line might strike us, at first glance, as anti-climactic, as it pictures the three women running scared from the tomb: “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:8). The end! What are we to make of this abrupt and unexpected, as well as apparently incomplete, ending? I surmise that Mark has three reasons for ending the way that he did.

Trust in Jesus’s Authoritative Word

First, Mark’s ending forces us to trust in Jesus’s authoritative word . If Jesus repeatedly said that he would rise from the dead (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34), then that authoritative word should suffice. If Jesus promised that he would rise, and if he guarantees resurrection life to all who lose their lives for his sake (see Mark 8:34–9:1), then we can take him at his word. Unlike Thomas, we are not to doubt the testimony of Jesus even if we ourselves have not seen his resurrected body. If we can trust anything, we can trust the sure foundation of our Lord’s word (see Matt. 7:24–27).

The Importance of the Cross

Second, Mark’s ending reemphasizes the importance of the cross . That is, even in his resurrection account the evangelist takes us back to the cross! The angel speaks of Jesus as the risen Savior (“He has risen”), but he ties even the resurrection to Jesus’s death (“You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified,” Mark 14:6). While Mark, with the empty tomb, breaks the pattern of Greco-Roman biographies—which end with a person’s death and the way that person died—he does focus attention on the final hours of Jesus’s life. To him the cross is the center! In these final eight verses on the resurrection, he points us back to the preceding 119 verses on Jesus’s sufferings and death. 2 As Christians, we never move past the cross. Even throughout eternity we will sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” (Rev. 5:12). 3 So, in a world that embraces a God without wrath who brings people without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross, 4 Mark (even at Easter!) makes sure that we do not forget Good Friday—the day when a just and holy God of wrath and love brought sinners into his righteous kingdom through the sacrifice of Christ crucified.

As Christians, we never move past the cross. Even throughout eternity we will sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”

A Call to Discipleship

Third, Mark’s ending calls us to discipleship . I contend that he intends to use the failure of the male disciples in Mark 14–15 and the female disciples in Mark 16 to remind us both that Jesus graciously uses even imperfect sinners to build his perfect kingdom and that their failures serve to call us to be faithful to Jesus’s mission. These final verses, especially Mark 16:8, offer a “positive challenge” and an “implicit call to discipleship.” 5 God is calling us, even those disciples who are “confused and uncertain,” 6 to move past the confusion and uncertainty, along with the doubt and fear, and to join the victory march by raising high the banner of God’s victory over death. As Morna Hooker puts it, “This is the end of Mark’s story, because it is the beginning of discipleship.” 7

As readers of this Gospel, we have followed Jesus from his baptism to his resurrection, and, when everyone around him—the religious leaders, the crowd, even his own family and disciples—has disowned him, we have followed along. We have not put the book down. We have kept coming back for more. But now, as we stand at the end of the story and Mark suddenly stops the narrative, he leaves us with a “decision to make.” 8 But that decision should be obvious enough. Do we close the book and “say nothing to anyone” (Mark 16:8)? Or will we follow Christ by sharing the good news with others?

Think of it this way. We should treat the end of Mark’s Gospel like we would the lyrics to a familiar hymn. If I sang, “Christ the Lord is risen today,” you would know the next word: “Alleluia.” The early Christians who heard the death and resurrection proclaimed in the marketplaces, synagogues, and house churches for decades before the penning of Mark’s Gospel knew that these fearful women did not bite their tongues for long. So, as at the end of the Acts of the Apostles, 9 the church is not to ask, What happened to Paul? or Will the gospel spread to both Jews and Gentiles after the death of Paul? Instead the church is to act—to act like that apostle. Put simply, the end of Mark, like the end of Acts, is an invitation to act. We fill in the notes. We continue the everlasting, unstoppable song.

Mark 16:8 is not an incomplete ending but an “open ending” whereby Mark invites us to “finish the story” 10 by obeying the angelic command. Though the Twelve had all fled (Mark 14:50), though Peter had denied Jesus (Mark 14:66–72), and though fear silenced these dear sisters, nevertheless Mark invites his readers to speak up. And, if we do not, we can be certain that even the stones will cry out.

• We can state with confidence that verse 8 is the original ending of the Gospel of Mark as Mark 16:9–20 is not found in our most reliable Greek manuscripts of the NT. It is evident that a copyist likely a century or more after the Four Gospels were written thought it necessary to add an ending that features Mary Magdalene seeing Jesus himself. See Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Translation, Corruption, and Restoration (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 322–37; cf. Daniel B. Wallace, “Mark 16:8 as the Conclusion to the Second Gospel,” in Perspectives on the Ending of Mark: 4 Views , ed. David Alan Black (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2008), 1–39.
• This fits what is often considered the Gospel’s key verse: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Moreover, it fits Jesus’s establishment of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the new Passover meal that centers on celebrating Jesus’s sacrificial death (“the blood of the covenant,” 14:24; cf. 1 Cor. 5:7; 11:26).
• Jesus is labeled “Lamb” 29 times in Revelation, and the specific details of his death are occasionally attached to the title (“the Lamb who was slain,” 5:12; 13:8; cf. 5:6; believers are “made . . . white in the blood of the Lamb,” 7:14; and before that “conquer [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb,” 12:11). Throughout eternity we will feast at “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9).
• This is a slight rewording of parts of H. Richard Niebuhr’s famous saying, found in The Kingdom of God in America (Chicago: Willett, Clark, 1937), 193.
• Mark L. Strauss, Mark , ZECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 723.
• Strauss, Mark , 724.
• Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel according to St. Mark , BNTC (London: A & C Black, 1991), 394.
• For the thought process behind this paragraph see Eugene Boring, Mark: A Commentary , NTL (Louisville/London: Westminster John Knox, 2006), 449.
• John Chrysostom viewed the ending of Acts as an invitation to the hearer: “[Luke] brings his narrative to this point, and leaves the hearer thirsty so that he fills up the lack by himself through reflection.” “Homily 55 on Acts 28:17–20,” in Homilies in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church , ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Henry Browne (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956), 326. On this method Shively notes, “First, the open ending is a common literary and rhetorical practice of ancient writers. Second, it functions to invite the hearer to respond with reflection and interpretation. Third, the hearer knows how to respond according to intratextual cues.” Elizabeth E. Shively, “Recognizing Penguins: Audience Expectation, Cognitive Genre Theory, and the Ending of Mark’s Gospel,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 80 (2018): 273–92 (at 285–86).
• Shively, “Recognizing Penguins,” 276.

Douglas Sean O’Donnell is the author of Expository Reflections on the Gospels, Volume 3: Mark .

Douglas Sean O’Donnell (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the senior vice president of Bible editorial at Crossway. Over the past twenty-five years he has helped train people around the world to read and teach the Bible clearly. He has pastored several churches, served as a professor, and authored or edited over twenty books, including commentaries, Bible studies, children’s books, and a children’s curriculum. He also wrote The Pastor’s Book with R. Kent Hughes and The Beauty and Power of Biblical Exposition with Leland Ryken.

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'Young Sheldon' tragedy: George Cooper's death is flawed father's 'Big Bang' redemption

Spoiler alert: This story includes details of the May 9 penultimate "Young Sheldon" episode.

You can't say you didn't see George Cooper Sr.'s death coming after seven seasons of "Young Sheldon," the prequel spinoff series to "The Big Bang Theory ." After all, in the original CBS series, Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) referenced his football coach father, George Sr., who died from a heart attack when the young physics genius was 14 and growing up in East Texas.

George Sr.'s death was part of the "Big Bang Theory" mythology, which was crucial to connect by the end of "Young Sheldon," which is narrated by Parsons. Still, the offscreen heart attack death of George Sr. (Lance Barber) revealed in the final moments of the May 9 episode, the last before the May 16 two-part series finale, is, well, heartbreaking.

And not just for Sheldon (Iain Armitage) and devoted TV fans.

"It was even heartbreaking for everyone on the set making that show," says "Big Bang Theory" and "Young Sheldon" co-creator and executive producer Chuck Lorre. "We're all so invested in this character. Being fictional doesn't take away the difficulty in saying goodbye. But it's been seven years in the making. We all knew this would happen."

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Here are the ramifications of George Sr.'s "Young Sheldon" death:

How did Sheldon Cooper's father die in 'Young Sheldon'?

Everything seems to be falling into place for new grandfather George Sr., suddenly sailing amid his sometimes stormy family life. His wife Mary (Zoe Perry) and daughter Missy (Raegan Revord) are even supportive of his dream job offer, coaching football at Houston's Rice University, which would require a family move.

"With the stakes so high, it makes the tragedy that unfolds an even bigger punch in the gut," says Barber.

George Sr. survives a ladder climb, fixing the roof for the house sale. His son Georgie (Montana Jordan, who will lead another spinoff series next season) admonishes him for safety reasons. The two carry away the ladder in a tender father-son moment.

But the next day, as George Sr. heads off to work, he picks up his travel mug, promises to be back for a family photo shoot and gives an unacknowledged, "See you all later." Sheldon doesn't look up from his book as his father walks out the kitchen door into the (heavenly bright) sunlight, never to return.

"It was purposely a banal nothing moment in Sheldon's life that he will struggle with," says Lorre. "Because he learns it's the last time he'll ever see his father. He will live to regret that moment in his life where he'll say, 'I could have done that better.'"

Hours later, the shocked family is informed that George Sr. died of a heart attack. Sheldon wordlessly sits with a stunned expression, processing the unfathomable loss.

Why George Sr.'s death changes his maligned 'Big Bang Theory' character

George Sr., frequently the butt of adult Sheldon's dark humor in "Big Bang," is the flawed character who changes the most due to "Young Sheldon."

"In 'Big Bang Theory,' when George was an offscreen character who's no longer alive, you could make all the jokes you want. But 'Young Sheldon' is a sweeter family show," says Steve Holland, a producer and writer on both series. "And because of Lance Barber's portrayal of George in 'Young Sheldon,' you didn't believe his dad could be that bad."

For example, adult Sheldon explains in "Big Bang Theory" that he knocks three times on a door because he traumatically walked in on his cheating father "having relations" with a mysterious blonde woman. In a March episode, the alleged infidelity is explained away in a scene where Sheldon walks in on blonde-wigged Mary role-playing with her husband as a campy German named Helga.

George Sr.'s death completes his character's redemption, explaining why Sheldon has such a dark view of his father. Sheldon is immediately consumed with grief and remorse over his final non-goodbye, which he obsesses over, starting with the last haunting stare.

"Sheldon is already playing his last moments over and over," says Barber. "All the regrets and things that he wishes he said."

What will happen in the 'Young Sheldon' finale?

The two-part May 16 finale (8 EDT/EDT) features Sheldon and his family grieving at George Sr.'s funeral.

But the finale also finds joy after loss, as Sheldon moves on to college (the California Institute of Technology, as fans already know). Parsons returns as an older Sheldon, reprising his role with Mayim Bialik, who plays his wife Amy, for the first time since "Big Bang" ended in 2019.

The screen couple has two young children. And Sheldon's struggles with fatherhood have softened his feelings about his own father, George Sr. "There's a recognition that his father is a human being who is flawed but doing the very best he can," says Lorre. "That's an epiphany you have about your parents when you're older. This finale is very much about Sheldon's perspective on his father. It changes for the better, given time and his own experience raising his children, who he doesn't understand."