thesis sandwich

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"Sandwiching": Three Steps to a Delicious Argument

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"Sandwiching": Three Steps to a Delicious Argument

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of creating a cogent and effective argument is the incorporation of on-topic evidence that leads to relevant analysis. One way to address this problem is through the process of "sandwiching," literally placing evidence such as a direct quote or statistical data between sentences containing a claim and analysis.

The claim or argument statement can be simple or complex depending on what you want to prove and the evidence you have at your disposal. Let's take an example from a student paper on the expression of anger in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club:

The Joy Luck Club  only shows the reader examples of muted anger between generations raised exclusively in China; emotions are left hidden due to the pressures of society and remain unexpressed and "swallowed" like sorrow.

The next step, evidence, can be any sort of relevant material to support your claim such as quoted material from a text, statistical data from a study, personal interviews, field observations, or even pictures, movies, or sound. Evidence should always be imbedded in a sentence that serves to continue, in some way, the claim you have made and should never simply stand alone. Let's go back to our example to see how this might develop:

Chinese girls, at least those represented in the novel, were taught that they would be taken away by ghosts, especially if they were "strong willed girls who were disobedient" (Tan, 33).

Finally comes the hard part -- analysis. Simply put, you want to take time after each introduction of evidence to look more closely at the material and "unpack" it, meaning to look at the components of the material and relate that significance to your claim and, if applicable, the larger thesis of the paper. Also, analysis gives the paper writer a chance to ask further questions and transition into different subject matter relevant to making their argument:

In this way, the novel depicts Chinese women before immigration to the United States as held back from displaying angry, defiant emotion for fear it might be construed as "disobedient" 'to elders in the family or society. Yet, does this mean that Chinese girls could not feel anger at all or, for that matter, have other emotional responses toward anyone?

Now it's your turn to make a delicious sandwich! Take your thesis from the  fairy tale thesis activity  and turn it into the first layer in your sandwich by making it a simple claim (pick out a piece of the argument you want to prove and make it into a short sentence -- it is easier than it sounds). Then, use a specific example from the subject (whether it be film, TV show, or even fairy tale) and use that as your evidence. Note: this will not necessarily be a direct quote in this case, but more likely a paraphrase of an event you recall, etc. Lastly, take some time to connect the first two layers together in an analysis section. Let's take an example from the fairy tale thesis sheet on Jan Brady and complete the sandwich process:

Claim: Jan's lack of identity as a middle child is best reflected in her self-identification as an underachiever in comparison to her sister Marcia.

Evidence: Jan takes down and hides all of Marcia's trophies displayed on the dresser in the room they share because they remind her of her own lack of achievement.

Analysis: Indeed, Jan's fixation on the physical objects that serve to manifest Marcia's status as the "ideal" American girl show both her feeling of inferiority over a lack of accumulated awards as well as her general lack of experience in comparison to Marcia.

Good luck and enjoy your sandwich!

Kyle Livie 
Student Learning Center, University of California, Berkeley
©1998 UC Regents

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Home / Guides / Writing Guides / Parts of a Paper / How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement

How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement

A thesis can be found in many places—a debate speech, a lawyer’s closing argument, even an advertisement. But the most common place for a thesis statement (and probably why you’re reading this article) is in an essay.

Whether you’re writing an argumentative paper, an informative essay, or a compare/contrast statement, you need a thesis. Without a thesis, your argument falls flat and your information is unfocused. Since a thesis is so important, it’s probably a good idea to look at some tips on how to put together a strong one.

Guide Overview

What is a “thesis statement” anyway.

• 2 categories of thesis statements: informative and persuasive
• 2 styles of thesis statements
• Formula for a strong argumentative thesis
• The qualities of a solid thesis statement (video)

You may have heard of something called a “thesis.” It’s what seniors commonly refer to as their final paper before graduation. That’s not what we’re talking about here. That type of thesis is a long, well-written paper that takes years to piece together.

Instead, we’re talking about a single sentence that ties together the main idea of any argument . In the context of student essays, it’s a statement that summarizes your topic and declares your position on it. This sentence can tell a reader whether your essay is something they want to read.

2 Categories of Thesis Statements: Informative and Persuasive

Just as there are different types of essays, there are different types of thesis statements. The thesis should match the essay.

For example, with an informative essay, you should compose an informative thesis (rather than argumentative). You want to declare your intentions in this essay and guide the reader to the conclusion that you reach.

To make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you must procure the ingredients, find a knife, and spread the condiments.

This thesis showed the reader the topic (a type of sandwich) and the direction the essay will take (describing how the sandwich is made).

Most other types of essays, whether compare/contrast, argumentative, or narrative, have thesis statements that take a position and argue it. In other words, unless your purpose is simply to inform, your thesis is considered persuasive. A persuasive thesis usually contains an opinion and the reason why your opinion is true.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are the best type of sandwich because they are versatile, easy to make, and taste good.

In this persuasive thesis statement, you see that I state my opinion (the best type of sandwich), which means I have chosen a stance. Next, I explain that my opinion is correct with several key reasons. This persuasive type of thesis can be used in any essay that contains the writer’s opinion, including, as I mentioned above, compare/contrast essays, narrative essays, and so on.

2 Styles of Thesis Statements

Just as there are two different types of thesis statements (informative and persuasive), there are two basic styles you can use.

The first style uses a list of two or more points . This style of thesis is perfect for a brief essay that contains only two or three body paragraphs. This basic five-paragraph essay is typical of middle and high school assignments.

C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series is one of the richest works of the 20th century because it offers an escape from reality, teaches readers to have faith even when they don’t understand, and contains a host of vibrant characters.

In the above persuasive thesis, you can see my opinion about Narnia followed by three clear reasons. This thesis is perfect for setting up a tidy five-paragraph essay.

In college, five paragraph essays become few and far between as essay length gets longer. Can you imagine having only five paragraphs in a six-page paper? For a longer essay, you need a thesis statement that is more versatile. Instead of listing two or three distinct points, a thesis can list one overarching point that all body paragraphs tie into.

Good vs. evil is the main theme of Lewis’s Narnia series, as is made clear through the struggles the main characters face in each book.

In this thesis, I have made a claim about the theme in Narnia followed by my reasoning. The broader scope of this thesis allows me to write about each of the series’ seven novels. I am no longer limited in how many body paragraphs I can logically use.

Formula for a Strong Argumentative Thesis

One thing I find that is helpful for students is having a clear template. While students rarely end up with a thesis that follows this exact wording, the following template creates a good starting point:

___________ is true because of ___________, ___________, and ___________.

Conversely, the formula for a thesis with only one point might follow this template:

___________________ is true because of _____________________.

Students usually end up using different terminology than simply “because,” but having a template is always helpful to get the creative juices flowing.

The Qualities of a Solid Thesis Statement

When composing a thesis, you must consider not only the format, but other qualities like length, position in the essay, and how strong the argument is.

Length: A thesis statement can be short or long, depending on how many points it mentions. Typically, however, it is only one concise sentence. It does contain at least two clauses, usually an independent clause (the opinion) and a dependent clause (the reasons). You probably should aim for a single sentence that is at least two lines, or about 30 to 40 words long.

Position: A thesis statement always belongs at the beginning of an essay. This is because it is a sentence that tells the reader what the writer is going to discuss. Teachers will have different preferences for the precise location of the thesis, but a good rule of thumb is in the introduction paragraph, within the last two or three sentences.

Strength: Finally, for a persuasive thesis to be strong, it needs to be arguable. This means that the statement is not obvious, and it is not something that everyone agrees is true.

Example of weak thesis:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are easy to make because it just takes three ingredients.

Most people would agree that PB&J is one of the easiest sandwiches in the American lunch repertoire.

Example of a stronger thesis:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are fun to eat because they always slide around.

This is more arguable because there are plenty of folks who might think a PB&J is messy or slimy rather than fun.

Composing a thesis statement does take a bit more thought than many other parts of an essay. However, because a thesis statement can contain an entire argument in just a few words, it is worth taking the extra time to compose this sentence. It can direct your research and your argument so that your essay is tight, focused, and makes readers think.

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• > How to Prepare a Scientific Doctoral Dissertation Based on Research Articles
• > Compilation – the article-based thesis

Book contents

• Frontmatter
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Compilation – the article-based thesis
• 3 Front cover illustration
• 6 Quotations
• 7 Thesis at a glance
• 8 Abbreviations
• 9 List of publications
• 10 Contributors
• 11 Popularized summary
• 12 Acknowledgments
• 13 General introduction
• 17 General discussion
• 18 Copyright
• 19 A dissertation worth considering
• Appendix A To the authorities at the graduate division
• Literature cited

2 - Compilation – the article-based thesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2012

This chapter is a review of the article-based thesis, also called compilation thesis. The compilation is increasingly encouraged, especially in the hard sciences such as biology, medicine, and technology.

Compilations

Compilations are of two types. In one, the reprinted articles are appended to an overall summary of their content, here called the Scandinavian model . In the other, the reprinted articles are sandwiched between introductory and concluding chapters, here called the sandwich format .

Scandinavian model

Common to theses of the Scandinavian model is that an overall summary (overview) is followed by research papers – bound together in a single volume. Published articles are reproduced as exact copies of the articles as they appear in the publishing journal (including title pages with original letterheads, logotypes, typefaces, and so on) – in short, as reprints; papers in press are reproduced as preprints.

In contrast with the research papers, which are highly structured, the overview of the Scandinavian type of compilation has no formula for arranging its various parts, not even regarding which parts to include.

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• Compilation – the article-based thesis
• Björn Gustavii
• Book: How to Prepare a Scientific Doctoral Dissertation Based on Research Articles
• Online publication: 05 November 2012
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139151252.003

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Graduate Studies

Writing your doctoral thesis.

Your first step regarding any questions with respect to writing your thesis is to consult the School of Graduate Studies’ Guide for the Preparation of Master’s and Doctoral Theses. All graduate theses must conform to the style and form requirements as detailed in the Guide.

1. Sample formats

Please consult the  Guide for the Preparation of Theses  for samples on how to format your thesis.

2. Referencing

Per the  Guide for the Preparation of Theses : The text of the standard graduate thesis consists of the Introduction section or chapter, followed by several well-defined sections or chapters, which contain the research results, finishing with a Conclusion and Discussion section or chapter, or a summary statement of the results of the investigation. The List of References section (or bibliography) follows the text, and any appendices follow this.

Please consult the Guide for the Preparation of Theses for more detailed information on references and further resources that you can consult for referencing help.

3. Sandwich theses

If some of the research undertaken expressly for the degree has previously been published or prepared by the student as one or more journal articles, or parts of books, those items may be included within the thesis subject to the School of Graduate Studies’ regulations and to obtaining permission from the supervisory committee.

Please consult the  Guide for the Preparation Theses  for more detailed information on Sandwich Theses.

4. E-thesis file name conventions

For your e-thesis to be published via MacSphere, the final version of your thesis should be named using the following file naming convention:

familyname_firstname_middleinitial_finalsubmissionyearmonth_degree

5. Questions and assistance

Please email [email protected] .

College & Research Libraries News  ( C&RL News ) is the official newsmagazine and publication of record of the Association of College & Research Libraries,  providing articles on the latest trends and practices affecting academic and research libraries.

C&RL News  became an online-only publication beginning with the January 2022 issue.

Roxanne Shirazi is dissertation research librarian at The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, email: [email protected]

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Scholarly Communication

Roxanne Shirazi

The doctoral dissertation and scholarly communication

Adapting to changing publication practices among graduate students

© 2018 Roxanne Shirazi

W hen I first began working with electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), the conversation in libraries appeared to revolve around open access and publication embargoes. It seemed to me that the primary task for scholarly communication librarians in this area was to broaden access to graduate research while protecting future publication opportunities for individual authors. As graduate students begin to publish earlier in their careers, the relationship between the doctoral dissertation and scholarly publishing is evolving. Many students now include their own previously published work in a dissertation, requiring instruction in publication contracts and copyright transfer agreements at the point of submission to the graduate school.

There are repercussions to publishing as a graduate student for which our institutions are not well prepared, and to which we could apply our expertise. By engaging in the ETD preparation process, scholarly communication librarians have an opportunity to help graduate students navigate the complex infrastructure of scholarly publishing and offer valuable guidance that will be useful throughout their academic careers.

The perpetual crisis of the dissertation

What is the purpose of the dissertation, and why do we even distribute it in the first place? The dissertation itself is not a unified construct and has been in a perpetual state of “crisis” since at least 1960, when Bernard Berelson described shifting notions of originality and significance in graduate training among the “word disciplines” and the “data disciplines.” 1 Is the completion of the dissertation a guarantee of a scholar’s ability to carry out research, leading to an original and significant contribution to the field? Or is it a promissory note—a certification of research and analytical skills to be put to future use? Almost 60 years later, Berelson’s question would receive conflicting answers among academics today. Recent framings of the dissertation have portrayed it as: “a hazing ritual,” “a credentialing device,” “a book’s first draft,” and, more ambitiously, the “wellspring of scholarly communication and of the higher education enterprise itself.” 2

Regardless of the mutability of the dissertation’s purpose and any doubts about its significance, since the 19th century, American universities have required some form of publication for these works; indeed, the rise of university presses was a response to this requirement to publish dissertations. 3 In 1951, University Microfilms, Inc., began broad distribution of microfilmed dissertations, and by the late 1990s, they were distributed electronically through ProQuest’s Dissertations & Theses Global database and, increasingly, institutional repositories. Dissertations are archival records tied to degree conferral and contributions to the scholarly record, and libraries are charged with preserving and providing access to them on behalf of their institutions.

For many, dissertations are also a source of future scholarly output—a fount of “draft” research that can pour forth articles, chapters, or an entire book. In this way, they have become a microcosm of graduate student anxiety around career futures and publication prospects. 4 In recent years, it would seem that humanities and social science scholars are worried about getting publications out of a dissertation, while STEM folks are increasingly concerned with getting publications into a dissertation.

Previously published journal articles as dissertation chapters

The practice of dissertation authors including their own previously published journal articles as chapters in their official submissions goes by several names: composite thesis, sandwich thesis, and thesis-by-publication are a few of the most common constructions. Whatever one calls it, the practice is overwhelmingly found in the STEM disciplines, where students tend to publish coauthored papers with their lab groups prior to graduation. A different, but related, practice is the “manuscript” option, in which a group of publication-ready papers form the dissertation, with the expectation that students will submit them to publishers after graduation.

Although this situation is not entirely new (as early as 2005 the Council of Graduate Schools included information about the practice in “The Doctor of Philosophy: A Policy Guide”), 5 it still takes many newer ETD practitioners by surprise. At my own institution, where graduates in the humanities and social sciences tend to outnumber those in STEM, the issue arose when our dissertation deposit workflow was altered to include a librarian consultation, surfacing new concerns as to whether students were complying with their publication contracts. The question of how to handle such dissertations is also a recurring topic on the National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations ETD forum email list, with requests for policy guidance in this area appearing every few months. 6

Those of us who work regularly with students submitting their dissertations recognize the teaching opportunities presented when students are confronted with the personal consequences of copyright transfers. Some librarians direct authors to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service, while others have taken to compiling links to publisher policies, which often specify inclusion in a dissertation as a right retained by the author. Useful resources in this area include a compilation of publisher policies from MIT Libraries and a similar list from the Caltech Library. 7

As with everything, practices and requirements vary across institutions. Some schools allow the publisher’s PDF to be included, while others mandate that students use the author’s version (pre- or post-print) and expand the material by adding an introduction, conclusion, and appendices. These decisions are typically made by the graduate school, but consultation with the library is key to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and ensuring that administrators understand any implications for public access to the work.

Including previously published material in dissertations also presents challenges for ProQuest. In March 2017, the company updated its ETD Administrator thesis submission system to ensure that authors do not attempt to register their copyright for a dissertation comprising publications for which copyright is already held by journal publishers:

[T]he author must now first acknowledge that they are the sole author and owner of the entire graduate work being offered for registration. The copyright registration step has been changed to explain that requirement to the author, provide a link to examples of rejected registration requests, and ask authors to acknowledge the requirement before registering. 8

As published works proliferate within dissertations, our workflows will need to adapt in unexpected ways, from how we prepare students to how we make their works accessible. What would it mean for libraries to approach dissertations as a portfolio of graduate publications? What effect would this have on our existing infrastructure and our attempts to increase access to ETDs?

Are dissertations publications?

These developments are complicated by the uncertain publication status of dissertations in general. Is distribution by ProQuest considered commercial publication? What about inclusion in the university’s institutional repository (IR)? It seems clear that, prior to 1978, microfilming a dissertation was considered publication for copyright purposes. 9 Today, however, ProQuest hedges on publication, stating: “inclusion in the database could be considered to represent a form of publishing” (emphasis mine). 10 Our personal interpretations fall short with students attempting to decipher publication contracts.

We need concerted action by our institutions to concretize the relationship between graduate works submitted to fulfill degree requirements and their published counterparts. Universities could adopt open access policies that would compel publishers to allow use of articles in a dissertation, removing any uncertainty for students. For those who do not publish in advance of graduating, universities could endorse the Council on Publication Ethics guidelines that theses be treated as preprints, with ETD collections in IRs considered, essentially, graduate student preprint servers. 11 This may suffice for the journal disciplines, but it does not adequately address scholarly monograph publishing, which remains a key issue in fields such as history.

The rise of composite theses may render ProQuest’s publication services redundant, ultimately ending its reign over traditional dissertation publishing. Incidentally, the company appears to be focusing its attention on two areas: workflow, through continued development of its ETD Administrator tool, and digital publishing, by sponsoring events to reimagine the doctoral dissertation for the digital age. 12 The ability to accept fully digital graduate works would be an enormous change for ProQuest, but it is potentially a viable form of content that is not easily subsumed by journal publishers.

The place of the dissertation within the scholarly publishing ecosystem is shifting, and librarians must recognize these changes and the effect it has on our submission and distribution systems. I worry that ETD policy discussions have become a niche concern within the broader scholarly communication conversation, despite the centrality of these works to graduate education and scholarly publishing.

Meanwhile, practical questions abound in graduate offices that would benefit from librarian expertise. Should publications be used verbatim or will they be reformatted and integrated with a larger theme? What about coauthorship? Can we mint DOIs for these works, and how? These issues are best addressed by professionals concerned with the integrity and function of the scholarly record, not a commercial vendor who seeks dominance in the discovery marketplace or an administrator who is primarily concerned with maintaining student records. 13

The imperative for students to publish stems from an increasingly competitive job market, and though librarians already support graduate students with scholarly communication literacy efforts, a closer integration with the dissertation deposit process could strengthen these initiatives. 14 It is essential that we reach out to graduate student authors and our administrative colleagues well before the final dissertation is deposited with the library. As librarians engaged with the future of scholarly communication, we must also attend to the material conditions of dissertation deposit, distribution, and publication in order to confront the corporate enclosure of this vital area of scholarship.

• Bernard Berelson, Graduate Education in the United States, The Carnegie Series in American Education (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960), 174.
• Council of Graduate Schools, “Proceedings of the CGS Future of the Dissertation Workshop (January 2016),” http://cgsnet.org/future-dissertation-workshop .
• Gary A. Olson and Julie Drew, “(Re) Reenvisioning the Dissertation in English Studies,” College English 61, no. 1 (1998): 58, doi:10.2307/379058 .
• Jill Cirasella and Polly Thistlethwaite, “Open Access and the Graduate Author: A Dissertation Anxiety Manual,” in Open Access and the Future of Scholarly Communication: Implementation, ed. Kevin L. Smith and Katherine A. Dickson (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017), https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_pubs/286 .
• Council of Graduate Schools, The Doctor of Philosophy Degree: A Policy Statement (Washington, D.C.: Council of Graduate Schools, 2005), 32, http://cgsnet.org/publication-pdf/2538/doctor_of_philosophy_degree.pdf .
• National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations ETD forum email list, https://groups.google.com/a/ndltd.org/forum/#!forum/etd .
• “Thesis Content and Article Publishing | Scholarly Publishing-MIT Libraries,” accessed November 6, 2017; George Porter, “LibGuides: Publishers’ Thesis Policies: Publishers’ Thesis Policies,” accessed November 6, 2017, https://libguides.caltech.edu/c.php?g=512672&p=3502561 .
• “Changes to Register U.S. Copyright submission step,” Training and Support-What’s New, ProQuest ETD Administrator, March 2, 2017, https://secure.etdadmin.com/cgi-bin/main/notifications .
• Gail Clement and Melissa Levine, “Copyright and Publication Status of Pre-1978 Dissertations: A Content Analysis Approach,” July 2011, 17, http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/149190 .
• “Dissertations-ProQuest Dissertations FAQ,” accessed November 12, 2017, www.proquest.com/products-services/dissertations/ProQuest-Dissertations-FAQ.html .
• Virginia Barbour et al., “Discussion Document for Best Practices on Issues around Thesis Publishing” (Committee on Publication Ethics [COPE], March 2017), https://publicationethics.org/files/u7141/best_practice_for_issues_around_theses_publishing%20%281%29.pdf .
• See “The Future of the Doctoral Dissertation | Council of Graduate Schools,” accessed November 6, 2017, http://cgsnet.org/future-doctoral-dissertation; The University of Iowa Libraries, “Beyond the PDF: Planning for the Future of the Dissertation,” accessed November 6, 2017, https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/beyond-pdf/ .
• For an overview of ETD stakeholders, see Richard Fyffe and William C. Welburn, “ETDs, Scholarly Communication, and Campus Collaboration: Opportunities for Libraries,” College & Research Libraries News 69, no. 3 (2008): 152–55.
• See Colleen Flaherty, “Renewed Debate over Whether Graduate Students Should Publish,” Inside Higher Ed, August 23, 2017, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/23/renewed-debate-over-whether-graduate-students-should-publish ; Barbara Alvarez, Jennifer Bonnet, and Meredith Kahn, “Publish, Not Perish: Supporting Graduate Students as Aspiring Authors,” Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 2, no. 3 (August 1, 2014), doi:10.7710/2162-3309 .

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11 Writing a Quote Sandwich

The Basic Quote Sandwich

● Top “Slice of Bread:” Context, explanation, introduction

● Filling: Material quoted directly from a source

● Bottom   “Slice of Bread:” Analysis, explanation, connection to your thesis

Avoid “Dropped” Quotations Even though teachers may have students’ best interest in mind, traditional models of education ignore the humanity of students, allowing teachers to treat their students as objects rather than people. “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interest of oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed” (Freire 1970, p.258) .

Some sandwiches are better than others:

● Formally introduce sources

● Use signal phrases

● Explain difficult ideas

Same material using the “sandwich” method In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire (1970) argues that, even though teachers may have students’ best interest in mind, traditional models of education ignore the humanity of students, allowing teachers to treat their students as objects rather than people. Freire says , “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interest of oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed” (p.258). When teachers participate in banking education, they only serve to perpetuate the status quo.

Making a more substantial sandwich:

● Establish an idea that your selected quote will support or comment on

● Provide some context for your reader

● Explain how your discussion of the quote furthers your own aims

A solid quote sandwich In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire (1970) argues that, even though teachers may have students’ best interest in mind, traditional models of education ignore the humanity of students, allowing teachers to treat their students as objects rather than people. Education, for Freire, ought to be about transforming the world, and bringing students to awareness of their role in doing so. This “critical consciousness” would result in students becoming “transformers of the world” (p. 258). However, what Freire calls the banking concept of education prevents students from ever developing this kind of consciousness. Freire says, “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interest of oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed” (p.258). When teachers participate, consciously or unconsciously, in banking education, t hey are not serving the interests of their students. Instead, banking education only adapts students to the world as it is, serving to perpetuate the status quo.

Write Your Own! Use the Quote Sandwich Builder worksheet to write your own quote sandwich.

QUOTE SANDWICH BUILDER: 1. What point do you want to make in this section of your paper? ____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

2. In a brief sentence, explain why you think the quote you’ve selected helps you make this point.

3. Is there any additional context your reader needs to understand the author’s ideas?

4. Who is speaking? Write a signal phrase.

5. Your selected quote goes here.

6. Paraphrase the ideas in your selected quote, beginning with “In other words…”

7. Write a sentence or two that explains the connection between the ideas in the quote and the point you are trying to make in this section of your paper.

Writing That Works Copyright © 2021 by The Writing Center at The University of Baltimore is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

English Paper Research Guide: Quote Sandwich

• Quote Sandwich
• Finding and Using Books
• Databases vs. The Open Web
• Finding Journal Articles
• Advanced Search Strategies
• Websites and Source Evaluation
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• In-Text Citations and Paraphrasing
• Citing Sources-MLA
• MLA Examples
• Printing/Exporting Bibliography

What's a Quote Sandwich

What's a Quote Sandwich?

A quote sandwich encourages writers to introduce quotes in their papers and shows how to tie them in as supporting evidence.

Just keep in mind quotes should be the supporter, NOT the supplier, of information in an essay.

*Note: The rules of the quote sandwich apply to paraphrases and summaries as well.

Using a quote sandwich will help your reader :

• Separate the writer’s ideas from someone else’s ideas.
• Connect someone else’s ideas to the writer’s ideas.
• Understand the quote and why it supports the writer’s thesis statement.
• Explain the context of the quote.

Steps for Using a Quote Sandwich

Steps for Using A Quote Sandwich:

• Keep your quotes short, break up large quotes, or paraphrase information to avoid using too many block quotes in your paper.
• A good general guideline is that 2/3 of the paper is your ideas and 1/3 of the paper is outside sources. Talk to your teacher if you feel the assignment requires more or less information from sources.
• Separate multiple quotations with discussion sentences. This helps improve the flow of your ideas throughout the paper. 

Quote Sandwich Illustration

The Quote Sandwich Sections

The Quote Sandwich Sections:

1. Top Bread: Introduce your quote, paraphrase, or summary using the author's credentials, where appropriate,and always using a signal phrase. Sharing information about the source can give you and your source more credibility. Examples:

• A famous physicist from the University of Cambridge, Stephen Hawking states.....
• According to Smiley (2013)....

2. Filling/Meat/Trimming:   Use the quote, paraphrase, or summary.

• Place "quotation marks" around two or more words directly quoted from a source.'
• Paraphrase or summarize by writing the source information in your own words. 
• Provide an MLA  in-text citation following the quote, paraphrase, or summary.

3. Bottom Bread:   Explain your quote, paraphrase, or summary in several sentances.

• Clarify difficult concepts from the quote.
• Discuss how the source information supports the main point of your paragraph.
• Redirect the reader back to the thesis statement of the paper.
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10.2: Introduction to Argumentative Thesis Statements

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What you’ll learn to do: evaluate argumentative thesis statements

An academic argument asserts a claim and supports that claim with evidence. The goal of an argument is to convince readers that the writer’s position is reasonable, valid, and worthy of consideration. Therefore, an argumentative thesis statement needs to be not only clear and focused, but also debatable, assertive, and reasoned. Additionally, an argumentative thesis must be able to be supported with evidence.

• Outcome: Argumentative Thesis Statements. Provided by : University of Mississippi. License : CC BY: Attribution

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• What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

Published on September 14, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on April 16, 2024.

A thesis is a type of research paper based on your original research. It is usually submitted as the final step of a master’s program or a capstone to a bachelor’s degree.

Writing a thesis can be a daunting experience. Other than a dissertation , it is one of the longest pieces of writing students typically complete. It relies on your ability to conduct research from start to finish: choosing a relevant topic , crafting a proposal , designing your research , collecting data , developing a robust analysis, drawing strong conclusions , and writing concisely .

Thesis template

You can also download our full thesis template in the format of your choice below. Our template includes a ready-made table of contents , as well as guidance for what each chapter should include. It’s easy to make it your own, and can help you get started.

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Table of contents

Thesis vs. thesis statement, how to structure a thesis, acknowledgements or preface, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review, methodology, reference list, proofreading and editing, defending your thesis, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about theses.

You may have heard the word thesis as a standalone term or as a component of academic writing called a thesis statement . Keep in mind that these are two very different things.

• A thesis statement is a very common component of an essay, particularly in the humanities. It usually comprises 1 or 2 sentences in the introduction of your essay , and should clearly and concisely summarize the central points of your academic essay .
• A thesis is a long-form piece of academic writing, often taking more than a full semester to complete. It is generally a degree requirement for Master’s programs, and is also sometimes required to complete a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts colleges.
• In the US, a dissertation is generally written as a final step toward obtaining a PhD.
• In other countries (particularly the UK), a dissertation is generally written at the bachelor’s or master’s level.

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The final structure of your thesis depends on a variety of components, such as:

• Your discipline
• Your theoretical approach

Humanities theses are often structured more like a longer-form essay . Just like in an essay, you build an argument to support a central thesis.

In both hard and social sciences, theses typically include an introduction , literature review , methodology section ,  results section , discussion section , and conclusion section . These are each presented in their own dedicated section or chapter. In some cases, you might want to add an appendix .

Thesis examples

We’ve compiled a short list of thesis examples to help you get started.

• Example thesis #1:   “Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the ‘Noble Savage’ on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807” by Suchait Kahlon.
• Example thesis #2: “’A Starving Man Helping Another Starving Man’: UNRRA, India, and the Genesis of Global Relief, 1943-1947″ by Julian Saint Reiman.

The very first page of your thesis contains all necessary identifying information, including:

• Your full title
• Your full name
• Your department
• Your institution and degree program
• Your submission date.

Sometimes the title page also includes your student ID, the name of your supervisor, or the university’s logo. Check out your university’s guidelines if you’re not sure.

Read more about title pages

The acknowledgements section is usually optional. Its main point is to allow you to thank everyone who helped you in your thesis journey, such as supervisors, friends, or family. You can also choose to write a preface , but it’s typically one or the other, not both.

Read more about acknowledgements Read more about prefaces

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An abstract is a short summary of your thesis. Usually a maximum of 300 words long, it’s should include brief descriptions of your research objectives , methods, results, and conclusions. Though it may seem short, it introduces your work to your audience, serving as a first impression of your thesis.

Read more about abstracts

A table of contents lists all of your sections, plus their corresponding page numbers and subheadings if you have them. This helps your reader seamlessly navigate your document.

Your table of contents should include all the major parts of your thesis. In particular, don’t forget the the appendices. If you used heading styles, it’s easy to generate an automatic table Microsoft Word.

Read more about tables of contents

While not mandatory, if you used a lot of tables and/or figures, it’s nice to include a list of them to help guide your reader. It’s also easy to generate one of these in Word: just use the “Insert Caption” feature.

Read more about lists of figures and tables

If you have used a lot of industry- or field-specific abbreviations in your thesis, you should include them in an alphabetized list of abbreviations . This way, your readers can easily look up any meanings they aren’t familiar with.

Read more about lists of abbreviations

Relatedly, if you find yourself using a lot of very specialized or field-specific terms that may not be familiar to your reader, consider including a glossary . Alphabetize the terms you want to include with a brief definition.

Read more about glossaries

An introduction sets up the topic, purpose, and relevance of your thesis, as well as expectations for your reader. This should:

• Ground your research topic , sharing any background information your reader may need
• Define the scope of your work
• Introduce any existing research on your topic, situating your work within a broader problem or debate
• State your research question(s)
• Outline (briefly) how the remainder of your work will proceed

In other words, your introduction should clearly and concisely show your reader the “what, why, and how” of your research.

Read more about introductions

A literature review helps you gain a robust understanding of any extant academic work on your topic, encompassing:

• Selecting relevant sources
• Determining the credibility of your sources
• Critically evaluating each of your sources
• Drawing connections between sources, including any themes, patterns, conflicts, or gaps

A literature review is not merely a summary of existing work. Rather, your literature review should ultimately lead to a clear justification for your own research, perhaps via:

• Addressing a gap in the literature
• Building on existing knowledge to draw new conclusions
• Exploring a new theoretical or methodological approach
• Introducing a new solution to an unresolved problem
• Definitively advocating for one side of a theoretical debate

Read more about literature reviews

Theoretical framework

Your literature review can often form the basis for your theoretical framework, but these are not the same thing. A theoretical framework defines and analyzes the concepts and theories that your research hinges on.

Read more about theoretical frameworks

Your methodology chapter shows your reader how you conducted your research. It should be written clearly and methodically, easily allowing your reader to critically assess the credibility of your argument. Furthermore, your methods section should convince your reader that your method was the best way to answer your research question.

A methodology section should generally include:

• Your overall approach ( quantitative vs. qualitative )
• Your research methods (e.g., a longitudinal study )
• Your data collection methods (e.g., interviews or a controlled experiment
• Any tools or materials you used (e.g., computer software)
• The data analysis methods you chose (e.g., statistical analysis , discourse analysis )
• A strong, but not defensive justification of your methods

Read more about methodology sections

Your results section should highlight what your methodology discovered. These two sections work in tandem, but shouldn’t repeat each other. While your results section can include hypotheses or themes, don’t include any speculation or new arguments here.

Your results section should:

• State each (relevant) result with any (relevant) descriptive statistics (e.g., mean , standard deviation ) and inferential statistics (e.g., test statistics , p values )
• Explain how each result relates to the research question
• Determine whether the hypothesis was supported

Additional data (like raw numbers or interview transcripts ) can be included as an appendix . You can include tables and figures, but only if they help the reader better understand your results.

Read more about results sections

Your discussion section is where you can interpret your results in detail. Did they meet your expectations? How well do they fit within the framework that you built? You can refer back to any relevant source material to situate your results within your field, but leave most of that analysis in your literature review.

For any unexpected results, offer explanations or alternative interpretations of your data.

Read more about discussion sections

Your thesis conclusion should concisely answer your main research question. It should leave your reader with an ultra-clear understanding of your central argument, and emphasize what your research specifically has contributed to your field.

Why does your research matter? What recommendations for future research do you have? Lastly, wrap up your work with any concluding remarks.

Read more about conclusions

In order to avoid plagiarism , don’t forget to include a full reference list at the end of your thesis, citing the sources that you used. Choose one citation style and follow it consistently throughout your thesis, taking note of the formatting requirements of each style.

Which style you choose is often set by your department or your field, but common styles include MLA , Chicago , and APA.

Create APA citations Create MLA citations

In order to stay clear and concise, your thesis should include the most essential information needed to answer your research question. However, chances are you have many contributing documents, like interview transcripts or survey questions . These can be added as appendices , to save space in the main body.

Read more about appendices

Once you’re done writing, the next part of your editing process begins. Leave plenty of time for proofreading and editing prior to submission. Nothing looks worse than grammar mistakes or sloppy spelling errors!

Consider using a professional thesis editing service or grammar checker to make sure your final project is perfect.

Once you’ve submitted your final product, it’s common practice to have a thesis defense, an oral component of your finished work. This is scheduled by your advisor or committee, and usually entails a presentation and Q&A session.

After your defense , your committee will meet to determine if you deserve any departmental honors or accolades. However, keep in mind that defenses are usually just a formality. If there are any serious issues with your work, these should be resolved with your advisor way before a defense.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

• Survivorship bias
• Self-serving bias
• Availability heuristic
• Halo effect
• Hindsight bias
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

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The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation shouldn’t take up more than 5–7% of your overall word count.

If you only used a few abbreviations in your thesis or dissertation , you don’t necessarily need to include a list of abbreviations .

If your abbreviations are numerous, or if you think they won’t be known to your audience, it’s never a bad idea to add one. They can also improve readability, minimizing confusion about abbreviations unfamiliar to your reader.

When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

A thesis is typically written by students finishing up a bachelor’s or Master’s degree. Some educational institutions, particularly in the liberal arts, have mandatory theses, but they are often not mandatory to graduate from bachelor’s degrees. It is more common for a thesis to be a graduation requirement from a Master’s degree.

Even if not mandatory, you may want to consider writing a thesis if you:

• Plan to attend graduate school soon
• Have a particular topic you’d like to study more in-depth
• Are considering a career in research
• Would like a capstone experience to tie up your academic experience

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Quote Sandwich

Effectively integrating quotes as evidence.

What’s a sandwich without the bread? A mess. A salad, maybe. The point is that it’s not a sandwich. Similarly, a quote without an effective lead-in before and an explanation after, like the bread supporting the filling of a sandwich, is not adequate to support your thesis and ideas. What you need is a quote sandwich: support the quote with an introduction before and some elaboration after.

• Provide context* for the quote so the reader who is unfamiliar with the source can understand it.
• Use a signal phrase** or a sentence to lead in to the quote, using a comma or colon before the quote begins.
• Provide the quotation in quotation marks, or follow the guidelines for long quotes by formatting it into a block quote.
• Provide an in-text citation of the source of the quote in MLA, APA, or another required style. Keep in mind that using a signal phrase in the top bread to introduce the quote can sometimes fulfill all or part of this in-text citation.

Bottom Bread:

• Explain the significance of the quote, interpreting it and telling the reader how this idea supports and connects to your thesis.

Definition of terms:

*Context: background information necessary to fully understand an idea or event.

**Signal phrase: a phrase that mentions the author and/or title of a source to introduce a quote or paraphrase from that source.

Sample Quote Sandwich #1

• The work of cleaning the home should be divided fairly between the men and women living there, instead of perpetuating sexist roles by placing the burden on women. Solving the inequality is best done on an individual level by negotiating which spouse handles each task. Jessica Grose advises that if
• “a woman is twice as good as her husband at doing the laundry, but only 20 percent better than her husband at doing the dishes... the husband should always do the dishes” ([if this source had a page number, it would go here]).
• By creating such a plan, the housework is divided fairly and equally between genders based on ability and workload.

Sample Quote Sandwich #2

• Jessica Grose argues that cleaning the home still falls unfairly on women’s shoulders in her article, "Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier." Grose notes,
• "At its most basic, a reason why a lot of men don’t want to clean is obvious: it’s not fun. The rewards of the other two traditionally female household tasks— childcare and cooking—are palpable. Your kid’s smile, a delicious meal. But not so with cleaning" ([if this source had a page number, it would go here]).
• Here, Grose connects the task with its level of reward, which is much lower than the other types of housework. This reason may be true: cleaning is not as fun or as rewarding, but it is not substantial enough to excuse men from doing their fair share of the housework.

Works Cited [MLA]

Grose, jessica. “cleaning: the final feminist frontier.” new republic , 18 mar. 2013, https://newrepublic.com/article/112693/112693 . accessed 28 mar. 2014..

Learn more about " Using Quotes Effectively ."

Learn more about " Introducing Sources ."

Module: Academic Argument

Introduction to argumentative thesis statements, what you’ll learn to do: evaluate argumentative thesis statements.

An academic argument asserts a claim and supports that claim with evidence. The goal of an argument is to convince readers that the writer’s position is reasonable, valid, and worthy of consideration. Therefore, an argumentative thesis statement needs to be not only clear and focused, but also debatable, assertive, and reasoned. Additionally, an argumentative thesis must be able to be supported with evidence.

• Outcome: Argumentative Thesis Statements. Provided by : University of Mississippi. License : CC BY: Attribution

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Can writing sandwich thesis in computer science be harmful to your career?

In the next months I will defend my thesis and I wonder if it is really worth it to write a traditional thesis. Although I have time to write it, I would consider a “waste” of time that I could use continuing my research (or improving some of my results).

On the other side, all my colleagues have written a traditional thesis, that is why I am not sure if a sandwich thesis would harm, somewhat, my future career.

• 16 I don't even know what a sandwich thesis is... Thus, I assume that the answer to your question strongly depends on where you are studying and where you are planning your future career, so you might want to add these informations. –  Dirk Jun 27, 2017 at 11:47
• 1 Here it is really well explained: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/149/… –  Bub Espinja Jun 27, 2017 at 11:49
• What do you call a "traditional thesis"? There are intermediates between sandwich and what I would maybe call "traditional". Here they are called cumulative. –  skymningen Jun 27, 2017 at 12:04
• 3 What kind of harm are you concerned about? Nobody really cares what your thesis looks like - they might look up your papers at best. –  Jon Custer Jun 27, 2017 at 13:10
• 3 A thesis can be an opportunity to publish any minor results, false leads, personal opinions about the field that would otherwise go in a "vision" paper, and whatever else didn't fit in your conference papers. (My master's thesis is basically a conference paper with a "lessons learned" chapter tacked on. I don't consider it a waste of time, even though just reformatting the paper would have been good enough.) Maybe not important to your career, but maybe important to you ... –  Jeffrey Bosboom Jun 28, 2017 at 1:08

4 Answers 4

Regarding your career, don't worry at all. In computer science, it is mainly your publications, conferences, and your code in public repositories what's gonna be valued in real life. No one is ever gonna read your thesis, apart from (if you are lucky) the members of the committee evaluating it.

That being said...

In the next months I will defend my thesis and I wonder if it is really worth it to write a traditional thesis.

The question here is: do you have a thesis in the research sense of the word (a statement about the world that you believe to be true and you have tried to prove during your PhD years)? From your description, it doesn't look like that's the case.

This would be my personal advice:

Case A: You already have a few good publications that answer some questions of a common broader topic. In my experience, it is worth to compile them, cleaning them out, and adding an introduction and some conclusions to help the reader prove you know what you are talking about, and that you are able to manage the big picture. It helps you clarify your thoughts and your research. That proves that you have a thesis , you are responsible for it, and you are able to defend your own research. You might actually learn a lot doing this.

Case B: You have been publishing here and there, about different topics, some of which don't actually have much to do with each other, and you don't really have a "thesis" per se. Then, honestly, don't bother. Just present your collection of publications and get your PhD. You cannot build and improvise a decent thesis in a few months if you don't have one already.

Case C: You don't have good publications and you don't have a thesis . Get your PhD and run away as fast as you can. Try not to recommend that University to anyone in the future.

• 2 Is case B actually inferior to case A, assuming that the candidate has a lot of quality publications but they are simply about unrelated topics? –  aellab Jun 27, 2017 at 13:23
• 1 My first thought about case B would be that this person has been sharing authorship with others from his research group and/or this person does not have a thesis, so it would be inferior to case A, yes. So I would definitely prefer case A with 2 publications over case B with 6. However, given the (corrupt) state of academia, in general terms, case B would most probably rated higher. –  Pablo Jun 27, 2017 at 13:30
• 2 Obligatory PhD comic for Case B !! –  299792458 Jun 27, 2017 at 14:51
• 2 @Pablo Yes, if you artificially make case B worse, then it's worse. Your original statement makes no judgement on the quality of the research: it is equally compatible with multiple lead-author publications of high quality and in high-impact venues, but about different topics that do not fully coalesce around a single thread. Are you claiming this is inferior to a small number of acceptable-quality publications around a small topic? (Or, to put it another way: are you sure that your representation of case B is not unfairly dismissive of what could be high-quality research?) –  E.P. Jun 27, 2017 at 23:09
• 1 If you don't have publications and you don't have a thesis, how can you get a PhD? What would you write in your dissertation? –  JeffE Jun 29, 2017 at 10:25

I'm a CS PhD who went into industry after my degree. When discussing my thesis back then (which, by the way, was what you call a "traditional" thesis) it was always in general terms: the ideas in it, not the pages. Similarly, any time I have fielded an application from a PhD, they would put the title of their thesis on their CV, but I very rarely would actually go and try and find the thesis. Instead I would look at their published articles in journals and conferences.

So while I can't give a definitive answer -- and I can't say that universities wouldn't scrutinize the thesis more closely and perhaps discount a "sandwich" thesis -- I'm strongly of the opinion that if your university permits it and your advisor supports it, that's what matters. The likelihood of it "harming your career" seems quite low, because in all honesty, who will notice?

• 9 PS. When you compare inserting articles verbatim to "writing from scratch," I assume you know that most "traditional" theses consist of heavily edited articles constituting individual chapters. It's not like you stick the articles in a bunker and start over. –  Fred Douglis Jun 27, 2017 at 13:07
• 1 I would wonder about the content or type of thesis at all unless you plan to go into academia yourself. As mentioned above "if your university permits it and your advisor supports it, that's what matters". If you plan to go into academia, I don't think there would be any harm done, unless it is a very "weak" thesis at which point you will have to publish more and better papers. Sandwich thesis can be the glue between that keeps the industry together, I would not perse discount them. –  fgwaller Jun 27, 2017 at 19:16

It all depends on the quality of the papers and the venues where they were published. A thesis that sandwiches multiple papers from top venues is potentially beneficial , since the included material stood a particular rigorous evaluation process.

tl;dr: Writing a sandwich thesis can further narrow your focus and prevent you from developing a broader understanding of your field.

I have mixed views on sandwich theses that essentially staple 3-5 papers together between a short introduction and conclusion chapters. The benefit of the sandwich thesis is that articles are generally what is important to hiring committees and funding committees. As the sandwich does not include any sides it is also better focused and can be quicker to write letting you finish sooner (which has advantages and disadvantages).

The benefit of a traditional thesis where you have a literature review chapter, general methods, a couple of result chapters and a conclusion chapter is that it lets you explore side topics in addition to your main focus. They can be quicker to write since you only need a single literature review, method, and conclusion sections, especially if you put the writing off until the end. A traditional thesis typically has more comprehensive literature review and conclusion sections. Following side projects and writing a really thorough introduction and summary can provide you with valuable insight into the wider field and help you find your next topic. This is not to say that a sandwich thesis cannot include side projects and in depth literature and conclusion chapters.

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Materials Horizons

Confined co in sandwich structure promotes c-c coupling in electrocatalytic co2 reduction.

Microenvironment regulation nearby catalyst surface plays a critical role in heterogeneous electrocatalytic reactions. The local concentration of reactants and intermediates significantly affects the reaction kinetics and product selectivity. Herein, we innovatively proposed to utilize the spatial confinement effect in sandwich structured C/Cu/C assembly to regulate the kinetic mass transport during the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction. The sandwich C/Cu/C assembly catalyst was successfully prepared via a simple bidirectional freezing and freeze-drying method. The sandwich structure changes the free diffusion pathway of CO intermediate within the sandwich interlayer and helps confine CO with locally increased CO concentration nearby catalyst surface, which in turn promotes the C–C coupling and thus improve the reaction activity and double the C2 product selectivity compared to its disordered mixture counterpart. This kinetics regulation in sandwich structure may provide a new insight into the catalyst design and inspire the understanding of structure-performance relationship in electrocatalysis.

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W. Fan, Y. Liu, C. Zhang, X. Chen, D. He, M. Li, Q. Hu, X. Jiao, Q. Chen and Y. Xie, Mater. Horiz. , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D4MH00457D

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