Term Paper Writing Guide: Summarizing Your Thesis

Thesis Importance

Your thesis is the most important part of your term paper. It is the central part of your introduction and creates the theme and point of the paper. Not only do you state your thesis in the introduction but you re-state and summarize it in the conclusion. The body of your term paper is written to support the thesis with more detailed and supporting information.

Summarizing Your Thesis

First, your thesis should be clear and narrow. You are answering some kind of question or addressing an issue. For example, if the general topic of a paper is secondhand smoking, the thesis states something specific about secondhand smoking, such as it being worse than firsthand smoking. As the rest of the paper supports this argument, you come to the conclusion where you summarize the entire paper, starting with the restatement of the thesis and then the summarization of the supporting information.

To effectively summarize your thesis, it must first be properly developed. The development of the thesis is done in the early stage of the term paper, and is a part of composing the rest of the paper with the supporting details. Being organized and concise is a key part of not only the introduction and thesis but the summary as well. The thesis is supposed to be specific and right to the point and the rest of the paper should follow suit. Be sure to stay on topic throughout the term paper and make sure the introduction and conclusion are relevant. The conclusion should fit with the rest of the paper, especially the introduction/thesis.

There may be new ideas or opinions discovered through the completion of the project, and this can be reflected in the conclusion and summary. Summarizing your thesis is a critical aspect of successfully closing your term paper and bringing it to a complete understanding for the audience. To successfully summarize your thesis, remember to not only restate it, but include a summary of the details used to support it. This is why it is best to create a thorough outline before doing the research paper.