4.4 COMPOSITION: The Three-Story Thesis

Another way to improve your academic writing is to write a better thesis statement. You already know that a strong thesis statement is more than just naming the topic. It includes some sort of claim, or what the author (in this case, you!) wants to say about the topic. If you can do that, then you are ready to take it a step further by exploring the ideas below.

What makes a good thesis in college?

1. A good thesis is not obvious. Teachers before ESOL Level 8 needed to make sure that you mastered the basic form of the essay. Therefore, they were mostly concerned that you had a clear and consistent thesis, even if it was something obvious like “sustainability is important.” College instructors, however, fully expect you to produce something more developed.
2. A good thesis is arguable. This means that it’s worth questioning or debating: it’s something with which a reasonable person might disagree. A thesis like “sustainability is important” isn’t at all difficult to argue for, and the reader would have little motivation to read the rest of the paper. However, an arguable thesis like “sustainability policies will fail if they do not include social justice,” brings up some interesting questions. Thus, the arguable thesis makes the reader want to keep reading.
3. A good thesis is specific. Don’t just say that a particular policy is effective or fair; say what makes it so.
4. A good thesis includes implications. In other words, why does it matter? What are the consequences? Why do you care? And why should the reader care?

There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors who have no aim beyond their facts are one-story men. Two-story men compare, reason, generalize using the labor of fact collectors as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict—their best illumination comes from above the skylight. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

 

One way to strengthen your thesis statement is to write it as a three-story thesis. Here, when we talk about “story,” we mean “level” or “floor” (like a three-story building). Each “story” builds upon the previous one to make a strong structure. You can think of it this way:

• One-story theses state inarguable facts. What’s the background?
• Two-story theses bring in an arguable (interpretive or analytical) point.  What’s your main idea?
• Three-story theses place that point within its larger, compelling implications. Why does it matter?

For example, imagine you have been assigned a paper about the impact of online learning in higher education. To outline this example:

• First story: Online learning is becoming more common and takes many different forms.
• Second story: While most people see it as a transformation of higher education, it is better to think of online learning as an extension of higher education because it reaches learners who do not want to participate —  or cannot participate —  in traditional campus-based education.
• Third story: Online learning appears to be one way to better integrate higher education with other institutions in society since online learners integrate their educational experiences with other parts of their life, promoting a better flow of ideas between college and the rest of society.
• Final thesis (all three stories combined): Online learning is becoming more common and takes many different forms. While most people see it as a transformation of higher education, it is better to think of online learning as an extension of higher education because it reaches learners who do not want to participate — or cannot participate —  in traditional campus-based education. Online learning appears to be one way to better integrate higher education with other institutions in society since online learners integrate their educational experiences with other parts of their life, promoting a better flow of ideas between college and the rest of society.

Here’s another example of a three-story thesis:

• First story: Edith Wharton did not consider herself a modernist writer, and she did not write like her peers.
• Second story: However, in her work we can see her thinking about both the questions and forms that fascinated modernist writers of her time. While not a modernist herself, she did engage with modernist themes and questions.
• Third story: Thus, it is more revealing to think of modernism as a conversation rather than a category or practice.
• Final thesis (all three stories combined): Edith Wharton did not consider herself a modernist writer, and she did not write like her peers. However, in her work we can see her thinking about both the questions and forms that fascinated modernist writers of her time. While not a modernist herself, she did engage with modernist themes and questions. Thus, it is more revealing to think of modernism as a conversation rather than a category or practice.

Practice

Use the following exercise to review what you’ve learned. You can complete this exercise as many times as you want; it is not graded.

Text adapted from: Guptill, Amy. Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. 2022. Open SUNY Textbooks, 2016, milneopentextbooks.org/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/. Accessed 16 Jan. 2022. CC BY-NC-SA

Image adapted from Tampa, Florida Code of Ordinances.