Speaker 1: What's up, everyone? I'm Jasper, your friendly co-host here to help you level up your language and communication skills. In this video, I'm going to talk about thesis statements and how to become a pro at writing them. If you find this video helpful, please subscribe to our channel and give this video a like for more content like this. Before I break down what to include in a thesis statement for your next essay, let's first ground ourselves with a definition. A thesis statement is a sentence in the opening paragraph of a paper or essay that introduces the main topic to the reader. It's the second most important sentence in your paper and also happens to be one of the hardest to write. There are a lot of different kinds of essays. For example, expository, argumentative, persuasive, and compare and contrast are all essay types you might have to write. Each of them has nuance to how to position the thesis statement, but they do have an important commonality. Regardless of the essay type, you'll want to hook the reader in an engaging way in the opening sentence before inserting your central idea or argument later in the first paragraph. Let's take a look at a thesis example for an argumentative essay. The backlash to rock and roll music in the 50s by religious groups and traditionalists actually boosted the genre's popularity instead of diminishing it as intended. This example provides great insight into what's to come in the paper while stating the central argument for the topic. Now that we have a solid foundation, let's take a look at how to write a thesis statement for persuasive essays. Similar to argumentative essays, persuasive essays follow many of the same guidelines for their thesis statements, decisive language, specific details, and mentions of subtopics. The main difference is that the thesis statements for persuasive essays state clear opinions. The format is the same, and the opinions are often treated like facts, including conclusive language and evidence to support your claims. Let's take a look at a thesis example for a persuasive essay. Exotic pets provide the same love and companionship as conventional pets, so the laws regulating which animals can and cannot be kept as pets should be more relaxed. Now let's talk about how to write a thesis statement for the compare and contrast essays. These are tricky because you have at least two topics to touch on instead of one. The same general guidelines apply, decisive language, details, etc. But you need to give equal attention to both topics, otherwise your essay will seem biased. Let's take a look at a compare and contrast example. Sean Connery and Daniel Craig are the two most popular actors to portray James Bond, but both have their own distinct and, at times, contradictory interpretations of the character. For more strategies on writing the perfect thesis statement, visit the Grammarly blog. There, you'll find some brainstorm inspiration, advice on how to pick the right topics, and tips on how to get your first draft started. Thanks for watching this episode of Level Up. Stay tuned for more essential language and communication advice on our channel. Visit Grammarly.com to see how you can download free communication assistance today.