How to Organize Ideas by Creating with an Effective Title, Thesis, and Topics

Many literary devices exist to fine-tune a piece of academic writing such as using active voice, a variety in sentence structure, or crafting an appropriate voice. While these all contribute to the creation of an effective essay, any analytical paper will still fall short if it does not have a title to draw in readers or fluid, organized ideas. This is why the thesis statement and topic sentences, though a small portion of a piece of writing itself, are the most important to engage readers and craft a persuasive argument.

Title:

An effective title is essential to writing a successful book, article, or school assignment. A good title must have a few key elements in order to do its job: a hook, a very brief idea of the topic, and an appropriate length. For the example above, the original title does not fit any of these requirements; it is too short to provide an apt description of the topic and does not have any element to hook the reader. Though somewhat wordy, the second title details what the paper is about within the topic of apartheid. Many people as well would never pick up a book with such a broad, bland title as “South African Apartheid”, even if the writing inside is perfect, while the second meets all criteria to attract an audience regardless of content. Another aspect to creating an effective piece of writing -- particularly in an academic setting -- is the thesis statement.

Thesis:

An impactful thesis statement should not only set the tone for, but also serve as an outline for an entire piece of analytical writing. The statement must make a debatable claim, and the rest of the article or paper argues and defends that claim. In the case of the above example, the reader decides to stop reading after the thesis statement because it does not make a real, specific claim. South Africa obviously would change with a restructured government, so a better thesis could make more specific, more arguable claims. A much better thesis is: “Although British rule over South Africa ended; ultimately, the white minority continued to oppressively govern South Africa into the late twentieth century, making the native population desperate for freedom.” This thesis makes the reader curious about why it is true, and sets a distinct tone for the entire essay. It is also much more specific, detailing the topic and argument at hand. A thesis dictates the tone for an entire essay, so a bad thesis statement that does not follow these guidelines could make or break the rest of an analytical piece of writing.

Topic:

Beyond the thesis statement, each topic sentence plays an important role in connecting and introducing ideas in an academic essay. A topic sentence must be distinct from its following content in that it introduces an idea that is defended later. In this way, a topic sentence is very similar to a thesis statement, but creates a debatable claim that directly supports the thesis. In an analytical essay, each topic sentence should be related to and work with the others to form a convincing argument supporting the thesis. Without following these guidelines, however, a paper becomes dis-coherent, with a jumble of seemingly unrelated ideas not tied down to a unified argument. Each of these elements of writing are important to craft an effective academic essay.

Without a unified thesis to introduce the main argument of the writing, or topic sentences that organize each idea within that argument, a paper with otherwise good writing becomes confusing. And without a specific title to hook readers, nobody may read the book, essay, or article to begin with.