When creating the thesis statement, be sure to use a full sentence and
frame that sentence as a statement, not as a question. The full
sentence, "The purpose of this speech is to inform my audience about
the early works of Vincent van Gogh," provides clear direction for the
speech, whereas the fragment "van Gogh" says very little about the
purpose of the speech. Similarly, the question "Who was Vincent van
Gogh?" does not adequately indicate the direction the speech will take
or what the speaker hopes to accomplish.
If you limit your thesis statement to one distinct aspect of the larger
topic, you are more likely to be understood and to meet the time
constraints.
Back to Framing a Thesis Statement