Formulating a Fantastic Thesis

The thesis is often thought of to be the most important component to any writing piece. While I personally don’t believe in “formulas” when it comes to subjective competitions such as National History Day, I do believe that the template below serves as a great structure for crafting a strong thesis:

Part 1: Historical Context

What was going on during the time of the event/person’s life you are researching? What are the barriers people in that time period had to face? What were barriers like at local, national, and global levels?

Part 2: The Accomplishment/History

What did your person accomplish despite these barriers? What event occurred in the midst of such obstacles? Be as explicit as possible here. It may be helpful to even include time frames, spelled out words for abbreviations, etc.

Part 3: How were barriers broken?

By accomplishing such a feat, what barriers did the person you are researching break? What obstacles did the event overcome? You can be more general here, but you want to make sure that you touch on all of the barriers you enumerate upon somewhere in your project.

Part 4: So what?

What is the significance of the person of interest breaking such a barrier? What are the modern implications for different demographics (men, women, children, people of color, etc.)? What are the ramifications for people locally, nationally, and globally? This part, in some ways, is both the easiest and the hardest aspect to write.

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Winning Example

Of course, this is simply a template. While it would make sense for each part to follow one right after the other, it’s all about how the thesis reads. Below is an example of the thesis my partner and I wrote 3 years ago for our 7th place winning project. The theme is “Taking a Stand in History”:

“The need for domestic uranium saw rapid growth from the 1940’s through the 80’s, resulting in widespread mining throughout the uranium-rich Navajo Reservation, located in the southwestern United States. However, government-operated mining companies, that enlisted the help of Navajo workers, did not properly inform them of the dangers associated with uranium, nor take precautions to diminish the possible effects. As a result, Navajos were unable to object to the mining, as they did not know there was a stand to be taken. The government’s refusal to recognize the basic rights of the Navajo nation has led to long-lasting adverse health and environmental effects, still afflicting the Tribe and their land.”

Written on December 2nd , 2019 by Chris Pondoc