Top 3 Tips for Most Important Skill

So if the most important skill is the ability to identify and create a thesis... How do I create my own good thesis statement?

Ask yourself if the main point of your paper is:

1. substantial?
   
   • be bold: make a claim

   
   

2. contestable?
   • make it argumentative or disputable
   • make the reader think “you’ll have to explain that!"
   • remember, no one contests a claim that repeats what readers already believe
   • remember, to the degree the reader finds it contestable, they will also find it significant

   
   

3. specific?
   
   • generalizations don't cut it

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The info above is taken from The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb and Williams, which I highly recommend.