Developing a Thesis Statement 2:
Explanatory, argument, and analytical theses

An explanation highlights (and argues for) the most important features and relationships of a subject or a field.  An argument not only highlights features and relationships of a subject or a field, but also draws conclusions and recommends actions. An analysis argues that the features and relationships of a subject or a field can be organized according to some principle or idea, and that these principles can be used to create groups and make comparisons.

Example 1: the Krebs Cycle

The Krebs cycle is found in all living beings.  Therefore, to understand basic biology, the Krebs cycle must be thoroughly mastered.  [Explanation:  highlights the Krebs cycle]

The Krebs cycle, found in all living beings, is essential to basic biology. The high rate of student failure in biology is directly due to poor mastery of the Krebs cycle.  To make the cycle easier to understand, all biology students should be taught the Krebs cycle using visual materials.
[Argument:  highlights the Krebs cycle, draws a conclusion about biology and makes a recommendation about how to teach the Krebs cycle.]

Students succeed in biology class because they are taught life cycles using visual materials.  All biology classes can be evaluated using those two criteria:  the emphasis on basic life cycles, and the use of visual materials.  Biology classes on the West Coast have access to better visual materials, and so are taught more effectively than classes on the East Coast.
[Analysis:  offers a principle (2 criteria) to evaluate whether or not any biology class is being well taught, and argues that there is a group – those on the West Coast – who are superior.]

(Note: be careful --when you start with a shaky foundation, the thesis doesn't necessarily get better with more development!)

Example 2: Hospital Design

Almost all modern hospitals feature light-colored walls, wide corridors, and open or low-walled reception areas. These very features were promoted by the American Architect’s Guild as relaxing for nervous patients and published in their groundbreaking 1975 handbook Public Buildings.  However, the term “modern” is relative.  The interiors of most public buildings are only redesigned every 30 years. Therefore, to understand current hospital design, one must know the something about the authors of Public Buildings and the tastes and tendencies of the Architect’s Guild of 30 years ago. 

[Explanation:  highlights the relationship between hospital design, the Architect’s Guild and the handbook Public Buildings.]

Almost all modern hospitals feature light-colored walls, wide corridors, and open or low-walled reception areas. These very features were promoted by the American Architect’s Guild as relaxing for nervous patients and published in their groundbreaking 1975 handbook Public Buildings.  The interiors of most public buildings are only redesigned every 30 years. While most hospital patients still find their surroundings soothing, doctors today feel distinctly less comfortable in the hospital setting.  For the last 30 years, the field of medicine has been the most rapidly-moving of all areas of technological advance.  Computers have changed every instrument and every procedure surrounding patient care.  It is absurd to think that a building designed for the technology of 30 years ago could be suitable for medical practice today.  Hospital buildings should be redesigned, at a minimum, every 5 years.   Furthermore, the American Architect’s Guild should recruit doctors to help write the next edition of Public Buildings.

[Argument: highlights the relationship between hospital design, the Architect’s Guild and the handbook Public Buildings To understand the present, one must understand the past, particularly the people involved in the Guild and the authors of Public Buildings.  Because of technological changes, recommends that hospitals be redesigned faster and that doctors, not just patients and architects, should influence hospital design. ]

Any hospital that features light-colored walls, wide corridors, and open or low-walled reception areas may seem modern and relaxing, but the standards for judging a hospital should not be its looks, however pleasant.  A good hospital is one that has up-to-date medical technology, doctors and nurses who attend regular training programs in those technologies, and an executive board that plans capital campaigns and physical plant upgrades every 5 years.  By these standards, General Hospital is the best hospital in our state.

[Analysis:  offers a principle (3 criteria) to evaluate whether or not any hospital is good and identifies one as the best within a regional area.]