The GED essay
How do you write a thesis statement for the GED essay?
The short answer
Write one or two sentences that name the side of the passages that is better supported by evidence, and give the main reason why, often with the word "because". That side may not be the one you agree with. Make your thesis specific and arguable, state it as a fact, and put it near the start of your essay.
Write one or two sentences that name the side of the passages that is better supported by evidence, and give the main reason why. That is the task GED sets: decide which position in the passages is better supported, and explain why you chose it.[1][1] This post shows what GED asks you to claim, what makes a thesis strong, and where to put it, with a weak thesis and a stronger one side by side.
What GED asks you to claim
A thesis statement is the main point of your essay, the one idea that everything else supports. You will also see it called the claim. One GED webinar for teachers uses "claim" and "thesis statement" for the same thing, and it stresses beginning the essay with a strong claim.[2]
On the GED essay, your thesis is a judgment about the passages. GED's answer guidelines ask you to decide which position in the passages is better supported by their evidence.[1] Then you explain what makes your chosen side the better-supported one.[1]
That judgment may not match your own view. The side with better support is not necessarily the side you agree with.[1] So the task asks your thesis to judge the support, not the issue.
The same GED webinar builds a claim by answering two questions: "Which argument was better supported? Why was it better supported?"[2] A strong thesis answers both. To work out the first answer before you write, see our post on which argument is better supported.
What makes a thesis strong
A strong thesis is clear, specific and arguable. Here is what each of those words means.
Clear: a side and a reason
A clear thesis names the side and says why. A thesis that only picks a side leaves your reader asking why that side is stronger.
A simple way to add the reason is the word "because". GED's webinar on claims calls "because" a power word that students should use to make their claims stronger.[2]
Specific: say what the support is
Vague words make a vague thesis. The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina (UNC) suggests that when a thesis leans on words like "good" or "successful", you try to be more specific.[3]
If your thesis says one writer makes a good argument, your reader will wonder: good how? A specific thesis names the kind of support that makes one side stronger, such as figures from a real trial, or the lack of any figures at all.
Arguable, but stated as a fact
A 2022 GED webinar on scoring the essay says an effective claim "must be arguable but stated as a fact."[4] The same slide says a claim is something people can debate using questions and evidence. It is not your personal feeling or opinion.[4]
Arguable means a careful reader could disagree with you. That matters, because a thesis no one could disagree with may only be a summary, not an argument, as UNC warns.[3] A thesis like "Both writers discuss the issue" is true, but it gives your essay nothing to prove.
Stated as a fact means you write your thesis as a firm statement, not as a guess. Leave out words like "maybe" and "I think". Our post on using "I" in the GED essay shows how to rewrite "I think" sentences.
A weak thesis and a stronger one
The example below is made up. Picture two short letters on one question: should a town turn part of a public park into a fenced dog park?
- The first writer walks a dog in the park every day and wants the dog park. The writer's main evidence is a poll posted on a dog owners' group page, where most of the people who answered wanted a fenced area. Only members of that group could answer it.
- The second writer runs the town's parks office and wants to leave the park as it is. This writer reports this year's figures: the open lawn that the fence would close off holds youth soccer games four evenings a week, and sign-ups for those games are up by a fifth from last year.
Here are two theses for this pair:
- Weak: The second writer makes some good points about the park.
- Stronger: The second writer's case for keeping the lawn open is better supported, because the first writer's main evidence is a poll that only dog owners answered.
The weak thesis leans toward the second writer, but it never says which side is better supported. "Some good points" is vague, and there is no reason. A reader still does not know what makes that side stronger.
The stronger thesis passes each check:
- Clear: it names the better-supported side and gives the reason with "because".
- Specific: it names the exact weak spot in the other side's support: a poll that only one group could answer.
- Arguable: a reader could push back, so your essay has something to prove.
- Stated as a fact: it makes its point without "I think" or "maybe".
And whether you would like a dog park yourself never comes into it.
Your thesis is the start, not the whole argument
Your thesis matters on more than one of the traits GED uses to score the essay. To earn the top score on Trait 1, Creation of Arguments and Use of Evidence, an essay builds an argument from the texts and sets a purpose tied to the prompt.[5] On Trait 2, GED's notes say high-scoring essays tend to have several fully developed ideas that help express a central thesis.[5]
But a thesis cannot do the work alone. GED's guidelines for a Trait 1 score of 0 say "a single statement of a stance is considered insufficient."[5] A stance is the side you take. In other words, naming the better-supported side is only the beginning. The rest of your essay shows the evidence from the passages and explains why that side has the stronger support.[1]
Where to put your thesis
We found no GED rule on exactly where the thesis must go, or on how many sentences it may have. GED's advice does point to the start, though. Its simple structure for the essay puts your main idea or position in the introduction.[6] In GED's scored examples, an essay that earned the top score of 2 on Trait 2 opens by introducing the topic and making the writer's argument clear.[5] UNC's advice is similar: a thesis is usually one sentence that comes near the start of a paper.[3]
So our advice is to put your thesis in your first paragraph. A sentence or two can introduce the issue, and your thesis can follow. Then your reader knows from the start what your essay will prove, and so do you. This is a habit we suggest. We found no GED rule that requires it.
Practice it
Before your next practice essay, write down your answers to GED's two questions: which argument is better supported, and why? Then join the two answers with "because". Read the result and check it: does it name a side, give a specific reason, and say something a careful reader could argue with?
On OpenEssayMe you can write practice essays and get feedback on each of the three traits, so you can see how your thesis holds up and improve your writing one essay at a time. For the whole test, see our GED RLA test guide.
Questions people ask
What is a good thesis statement for the GED essay?
How do you start the GED essay?
A simple way is to introduce the issue in a sentence or two, then state your thesis. One of GED's scored examples that earned the top score on Trait 2 opens by introducing the topic and making the writer's argument clear.[5]
Where does the thesis go in the GED essay?
We found no GED rule that fixes its place. GED's simple structure for the essay puts your main idea or position in the introduction.[6] So your first paragraph is a good home for it.
Can I give my opinion in the GED essay?
The task asks you to judge the support each side gives, not to argue the issue.[1] The better-supported side may not be the side you agree with.[1] For more on opinion and "I think", see our post on using "I" in the GED essay.
Sources
- Extended Response Answer Guidelines, RLA Test (GED Testing Service, copyright 2015), item 4
- Building Success on the RLA Extended Response: It's All About the Claim! (GED Testing Service Tuesdays for Teachers webinar slides, undated), slide 4 (Session Objectives), slide 19 (Build the New Claim) and slide 24 (The Value of the Word Because)
- Thesis Statements (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), sections What is a thesis statement? and How do I know if my thesis is strong?
- Taking the Angst Out of Scoring the GED® RLA Extended Response (GED Testing Service Tuesdays for Teachers webinar slides, January 25, 2022), slide 10 (Remember, an Effective Claim)
- The 2014 GED® Reasoning Through Language Arts Test: Extended Response Resource Guide for Adult Educators (May 2015), page 8 (Trait 1 rubric, Creation of Arguments and Use of Evidence, score point 2), page 10 (Trait 1 Guidelines for Score Point 0), page 25 (Trait 2 note F), pages 96 and 106 (Anchor Responses 9 and 27, Trait 2 annotations, score 2)
- What Students Need to Know: GED RLA's Extended Response (GED Testing Service, copyright 2017), page 4, A Simple Structure for CR
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