The thesis statement is the main idea of your five paragraph essay, the single idea your entire essay will support. Sound familiar? The topic sentence is the main idea of a one paragraph essay. The thesis statement is the main idea of anything larger than a one paragraph essay-in this case, the main idea of the five paragraph essay. Like the topic sentence, the thesis statement can take the form of "limited subject is precise opinion."

A. Place a check mark by the sentences that would not make good thesis because they don't state opinions or because the opinions aren't precise.
1. Pets are neat.
2. Pets are popular in impoverished countries.
3. The Rocky Mountains challenged the navigational abili¬ties of early pioneers.
4. Competitive parachuting takes place this weekend.
5. Competitive parachuting can be surprisingly safe.
6. Accurate weather forecasting requires tremendously sophisticated computers.
7. Years ago, state fairs were great!
8. Years ago, state fairs helped farmers develop a sense of community.
9. Desert states have less than 10 inches of rainfall per year.
10. Desert states have explosive population growth because of the effects of modern technology.
B. For these thesis, underline the subject once and the opinion twice. Also, circle any subjects that aren't limited enough and any opin¬ions that aren't precise enough.
1. Death Valley is the lowest point in the United States.
2. Death Valley is attractive to winter tourists.
3. Many airports have high-tech features.
4. Delaware's state bird is the blue hen chicken.
5. Fatty foods are unhealthful.
6. Jack Dempsey, the famous heavyweight boxer, was tough.
7. Summer evenings with friends are neat.
8. The outer planets are inhospitable to any species on Earth.
9. Firefighters' tactics are based on scientific research.
10. Trips to foreign countries are usually fun.