Final Thesis Statement

You've thought about the assigned topic and selected a narrower aspect that interests you. You then did a little preliminary research to understand the subject a little better. During that research, you found an even narrower topic to focus on. You next create a concise statement that forms the purpose of your paper and clearly states your position.

Following the Vietnam theme, the process might look like this.

The Vietnam War
	How did the US involvement escalate?
		The belief that communism would spread from country to country (the Domino Theory) forced our politicians to draw a "line in the sand" in Vietnam.

The Next Step: Searching for Sources Systematically and Exhaustively

You now have a thesis statement and have gathered some important information about your topic. You are ready to dig deeply to find the best resources for your paper. To do this effectively, you need a solid understanding of "databases," the most essential and ubiquitous tools of the Internet Age.