Choose a topic about which you have access to information. It is important to choose a topic that you can give adequate treatment. If the topic is impossible for you to research considering your location, the resources at your disposal and the timeframe, choose a subject that you can better access.
Conduct broad research about the topic in the beginning. It is useful to study primary resources and seek out areas of tension or ambiguity. Look for gaps or conflict in the current literature and use them as a springboard for more in-depth research. Pinpoint the precise area of the research you want to explore in your essay. Draw from this area a specific argument.
Write a rough draft of a thesis that makes a arguable claim. The thesis should be comprised of two parts: an observation from your research and a relevant argument or explanation. Though you will likely revise your working thesis several times, it is important to start somewhere. Don't worry if the wording of your thesis is not perfect.
Ask yourself if the thesis poses a reasonable argument that is open to disagreement. According to the University of California San Diego's essay-writing guidelines, it helps to insert the word "not" into your thesis to see if the opposite of your thesis could also be argued reasonably. For example, a thesis that states "The AIDS virus is the leading cause of death in Africa and thus steps should be taken to combat the disease" is a weak thesis because almost everybody will agree with it. If you add the word "not" after the word "should" it would be an unreasonable thesis to argue. A better thesis would be: "The AIDS virus is the leading cause of death in Africa and, in accordance with Western liberalism, the U.S. and the European Union should invest to ensure that everyone has access to condoms."
Read through your thesis and check to make sure it only conveys one main point. It is easy to get attached to many different arguments throughout the course of your research, but you need to only choose one. Narrow down your thesis so it makes one clear argument.
Use specific language in your thesis statement. The more specific the thesis is, the clearer it will be. For example, rather than writing "Americans are fat," use specific language such as, "more than 25 percent of Americans are obese."