Thesis on Extracurricular Activities

Brainstorming Topics

The term "extracurricular" covers anything from sports and athletics to clubs and volunteering. Sports can include team sports such as soccer or basketball, or individual ones like track or swimming. Chess clubs, debating teams and school bands all count as extracurricular. Some schools require students to perform community service, or sometimes students volunteer themselves to qualify for certain scholarships. All of these are appropriate subjects. An essay about a topic the writer is familiar with or interested in will read more engagingly, as the reader will sense the writer's own passion for the subject.

A broad thesis could argue for the benefits of participating in extracurricular activities in general; a writer can also narrow in on one particular activity, such as soccer or the debate club, and make a case for its value. A thesis could also take the opposing view and elaborate on the stresses of participating in too many after-school activities, or how the costs are too high. If focusing on a particular club or sport, a writer could argue for making specific improvements or eliminating certain unfair restrictions, such as limiting females from a male sports team, for example.

Because a thesis is only one sentence long, writers need to state their argument concisely. Introducing the topic first (for example, "the costs of the chess club") and then stating one's opinion on the topic ("the costs of the chess club are too high for students to afford") brings the reader to the point immediately.

Since a thesis is essentially an argument, it must be debatable and not necessarily factual. A writer can determine if his thesis is arguable if he is able to take the opposite viewpoint. For example, the statement "the chess club costs students money" is simply a factual description, as to claim the contrary would be to deny something that is true. A thesis must contain a statement with which someone else could disagree.