A thesis statement is basically the topic of your paper, a statement of your opinion and what you intend to prove or discuss in the essay. Ordinarily, we're taught that the thesis statement should be the last sentence of the introduce. However, Thoreau did not follow this advice in his essay "Civil Disobedience." You might say that the very first sentence tells us what Thoreau believes and intends to write about. I think, though, that the next to last sentence in the introduction is his thesis:
...The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it....
If I were grading Thoreau's essay, I might write in the margin that his last sentence should begin a new paragraph.
See the postings in the Essay Lab group for more help with writing a thesis statement.
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