personality type essay (stress on thesis statement)

We are to write an essay that defines a personality type. The example was "disneyland dads"
The instructor is very particular about thesis statements and im new to all this..well, its been 15 years.
I have several of these, so Im thinking of doing my paper on fair weather friends. i have some ideas on what a fair weather friend is:

a friend when circumstances are pleasant or profitable
most likely to appear when they are in need or, at best, when you are not in need.
a fair-weather friend will only be nice to you if he or she is having a good day, or if he or she gets something out of being nice

expects you to be there for them but doesn't reciprocate

I guess i just need help with a catchy thesis statement mine sound so generic and dull. Ex: fair weather friends are the worst kind to have.

it has the subject and the opinion but its just blah!
i didnt have that great of an english teacher...she taught us that an essay was just a story. when i took my GED i failed that part and learned on my OWN that an essay has a format! I wasnt taught about thesis statements either.

im open to all ideas. thank you for any help you can offer.

Well... I agree that an essay is not exactly like a story, but it should definitely incorporate one to support your thesis.

As for your thesis itself, it is very generic. Rather than saying that they are the worst kind of friends to have, think about what it is about them that makes them unfavorable. Try to come up with a more specific theme. Maybe fair weather friends are disloyal at times. Or maybe they live in greed or selfishness. An example of a more specific thesis would be: "Fair weather friends are often not friends at all; they are leeches that bask in greed and prey on the good will of others." Something like that could work. I would say that the more specific the thesis, the better. But don't get so specific that you can't even write a paragraph about it.

Yep, and they are nowhere to be found when you need help!


No, the worst ones are the severely neurotic who always misinterpret what I say, or jump to conclusions, and then it is not even worth trying to explain to them, because they just want to argue anyway. And I think it is just because he is eloquent; people who are eloquent are the worst friends to have, because they like to be confrontational because they know they can win most arguments. Ah, the hell with it, everyone can just leave me alone!

Okay, so the important thing is to make a thesis statement that is unique or useful enough to be worth saying. It would be no good to say, "Fair weather friends disappear when you need them most," because that is just saying what a fair weather friend is.

The purpose of an essay is to expound one idea... the kind of idea that requires some explanation.

For example, I might say something about the fact that people may call you a fair weather friend when, actually, they are the kind of person who constantly asks for favors and people can't afford not to avoid them. This idea would require an explanation.

One essay = one big idea
Put the idea in a single sentence at the end of the first para, and make the rest of the paragraphs about sub-ideas that help explain the main idea.

Thanks for participating here!