thesis play spelling

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

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thesis play

Definition of thesis play

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thesis noun

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What does the noun thesis mean?

There are seven meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun thesis . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

thesis has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the noun thesis ?

How is the noun thesis pronounced?

British english, u.s. english, where does the noun thesis come from.

Earliest known use

Middle English

The earliest known use of the noun thesis is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).

OED's earliest evidence for thesis is from before 1398, in a translation by John Trevisa, translator.

thesis is a borrowing from Greek.

Etymons: Greek θέσις .

Nearby entries

• thesaurus, n. 1823–
• thesaury, n. a1639–1708
• these, n. a1600–48
• these, pron. & adj. Old English–
• Thesean, adj. 1815–
• Theseid, n. 1725–
• Theseium, n. 1819–
• these-like, adj. 1644–
• thesial, adj. 1654
• thesicle, n. 1863–
• thesis, n. a1398–
• thesis-novel, n. 1934–
• thesis-play, n. 1902–
• thesmophilist, n. 1644–
• Thesmophorian, adj. 1891–
• Thesmophoric, adj. 1788–
• thesmothete, n. 1603–
• thesocyte, n. 1887–
• thesp, n. 1962–
• Thespian, adj. & n. 1675–
• Thespianism, n. 1914–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for thesis, n..

thesis, n. was first published in 1912; not yet revised.

thesis, n. was last modified in December 2023.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into thesis, n. in December 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1912)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

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Citation details

Factsheet for thesis, n., browse entry.

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PhD manuscript with grammatical errors and informal phrases

I have made a very good contribution in my PhD and just graduated two years ago from a top university with honors.

Today, I revised my PhD manuscript and surprisingly found several grammatical errors, informal sentences that I don't feel comfortable with now, and honestly also found two technical errors (they are correct in my published papers but not in my PhD manuscript). I am really disappointed, and feel like "I don't deserve to be graduated from a top university" with a PhD manuscript that contains a lot of grammatical errors and several informal things.

When I wrote the manuscript, I was happy with the informal things I added, but today I feel really sad by having them in my manuscript since I think they decrease the reputation of my work.

Although that after my defense the committee gave me one month for the minor corrections, but I don't think I have really benefited well from this opportunity. Is this normal? Any suggestions?

• errors-erratum
• thesis-committee

• 49 Yes this is normal. Suggestion: Just forget about it. Most likely, you cannot change anything. Most likely, the only people looking into this are friends who want to read the acknowledgements. –  user111388 Commented Feb 12, 2020 at 12:27
• 9 @user111388 Thank you for your suggestion:) You're right. I usually open PhD manuscripts just to read the acknowledgements!! –  Christina Commented Feb 12, 2020 at 12:31
• 6 If all of the technical content of your thesis is contained in other papers, chances are that very few people will read your thesis. If not, write those papers. And it's a thesis — the language doesn't have to be as formal as for a journal paper (although ideally the technical content will be completely correct). –  Peter Shor Commented Feb 12, 2020 at 13:07
• 3 I would call it a liberating truth. You're no better or worse than anybody else. –  lighthouse keeper Commented Feb 12, 2020 at 15:22
• 3 Oh mate, I have mine under lock so I don't look at it. It was also 2 years ago, but the day after I submitted, I found 3 typos in the first page, one of them being a word in a completely different color. Its part of the job, we go learning along the way, hopefully –  Ander Biguri Commented Feb 13, 2020 at 16:20

4 Answers 4

Ok. Let the past be the past. You weren't perfect then, you are better now. Maybe not perfect yet, but neither am I, or anyone. The very fact that you can recognize past errors is a sure sign that you are now better at this than you were as a novice scholar.

As the comments note, there is little chance the problems will be noticed, or even that they will matter if the are noticed.

There is a phenomenon among writers that is worth noting. Many people, writers of all kinds, sometimes feel embarrassed by their older work. Even poets. It is a sign of growth, not of failure.

In Tai Chi we say "One day's practice, one day's progress."

A couple of additional thoughts.

It is immensely difficult for most people to proof-read their own writings. You tend to see what you thought you wrote, not what you did write. An external review is a great way to improve any writing. See, for example Ezra Pound and the drafts of The Waste Land .

Also, you would be in far worse shape if you ignored past errors and insisted, insisted, that they were PERFECT .

Congratulations on your Ph.D. Don't stress over the minor errors.

A Ph.D. is a mark that you are capable of absorbing the state of the art in a certain (sub)field and contributing novel knowledge. Your dissertation documents this, as well as shows you are capable of communicating about it. It seems you ably did all this.

A Ph.D. dissertation is not meant to be perfection and rarely is. As you progress in your career, academic or otherwise, your future work will invariably eclipse it. It is a rite of passage, not your lifetime supreme achievement.

Some Ph.D.'s eventually realize their dissertation contained substantive errors. Not typos or suboptimally written phrases, but methodological or logic errors significantly affecting the validity of the results. In some fields where there are different schools of thought, successful Ph.D. dissertations may well become controversial, and their flaws more apparent over time. This is all part of the academic process.

Even those of us spared of the above will generally wince at something when rereading our dissertation years later. It may not be a grammar error or maladroit sentence, but very often some of what we wrote seems -- with the benefit of hindsight -- very naive, or at least very earnest and self-important. That's more wince-worthy than a typo or weird sentence!

The Ph.D. and the dissertation in particular are part of the learning curve. If you continue down an academic career path, what took you several years the first time around will soon take you several months, and be better. That's normal.

First, if these mistakes were left unnoticed by the thesis committee, don't expect people to give much concern about them. Especially if you wrote your PhD in a foreign language to you. Though, if people in the committee did notice such mistakes and pointed them to you, you had the obligation to correct them (although for typos and grammar, this is more of a moral obligation than a strict concern).

Regarding technical issues, keep in mind that making imperfect claims is a part of the scientific process. At some point people believed in Phlogiston Theory , people also believed that the speed of light was relative to some observer, and we don't review PhD thesis from a century past and go around revoking dead people's titles. Science is, at all times, just "the best we can do", it is not "perfection" nor an "absolute truth".

Finally, I would rarely actually read a PhD thesis in full. I'd normally prefer papers in journals. Even those are subject to mistakes, even in equations.

All that being said, there is a matter of how much you pride yourself in the actual thesis. Right after earning the title, it might have been the biggest accomplishment in your life, but as others pointed out, in an academic career it is bound to superseeded by later work. Even some of the most notable works of all time are rarely read by academicians (not accounting for historians), and when researchers do read works such as Newton's Principia Naturalis or Euclid's Elements of Geometry , it's an adapted version, which was translated, proof read and filled with editor notes to point relevant stuff for the modern reader.

As the other answers say: don't worry about it. The thing is, in the early years of school, writing, spelling and similar elementary skills are what you should learn, so of course that is what you are judged on at that stage. Later on these things are not important - you are evaluated on the content, not grammar, spelling or handwriting. And in your PhD, you are still learning: the focus is now on learning to do research, and how to fit into the academic millieu in general. I have seen a fair few academic writings, and you wouldn't believe the atrocities that are committed against Her Majesty's English on a daily basis :-) - but that is OK, because these people are scientists, not the Poet Laureate, and they produce good, scientific research.

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Master thesis, master's degree thesis or master degree thesis

I searched online and I understood that "master's degree" retains the apostrophe, while the relative thesis is commonly referred to as "master thesis". However, of the forms

• Master thesis
• Master's degree thesis
• Master degree thesis

Which one is wrong, which is right and which should be preferable to use on a thesis cover? I know that in English theses it's common to use the phrase "Thesis prepared for the Degree of Master of Science" but I can't do this. Thanks.

• possessives

https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/24377/use-master-thesis-or-masters-thesis

"Grammatically speaking, master's thesis unequivocally means a thesis of a master. Master thesis can be read the same way, but also as primary, principle or main thesis.

Stick with master's thesis."

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=master%27s+thesis&btnG=

• Your second link gives 1,770,000 results, while for "master thesis" it gives 4,400,000 results ( scholar.google.com/… ). –  Yaroslav Nikitenko Commented Apr 30, 2022 at 13:06
• 1 Correct. If you click through the search results you'll see that "master's thesis" also appears. The term has been aggregated to the "master thesis" search results. The n-gram search shows that "master's thesis" is more prevalent. books.google.com/ngrams/… –  bookmanu Commented May 17, 2022 at 13:44
• Indeed! I thought I shall change my CV now, but I see that I used "MS" there :) And in one place "master's thesis" correctly. The good thing is that it can be both lowercase (which I used) and uppercase (which looks more frequent). –  Yaroslav Nikitenko Commented May 17, 2022 at 15:13

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Plural of Thesis

What is the plural of thesis.

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Are You Good at Plurals?

The standard rules for forming the plurals, why is there confusion over the plural of thesis.

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Screen Rant

Every new d&d spell in the 2024 player's handbook.

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Dungeons & Dragons' Jeremy Crawford Talks 2024 Player's Handbook In-Depth

A new d&d 2024 addition could revolutionize the way people play the game, d&d: tasha's cauldron of everything magic tattoos explained.

• The 2024 Player's Handbook for D&D features 10 new spells, including arcane vigor, elementalism , and Tasha's bubbling cauldron.
• Some of the new spells provide significant combat utility, while others could be fun for creative roleplay and problem-solving.
• The updated spell list brings exciting options for sorcerers, paladins, bards, and more in the tabletop game.

The 2024 Player's Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons changes the game with updated rules and new content, and one area that's gotten some additions is the overall list of spells. For the most part, spell lists look largely similar to the 2014 Player's Handbook , although not every spell is exactly the same as it was before. A small selection is entirely new, however, opening up new avenues for play.

Fifth edition DnD has previously expanded its spell roster through the release of supplemental books like Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything , which introduced some fun options like zephyr strike and mind sliver. The 2024 Player's Handbook does incorporate some of these additions, but when looking specifically at spells that have never before appeared in DnD 5e, there are 10 new spells that the book has to offer .

D&D: I Wish I Could Show You My Favorite Thing About The 2024 Player's Handbook

There's a lot of exciting stuff to talk about in the new Player's Handbook, but sometimes showing is better than telling, and I wish I had that power.

10 Arcane Vigor (Sorcerer, Wizard)

Level 2 abjuration.

The 2024 Player's Handbook expands the resources to help party members to stay on their feet, and arcane vigor can give a health boost to Sorcerers and Wizards at critical moments. When using arcane vigor , a spellcaster can roll hit dice and add their spellcasting ability modifier to the result to regain health . Doing so expends the hit dice until they're regained upon a long rest, but it can be a worthwhile use of the resource.

At level two, a spellcaster can choose to roll either one or two of their hit dice for arcane vigor. Casting the spell in a higher spell slot adds one hit die for each level. Arcane vigor can be cast as a bonus action, sweetening the deal and making it easy to use while keeping up the offensive with an action on the same turn.

9 Divine Smite (Paladin)

Level 1 evocation.

Divine smite isn't a new concept for DnD , but implementing it as a spell is . In the 2014 Player's Handbook , divine smite appeared as a Paladin feature that dealt additional Radiant damage to targets. Despite consuming a spell slot for each use, it didn't function as a spell, meaning it could be used multiple times per turn and couldn't be countered with counterspell .

Dungeons And Dragons: All Paladin Subclasses, Ranked From Least To Most Powerful

Paladins are one of the coolest subclasses in Dungeons and Dragons both conceptually and mechanically, all thanks to their iconic Oaths.

Like before, divine smite inflicts 2d8 Radiant damage, which increases by an additional d8 when the target is undead or a fiend. Casting with higher-level spell slots adds another d8 per letter. Although the 2014 version of divine smite only worked with melee attacks, the spell version is used immediately after landing an unarmed or melee attack. The spell is permanently prepared for Paladins , so it's still always at the ready.

8 Elementalism (Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard)

Transmutation cantrip.

A lot of DnD spells weaponize one of the classical elements, but elementalism is a cantrip that offers access to all four. A Druid, Sorcerer, or Wizard using the cantrip can beckon air, earth, fire, or water , getting some neat little effects out of each. In the vein of other cantrips like prestidigitation and thaumaturgy , it's not something to use for damage in combat, but creative players can have a lot of fun with it.

Beckon air creates a breeze capable of tasks like stirring up dust and slamming shutters. Beckon earth can either create a "thin shroud of dust or sand " or cause a word to appear in earth. Beckon fire makes a cloud of harmless embers and smoke, which can ignite lighting fixtures in the area. Beckon Water makes a spray of cool mist or a cup of clean water that evaporates a minute later, which some parties will doubtless attempt to rely on in survival campaigns. Sculpt element can make any of the elements into a small crude shape.

7 Fount Of Moonlight (Bard, Druid)

Level 4 evocation.

Like divine smite, f ount of moonlight focuses on Radiant damage. In this case, it applies a glowing effect to a Bard or Druid that uses it, which naturally offers some extra light in the caster's direct vicinity. What makes it exciting, however, is that it's both a defensive and offensive option, helping to justify expending a level four spell slots.

Fount of moonlight adds resistance to Radiant damage and an extra 2d6 Radiant damage for melee attacks . The spell also opens up a Reaction option that Blinds creatures who attack the user and fail a Constitution saving throw. As a Concentration spell, Fount of Moonlight can last for 10 minutes as long as Concentration isn't broken.

6 Jallarzi's Storm of Radiance (Warlock, Wizard)

Level 5 evocation.

DnD is bringing the classic campaign setting of Greyhawk back into the limelight in 2024, with the upcoming Dungeon Master's Guide including a map and overview for DMs to use in custom adventures. Jallarzi's storm of radiance , named after the Greyhawk archmage Jallarzi Sallavarian, is another interesting tie-in. Available to Warlocks and Wizards, this Concentration spell makes for a great show.

Dungeons & Dragons lead designer Jeremy Crawford talks about the upcoming 2024 Player's Handbook and some key aspects of what it will entail.

Jallarzi's storm of radiance creates a storm of light and thunder within a limited radius , Blinding and Deafening creatures inside as well as preventing them from casting verbal spells. It also inflicts Radiant and Thunder damage on those inside once per turn, dealing 2d10 damage of each on a failed save and 1d10 of each on a save. Casting Jallarzi's storm of radiance at higher levels adds 1d10 of each per level.

5 Power Word Fortify (Bard, Cleric)

Level 7 enchantment.

Power word spells are intended to be impressive high-level effects that happen instantaneously, and power word fortify certainly doesn't disappoint. Bards and Clerics can use this spell to immediately fortify up to six creatures within a 60-foot range. A total of 120 temporary hit points can be distributed among the recipients , whether the whole batch goes to one target or six creatures all get 20 HP each.

Power word fortify could be a useful emergency spell when the party is in dire straits, but since it offers temporary HP instead of healing, deploying it in advance of a known boss encounter also makes for a useful buff. High-level party supports should definitely have no trouble getting utility out of the spell.

4 Sorcerous Burst (Sorcerer)

Evocation cantrip.

Like elementalism , sorcerous burst is a cantrip with a lot of flexibility, but this particular spell is focused on combat possibilities rather than roleplay. Within a range of 120 feet, sorcerous burst can be used with a standard ranged attack roll. Successfully hitting a target gives the sorcerer dealer's choice as to the damage type, with Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, Psychic, or Thunder all available.

Although most of D&D 2024 is made up of tweaks to 5e, one new addition is groundbreaking and could change the way people play the game.

DnD 's 2024 Player's Handbook is leaning into the concept of unpredictable innate magic for sorcerers , and sorcerous burst reflects this with an additional luck-based mechanic. Rolling an 8 on a d8 for damage unlocks an additional d8 to roll, and bonus d8s can theoretically stack up to the sorcerer's spellcasting modifier. Level 5, 11, and 17 each add an additional d8 to the base damage.

3 Starry Wisp (Bard, Druid)

Rounding out the trio of new cantrips in the 2024 Player's Handbook is starry wisp, an option available to Bards and Druids. As a ranged spell attack, starry wisp is fairly basic, dealing 1d8 Radiant damage to a target within a 60-foot radius on a successful hit. At level 5, 11, and 17, the damage increases by 1d8, so it can still be useful to have on hand later on in a campaign.

What makes starry wisp interesting is that it makes its targets emit dim light in a 10-foot radius until the casters next turn. This effect makes turning invisible useless , and it could be useful for keeping track of enemies in dark environments. It can also be used to target an object, potentially lighting up an inaccessible or dangerous area without putting the party at any additional risk.

2 Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron (Warlock, Wizard)

Level 6 conjuration.

If any spell seems like it would have been fit to debut in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything , it's Tasha's bubbling cauldron , but it's making its first appearance in DnD 's 2024 Player's Handbook. True to its name, the conjuration for Warlocks and Wizards conjures up a bubbling cauldron, which appears on the ground nearby, lasts for 10 minutes, and can't be moved.

The D&D book Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has a section on Magic Tattoos. Here's how to get them, what they do, and all of their powers explained.

Tasha's bubbling cauldron is full of a common or uncommon potion of the spellcaster's choice , which can be retrieved in temporary vials when party members use a bonus action to do so. The number of potions is equivalent to the Warlock or Wiztard's spellcasting modifier, and the cauldron will disappear ahead of schedule once that limit has been reached. As a level six spell that requires a valuable gilded ladle to work, this could be a fun late-campaign reward, especially for someone leaning into a witchy character.

1 Yolande's Regal Presence (Bard, Wizard)

Level 5 enchantment.

Yolande's regal presence is another spell connecting to the world of Greyhawk, in this case referencing the elven queen Yolande. This Concentration spell can majorly punish enemies that come within melee range , potentially offering the party a good deal of protection and opening up new strategic opportunities. Enemies that come within a 10-foot radius can be forced to make a Wisdom saving throw, taking 4d6 Psychic damage on a failure and half on a success.

Yolande's regal presence is an even more powerful control option than just the damage would indicate. Anyone who fails the save is knocked Prone, and the caster can push them up to 10 feet away at will. It should be a fun one to encourage smart positioning in Dungeons & Dragons , finishing off the list of new spells in the 2024 Player's Handbook.

Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the '70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.

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Wordle Review No. 1,146

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Today’s average difficulty is 4.9 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging.

For more in-depth analysis, visit our friend, WordleBot .

Today’s Word

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Today’s word is SAUCY, an adjective. According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, it means “rude; impudent.”

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