Transcript Slide 1

The Thesis and the Introduction
Your Requests ☺
What is a Thesis?
□ The thesis statement is one of the (if not the) most
important parts of your paper—think of it as the
foundation of a house—if your foundation is weak
and poorly constructed, what do you think happens
to the house?
□ The thesis statement is the announcement of your
analytical argument that you intend to make and
prove in the duration of your paper. It is a road map
for the paper—it tells the reader what to expect
from the rest of the paper.
What is a Thesis?
□ It should be placed somewhere in the Introduction
of your paper—Many like to put it as the last
sentence(s) of their Intro which is fine.
□ Successful thesis statements provoke thought and
should read beautifully.
□ A thesis statement is usually, but can be more than,
one sentence long.
Two Parts
□ Your thesis statement should include
two parts: WHAT and WHY.
□ WHAT: What claim are you making
about the text?
□ WHY: Why should we care? Why is your
claim important? Your thesis should
answer the “so what?” question.
What’s up with the thesis?
□ Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a
great American novel.
□ An opinion about the book, not an
argument.
What’s up with the thesis?
□ In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
develops a contrast between life on
the river and life on the shore.
□ Better? How so? What is still missing?
□ Doesn’t answer the “so what?”
question—what is the point of the
contrast? What does the contrast
signify?
What’s up with the thesis?
□ Through its contrasting river and shore
scenes, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn
suggests that to find the true
expression of American ideals, one
must leave ‘civilized’ society and go
back to nature.
□ Even better?
□ It presents an interpretation of a literary work
based on an analysis of its content and
answers the “so what” question.
Examples
□ Through Paul’s experience behind the lines
at a Russian prisoner of war camp, and
especially under bombardment in the
trenches, Erich Maria Remarque realistically
shows how war dehumanizes a man
□ Hawthorne’s use of symbolism in The Scarlet
Letter falters and ultimately breaks down
with the introduction of the character Pearl.
Examples
□ The character of the Nurse in Romeo and
Juliet serves as a foil to young Juliet, delights us
with her warmth and earthy wit, and helps
realize the tragic catastrophe.
□ Dickens’ portrayal of the French Revolution
and the love triangle depends mainly on his
use of four artistic tools: paradox, parallelism,
figurative language, and theme.
Examples
TOPIC
QUESTION AND THESIS
STATEMENT
Character
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel
Hawthorne depicts as alien to her
society until her father
acknowledges her.
Relationships In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger
among
shows that the relationship between
Characters
Holden and Phoebe acts as a
positive force on Holden.
Examples
TOPIC
Themes
QUESTION AND THESIS STATEMENT
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire on
racism.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men poignantly
expresses the alienation and loneliness of migrant
farm workers.
Style: Effective use Through the use of images and symbols in The
of imagery,
Catcher in the Rye, Salinger reveals many
foreshadowing, or subtleties about Holden's sensitive personality.
symbolism to
advance character
development, theme
or artistic purpose
Examples
TOPIC
Structure
QUESTION AND THESIS STATEMENT
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark
Twain uses the river journey to illustrate
Huck's increasing awareness of the moral
hypocrisy in the "civilized" South.
Critical
What reasons do critics have for censoring
Overview:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Is the
Background on
novel obscene? Is the novel racist? Is the
critical reputation language too coarse? Is it immoral?
of the novel
including
controversies
Sample Patterns for Literary
Thesis Statements
□ In (title of work), (author) (illustrates,
shows) (aspect) (adjective).
□ In “Barn Burning,” William Faulkner shows
the characters Sardie and Abner Snopes
struggling for their identity.
□ In (title of work), (author) uses (one
aspect) to (define, strengthen,
illustrate) the (element of work).
□ In “Youth,” Joseph Conrad uses
foreshadowing to strengthen the plot.
Sample Patterns for Literary
Thesis Statements
□ In (title of work), (author) uses (an important
part of work) as a unifying device for (one
element), (another element), and (another
element). NOTE: The number of elements
can vary from one to four.
□ In “Youth,” Joseph Conrad uses the sea as a
unifying device for setting, structure and theme.
Sample Patterns for Literary
Thesis Statements
□ In (title of work), (author) uses (literary
device) to (accomplish, develop, illustrate,
strengthen) (element of work).
□ In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Poe uses the
symbolism of the stranger, the clock, and the
seventh room to develop the theme of death.
Sample Patterns for Literary
Thesis Statements
□ (Author) develops the character of
(character’s name) in (literary work) through
what he/she does, what he/she says, what
other people say to or about him/her.
□ Langston Hughes develops the character of
Semple in “Ways and Means”…
Sample Patterns for Literary
Thesis Statements
□ (Author) (shows, develops, illustrates)
the theme of __________ in the (play,
poem, story).
□ Flannery O’Connor illustrates the theme of
the effect of the selfishness of the
grandmother upon the family in “A Good
Man is Hard to Find.”
Sample Patterns for Literary
Thesis Statements
□ (Author) (shows, develops, illustrates)
the theme of __________ in the (play,
poem, story).
□ Flannery O’Connor illustrates the theme of
the effect of the selfishness of the
grandmother upon the family in “A Good
Man is Hard to Find.”
Sample Patterns for Literary
Thesis Statements
□ (Author) develops his character(s) in
(title of work) through his/her use of
language.
□ John Updike develops his characters in “A
& P” through his use of figurative
language.
Video Clip: A Reminder
□ http://www.shmoop.com/video/howto-write-a-killer-thesis-statement/
WRITE YOUR
THESIS
THE
INTRODUCTION
What is the Introduction?
□ arouses interest in your reader
□ brings immediate focus to your subject
□ use a quotation, a provocative question,
a personal anecdote, a startling
statement, or a combination of these.
□ You may also want to include
background information relevant to your
thesis and necessary for the reader to
understand the position you are taking.
□ includes the title of the work of
literature and names the author
Which opening(s)?
What would you expect to be the personality of a
man who has his wife sent away to a convent (or perhaps
has had her murdered) because she took too much
pleasure in the sunset and in a compliment paid to her by
another man? It is just such a man -- a Renaissance duke
-- that Robert Browning portrays in his poem “My Last
Duchess.” Through what he says about himself, through
his actions, and through his interpretation of earlier
incidents, the Duke reveals the arrogance, jealousy, and
materialism that are his most conspicuous traits.
Which opening(s)?
The first paragraph of Alberto Alvaro Rios’s short story
“The Secret Lion” presents a twelve-year-old boy’s view of
growing up -- everything changes. As the narrator tells us,
when the magician pulls a tablecloth out from under a pile of
dishes, children are amazed at the “stay-the-same part,” while
adults focus only on the tablecloth itself (42). Adults have the
benefit of experience and know the trick will work as long as
the technique is correct. When we “grow up” we gain this
experience and knowledge, but we lose our innocence and
sense of wonder. In other words, the price we pay for growing
up is a permanent sense of loss. This tradeoff is central to “The
Secret Lion.” The key symbols in the story reinforce its main
theme: change is inevitable and always accompanied by a
sense of loss.
Which opening(s)?
The setting of John Updike’s story “A & P” is crucial to
our understanding of Sammy’s decision to quit his job. Even
though Sammy knows that his quitting will make life more
difficult for him, he instinctively insists upon rejecting what
the A & P represents in the story. When he rings up a “No
Sale” and “saunter[s]” out of the store, Sammy leaves behind
not only a job but the rigid state of mind associated with the A
& P. Although Sammy is the central character in the story and
we learn much about him, Updike seems to invest as much
effort in describing the setting as he does Sammy. The title,
after all, is not “Youthful Rebellion” or “Sammy Quits” but “A
& P.” In fact, the setting is the antagonist of the story and
plays a role that is as important as Sammy’s.
How could you modify this to
fit Fahrenheit 451?
□ Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” is a short story
illustrating the plight of a Southern Christian black
woman in an abusive relationship with her
husband. At the story’s heart is a masterful
depiction of the protagonist, a woman who after
many years of abuse finally refuses to subject herself
to her philandering husband’s cruelty. Hurston
achieves the greater theme of “Sweat,” the triumph
of the oppressed, through her use of three basic
Southern literary themes: folklore, oppression, and
religion. A brief inspection of these three basic
themes will reveal how “Sweat” achieves its inspiring
effect.
WRITE YOUR
INTRODUCTION