Transcript Slide 1
Examples TOPIC QUESTION AND THESIS STATEMENT Character In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts Pearl 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 Through the use of images and symbols in use of imagery, The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger reveals foreshadowing, or many subtleties about Holden's sensitive symbolism to personality. 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/