Transcript Steps for Creating a Thesis Statement

Steps for Creating a Thesis
Statement
PHA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
GRADES 9-12
A Thesis Statement is…
 Clear
 Insightful
 Specific
 Arguable/debatable
…and, it’s interesting. Engage your reader with your
thinking.
A Thesis Statement is…
 1-3 sentences
 Typically located at the end of paragraph 1
(depending on length of essay)
Steps for Creating a Thesis Statement
 Step 1: Make an obvious statement about a topic
we've discussed in class.
 Step 2: Add a specific, interesting, and
arguable interpretation of your statement.
 Step 3: Explain how your interpretation is
significant to the book as a whole.
 Step 4: Explain how your interpretation reveals
the author's purpose beyond the text
Step 1: Make an obvious statement
about a topic we've discussed in class.
 ex. Sapo, a major character from Bodega Dreams, at
first appears to be a static character, who does not
experience change over the course of the book.
Step 2: Add a specific, interesting, and
arguable interpretation of your statement.
 ex. However, his dedication to Bodega shows his
evolution from a person who “relied on himself” to a
person who accepts the authority of a boss.
Step 3: Explain how your interpretation is
significant to the book as a whole.
 Connect to essential questions or themes
from the novel.
 ex. Ultimately, Quinonez presents Sapo’s change as
one of the central questions of the novel: to what or
whom should one be loyal?
Step 4: Explain how your interpretation reveals the
author's purpose beyond the text
 Think about social/historical context,
author's life, comparison to other texts, the
world beyond the text.
 ex. This can also be seen as a central question of
neighborhoods like East Harlem, where residents
can feel torn between their own ambitions and the
betterment of the community.
Final Thesis
 Although Sapo, a major character from Bodega
Dreams, at first appears to be a static character, who
does not experience change over the course of the
book, his dedication to Bodega shows his evolution
from a person who “relied on himself” to a person
who accepts the authority of a boss. Ultimately,
Quinonez presents Sapo’s change as one of the
central questions of the novel: to what or whom
should one be loyal? This can also be seen as a
central question of neighborhoods like East Harlem,
where residents can feel torn between their own
ambitions and the betterment of the community.