Thesis Statements in Literary Analysis Paper
*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.
*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.
*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.
*A thesis statement is usually, but can be more than,
one sentence long.
*****************
Examples of Literary Thesis Statements:
* “Mark Twain’s Huckleberry
Finn is a great American novel.”
*What’s
wrong with this thesis statement?
*An
opinion about the book, not an argument.
* “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?
* “Through its contrasting river and shore scenes,
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.
* “Edgar Allen Poe’s work was affected greatly by the
current events of his life, covering his family life, his childhood, and his
career; these events changed the style and subject of his works.”
*What’s
wrong with this thesis statement?
*More questions than answers: which works will be explored? What current events? What childhood or career events? How did Poe’s style change and WHY IS IT
IMPORTANT?
* “There is a lot of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter.”
*Bad? Why?
* “Hawthorne’s
use of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter
falters and ultimately breaks down with the introduction of the character
Pearl.”
*Better? Why?
* “The
character of Ben in Arthur Miller’s Death
of a Salesman is a great [or important, or crucial, or
unforgettable, etc.] character.”
*What’s
wrong with thesis?
*This does not say enough to serve as
the basis for an essay. Besides, each of these judgments is entirely a
matter of personal opinion because none of them define the criteria by which
the judgment is being made.
* “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.”
*What can we anticipate that the author
of this thesis will prove to us in the rest of the paper?
Sample Thesis Statements by Topic
|
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 among Characters
|
In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger shows that the
relationship between Holden and Phoebe acts as a positive force on Holden.
|
|
Themes
|
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire on
racism.
|
|
Style: Effective use of imagery, foreshadowing, or
symbolism to advance character development, theme or artistic purpose
|
Through the use of images and symbols in The Catcher in
the Rye, Salinger reveals many subtleties about Holden's sensitive
personality
|
|
Style: The point of view, or narration advance character
development, theme or artistic purpose
|
The final fifth of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
does not help fulfill Mark Twain's artistic purpose in the novel.
|
|
Setting
|
The raft on the Mississippi River in The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn is a place with different rules than the towns along the
river.
|
|
Structure
|
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.
|
|
Historical Context: The social, political, and cultural
climate in which the author lived and the novel was created
|
Arthur Miller changed some of the facts about the Salem
Witch Trials in his play, The Crucible, to advance his artistic
purpose.
|
|
Critical Overview: Background on critical reputation of
the novel including controversies
|
What reasons do critics have for censoring The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Subordinate questions: Is the novel
obscene? Is the novel racist? Is the language too coarse? Is it immoral?
|
|
Media Adaptations
|
The 1992 movie Of Mice and Men more poignantly
expresses the alienation and loneliness of migrant farm workers than the
novel.
|
