Tips for Writing Thesis Statements--

Sample Prompt:

In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present actions, attitudes, or values of a character.Several characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’sThe Great Gatsbymust contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Afteryou have readThe Great Gatsby, write an essay in which you show how a character’s relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Sample Thesis: In F. Scott Fitzgerald'sThe Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan'sprivileged pastilluminates theidea that material wealth inevitably leads to a declinein moral values.

Here are the Thesis Essentials:

1.Title of Work(The Great Gatsby)

2.Author(F. Scott Fitzgerald)

3.Literary Device-(In this case)Character(Tom Buchanan) -This is the part of the thesis that requires you to identify a literary device. This part of the AP promptisinterchangeable. It could be a symbol, a setting,a scene, allusion, metaphor, a character, plot (etc.)

4.Purpose: How and why Fitzgerald uses Tom's past to illuminate theidea that material wealth inevitably leads to a decline in moral values. (This statement answers how Tom's relationship to the pastcontributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.)

Q: If I follow the formula won't my thesis sound boring and generic?

A: This is where a good vocabulary and active voice come in to play. Use the formula as a foundation, then buildon it withyour vocabulary and active voice.

THEME VOCABULARY

Brendan Kenny’s List of Abstract Ideas for Forming Theme Statements:

alienation
ambition
appearance v. reality
betrayal
bureaucracy
chance/fate/luck
children
courage/cowardice
cruelty/violence
custom/tradition
defeat/failure
despair/discontent/disillusionment
domination/suppression
dreams/fantasies / Duty
Education
Escape
Exile
faith/loss of faith
falsity/pretence
family/parenthood
free will/willpower
game/contests/sports
greed
guilt
heart v. reason
heaven/paradise/Utopia
home / identity
illusion/innocence
initiation
instinct
journey (literal or
psychological)
law/justice
loneliness/solitude
loyalty/disloyalty
materialism
memory/the past
mob psychology
music/dance
patriotism / persistence/perseverance
poverty
prejudice
prophecy
repentance
revenge/retribution
ritual/ceremony
scapegoat/victim
social status (class)
the supernatural
time/eternity
war
women/feminism

IDENTIFYING and EXPRESSING THEME as THESIS STATEMENT

IDENTIFYING and EXPRESSING THEME as THESIS STATEMENT

More Thesis Statement Tips:

1. Your thesis statement directs all of the ideas, quote selection, and commentary in

your essay. Therefore, a muddled or imprecise thesis statement will lead to an

unclear or meaningless essay.

2. A thesis statement is NOT:

a. An abstract concept. For example, “Greed” is not a thesis statement.

b. A general “universal” truth. For example, the following sentence is not a

thesis statement: “For thousands of years, man has been greedy.”

3. A thesis statement IS a statement that provides direction for the analysis of a

theme or idea presented by a particular text. Therefore, in order to construct an

effective thesis statement, you must first determine what a text is suggesting

about an abstract concept (like greed, for example). Your thesis statement will

address an abstract concept PLUS the evaluation of that concept through a

particular text.

4. A thesis statement for “The Pardoner’s Tale” might address the abstract concept

of greed as it is handled in the story. The first two examples are NOT thesis

statements. The third one is a complete thesis statement.

a. Greed is something that man has struggled with for centuries, as

demonstrated in “The Pardoner’s Tale” by Chaucer. (Abstract Concept

only)

b. “The Pardoner’s Tale,” written by Chaucer, is a story about how three men

kill one another while looking for Death. (Plot Summary)

c. “The Pardoner’s Tale,” written by Chaucer, suggests that the “deadly” sin of

greed is stronger than any oath of friendship, and will ultimately lead those

who give into its allure to their own destruction.