Thesis Statements,
Introductions & Conclusions
Background
Thesis
[ In the poetic sequence
“Modern Love,” George
Meredith uses a wealth of
figurative language and
metaphor to portray a view
of modern love as being
akin to living death.]
[This bleak, pessimistic
view is communicated
primarily through his use
of personification and
metaphor as means to
characterize modern
lovers.]
Answers part two
(what is his view?)
Answers part one
(how is it conveyed?)
This [bleak,
pessimistic view]
is communicated
primarily through
his use of
[personification
and metaphor] as
means to
characterize
modern lovers.
Body ¶ one.
Body ¶ two.
This bleak,
pessimistic view is
communicated
primarily through
his use of
[personification]
and [metaphor] as
means to
characterize
modern lovers.
PROMPT: Evaluate the extent to which
Brett is a “liberated woman” in Ernest
Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Brett
proves a “liberated woman” in that she acts in
a manner more masculine than her male
counterparts, controls the actions and
emotions of the male expatriates, and serves
as the singular connection among all the
major male characters.
In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Brett
proves a “liberated woman” in that she acts in a
manner more masculine than her male
counterparts, controls the actions and emotions of
the male expatriates, and serves as the singular
connection among all the major male characters.
• Topic: Brett’s characterization
• Precise opinion: she is an independent
woman
• Reasoning: she behaves like a man, controls
men, connects the group
For timed essay, these types of thesis
statements are sufficient as an entire intro
However, skip 4-6 lines before penning thesis
Add “hook” only after reviewing completed
essay
For processed essays, thesis statements follow
an attention-grabbing hook
Analogy
Brief anecdote/scenario
Philosophical musing/questions
Quote (that is NOT CLICHED!)
Rhetorical question
Startling paradox/statement
The “Lady” Ashley
Alcoholic. Faithless. Licentious. Inconsiderate
to the feelings of the opposite sex. A “lady.” In a
novel in which one of the 20th century’s most hypermasculine writers cast no fewer than five significant
male characters against the backdrop of drinking,
bullfighting, sex and war, it is emblematic that more
hard-boiled than any of the men is a ”titled” female.
In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Brett
proves a “liberated woman” in that she acts in a
manner more masculine than her male counterparts,
controls the actions and emotions of the male
expatriates, and serves as the singular connection
among all the major male characters
The Art of Losing
We all hate to lose things. The
disappearance of a favorite shirt or pair of jeans
can induce hours of frustration and unrest. In
“One Art,” Elizabeth Bishop’s conflicting responses
to loss are revealed through her progression of
details, deliberate ambivalent diction, and
symbolic structure of the poem which create a
connection to the final stanza, clarifying the
author’s reluctant acceptance of her ordeal.
Beautiful Nightmare
The concept of a time machine, a machine free
from the constraints of seconds and minutes and
hours, has been popular in works of science fiction.
Powers to manipulate time are valued by moviegoers
and avid readers who desire a way to conquer it. For
ages, philosophers and writers have attempted to
determine the universe’s most dominant force. W.H.
Auden, in “Clocks and Lovers,” differentiates between
the optimistic, active attitude of the lover and the
pessimistic, tyrannical demeanor of the clock to
highlight both the destructive strength and the
weakness of time.
Conclusion should include
social/universal significance of argument.
Review your essay & ask:
•“So what?”
•Why should the reader care about this
issue?
•What implications does it have for the
“real world” or the way we live?
As a dominating and unifying force, Brett serves
as the central male figure in the novel. Liberated
from convention, she possesses no impulse to
conform to any standard of the day and drifts
directionless from one failed relationship to
another. Through Brett, Hemingway portrays a
generation that has lost faith in the future as well
as the precepts of the day but continues to
stumble unhappily in search of what it cannot
even define. In Brett, the reader is reminded that
without hope man is lost, unable to “get away
from [himself] by moving from one place to
another.”