AP THESIS
Review
A thesis statement:





tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject
matter under discussion.
is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what
to expect from the rest of the paper.
directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an
interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The
subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick;
a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
makes a claim that others might dispute.
is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that
presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the
body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will
persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.
How do you know if you have a
solid thesis?
Try these four tests:
 • Does the thesis include all parts of the question? This is the most
important fact to remember because an incomplete thesis results in
an incomplete answer to the question. An inadequate essay will
result, which will receive a low grade.
 • Would a reasonable reader NOT respond with “Duh!” or “So
what?” or “Gee, no kidding!” or “Who cares?”
 • Does the thesis avoid general phrasing and/or sweeping words
such as “all” or “none” or “every”?
 • Does the thesis lead the reader toward the topic sentences (the
subtopics needed to prove the thesis)?
 If you cannot answer “YES” to these questions, you will need to make
changes in order for your thesis to pass these tests.
Pardoner’s examples




A thesis statement for “The Pardoner’s Tale” might address
the abstract concept of greed as it is handled in the story.
Greed is something that man has struggled with for
centuries, as demonstrated in “The Pardoner’s Tale” by
Chaucer.
“The Pardoner’s Tale,” written by Chaucer, is a story about
how three men kill one another while looking for Death.
“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.
Examples…
Are they true thesis statements or not?
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.
Example



“Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American
novel.”
“In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a
contrast between life on the river and life on the
shore.”
“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.”
Edgar Allen Poe’s Examples…




“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 his style and subject of his
works.”
“Hawthorne’s use of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter falters
and ultimately breaks down with the introduction of the
character Pearl.”
“The character of Ben in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
is a great [or important, or crucial, or unforgettable, etc.]
character.”
“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.”
Thesis Templates
These are just suggestions…
Template One
____________________ uses ______________,
(Author’s Name)
______________ and ___________________ to
show_____________________________________.
 *The first blank is for the author’s name; the second
two or three are for rhetorical devices; the final
blank is for a thematic idea. Be as precise as you
can when identifying rhetorical features and
themes. Avoid merely restating the question.
Template Two
In ___________’s __________ __________
(author)
( genre)
(title)
The character ___________ is ____________
(name)
(synonym of evil)
for his or her ____________________;
(explain immoral behavior)
however, he or she is developed more
sympathetically through
_________________________________.
(describe author’s technique)
Template Three
In ________’s _________ ____________,
(author)
(genre)
(title)
the ________________ scene(s) of
(synonym for violent)
____________________ emphasizes the
(describe event)
Work’s theme of _____________________.
(statement about humanity
or the human condition)
What is Essential?
Review…
Here are the Thesis Essentials:




Title of Work (The Great Gatsby)
Author (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Literary Device- (In this case) Character (Tom Buchanon)
-This is the part of the thesis that requires you to identify
a literary device. This part of the AP prompt
is interchangeable. It could be a symbol, a setting, a
scene, allusion, metaphor (etc.)
Purpose: How and why Fitzgerald uses Tom's past to
illuminate the idea that material wealth inevitably leads
to a decline in moral values. ( This statement answers
how Tom's relationship to the past contributes to the
meaning of the work as a whole.)
A Checklist for deciding if your thesis
is effective:
__The thesis statement presents an opinion that is
sufficiently limited.
__The thesis statement answers “So What” by saying
something meaningful.
__The thesis statement presents an arguable statement
which can be supported and is worth exploring.
__The thesis statement answers all parts of the question
or prompt.
__The thesis statement asserts a single idea. (No more
than one!)
__The thesis statement is located at the beginning of the
paper.
Remember….
Main Values…
The thesis statement has TWO MAIN
VALUES:
1.
2.
It serves as a test of whether your main idea
meets the requirements
2. It is a constant, compact reminder of the point
your paper must make, and it is therefore an
indispensable means of determining the relevancy
or irrelevancy, the logic or lack of logic, of all the
material that goes into the paper.