Thesis Statement Structures
World Literature
Mrs. O’Donnell
BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
Complete this sentence: "In this essay, I want to tell my reader that __________________________________________________."
The statement following "that" is your tentative thesis.
A. Three-Step Thesis Statement Formula: Author/title + Good Verb + Argument + Essay Map
1. Author and/or Title + A GOOD Verb
These verbs always describe what the work or author is doing, not what the plot is doing.
Suggests, implies, demonstrates, proves, celebrates, challenges, attacks, etc.
“In 1984, Orwell challenges …”
2. Your Argument – WHAT You Are Proving
This is where you discuss the author’s purpose. What is the work trying to communicate?
“In 1984, Orwell challenges the idea that big government is better for society…”
3. Your Essay Map
This is where you present the HOW of your thesis statement. It is usually set off by a word like “by” or “through”
“In 1984, Orwell challenges the idea that big government is good for society by creating a malevolent leader, illustrating the destruction of individual freedom, and
introducing characters who live in constant fear.”
Or you can flip it:
“By creating a malevolent leader, illustrating the destruction of individual freedom, and introducing characters who live in constant fear, Orwell challenges the idea
that big government is good for society.”
B. "Although...Nevertheless...Because" Formula
1. Although/Even though (or although) - states the main argument AGAINST your opinion
2. Nevertheless - offers your basic position on the topic
3. Because - states the strongest evidence that SUPPORTS your opinion
Here are two examples, each taking a different side of the capital punishment controversy:
“Although Marquez makes Bernarda seem disgusting and negligent throughout Of Love and Other Demons, she is just as much of a victim as Sierva because
she has been used by her father and Judas.”
C. Other Formats
1. [Something] [does something] because [reason(s)].
[Conrad’s works ][reveal the ugly truth of imperialism][through negative characterization and outcome of plot events.]
2. Because [reason(s)], [something] [does something].
Because [Conrad depicts the Company employees negatively—including the ends they meet--] [Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer] reveal the ugly truth of
imperialism.
3. Although [opposing evidence], [reasons] show [Something] [does something].
Although [critics denounce Conrad’s works as racist] [diction analysis and plot examination] reveal [Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer] [to be works that
blast racial stereotypes.]
In the poem “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?,” Shakespeare uses images and the structure of the sonnet to convey how the power of human narrative
asserts its dominance over nature.
Additional Sample Thesis Statements:
Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic
ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.
In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne uses light and darkness to emphasize good and evil in the world.
In Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale,” the sexual behaviors of such characters as Alisoun, Nicholas, and Absolon subvert the audience
expectations raised by the courtly love tradition in “The Knight’s Tale.”
The works of ecstatic love poets Rumi, Hafiz, and Kabir use symbols such as a lover’s longing and the
Tavern of Ruin to illustrate the human soul’s desire to connect with God.
If a reader can say "how?" or "why?" or "so what?" after reading your thesis, you need
to alter your thesis so that it answers those questions.
Of Love and Other Demons Essay Prompt
World Literature
Mrs. O’Donnell
Rough Draft Due: 4/22
Prompt I:
Depressed, lazy, effeminate, and uneducated, Don Ygnacio is "as pale as a lily because the bats drained his
blood while he slept." During his daughter's cruel treatment for rabies, the Marquis awakens to "the new joy of
knowing he loved her as he had never loved in this world." Yet he delivers her that day to the Convent of Santa
Clara. Why does he relinquish his daughter and ultimately leave her deliverance in the hands of Father Cayetano
Delaura and the physician Abrenuncio? Is Sierva María aware of her father's love? Why, in the convent, does
she declare she would rather die than see him?
Prompt II:
"Sierva" is the Spanish word for slave. Illiterate, silent, and conceived without love, Sierva María is to a large
degree a blank slate on which her script is written by those around her. At her birth the midwife predicts, "It
won't live," Dominga de Adviento sings out, "She will be a saint," and the Marquis declares, "She will be a
whore." How have all three of these predictions come true?
Prompt III:
In the beginning of the story, Bernarda states that Sierva María "wouldn't tell the truth even by mistake." When
Sierva María first enters the convent she meets Martina, "one of the few white women to whom she had told
the truth." Later she names for Martina six demons that are supposedly inside of her and takes "delight in the
deception." Why does Sierva María lie? Is it merely childish behavior? In what other instances does she lie, and
how relevant are her lies to the story?
Essay Format:
Your essay must be at least three pages long (double-spaced, normal margins) and have at least six pieces of
evidence – in the form of quotes - from the text.