Advanced Placement English Language and Composition 1
Instructor: Michael Thornton
Alternative Approaches to Essay Writing
OPEN FORMS
Thesis as implicit theme
o narrative based
o uses literary techniques
o often called literary nonfiction
o often used to heighten or deepen a problem, show its human significance
Thesis-seeking prose
o essay organized around a question rather than a thesis
o essay explores the problem or question
o many ways of looking at problem are exposed
o writer often tells stories to reveal problem’s complexity
o writer may or may not arrive at thesis
CLOSED FORMS
Top-down thesis-based prose
o thesis explicitly stated in introduction
o all parts of essay linked clearly to thesis
o body paragraphs develop thesis
o structure is forecast
Thesis as speculation, often highly personalized
o speculative points often emerge out of narrative
o often characterized by digressions and musings
o thesis may only be implied
Delayed-thesis prose
o thesis appears near end
o text reads as mystery
o reader held in suspense