Lesson # 49: Practice with
Thesis statements and
Topic sentences.
Do Now: Why do you need to grasp these
concepts?
A working thesis statement and strong topic sentences
are necessary. They hold the essay together….
Tragic hero topic: compare and contrast
There is room for
improvement:
• Thesis-
This essay will
explore the three
tragic hero
attributes of having
much to lose,
being respected
and flawed, and
how they apply to
Oedipus Rex.
Acceptable:
• ThesisOedipus Rex, the protagonist
of the play Oedipus Rex,
possesses a major flaw,
suffers a great loss, and
eventually comes to a
realization; therefore,
making him an ideal
example of a tragic hero.
Incest topic:
Compare and contrast
There is room for
improvement:
• ThesisI will explore Oedipus the
unfaithful husband, John
Proctor the morally
conflicted man, and last
but not least, John
Proctor the honest and
truthful.
Acceptable:
• ThesisWithout John Proctor and
Abigail’s scandalous
affair there would be no
conflict, no symbolic
resurrection, and no
one would have died as
a result of accusations.
Transformation/changing topic:
compare and contrast
There is room for
improvement:
• ThesisOedipus changes a few
times throughout the
story which greatly
affects the outcome of
the story for the
worse.
Acceptable
• ThesisThroughout the play,
Oedipus morphs from
a naive and arrogant
king to a suffering
beggar ready to make
amends for his
actions.
Topic Sentences
• Each topic sentence must directly
relate to thesis. The reader
should understand your direction,
purpose, and argument after
studying the topic sentence.
• Thesis: Oedipus Rex, the protagonist of the play
Oedipus Rex, possesses a major flaw, suffers a great
loss, and eventually comes to a realization, therefore
making him an ideal example of a tragic hero.
Topic Sentence 1: Oedipus Rex possessed the
unforgivable flaw of incest, and this categorizes him as a
tragic hero.
Topic Sentence 2: Oedipus Rex is a tragic hero because
he lost his reputation and status.
Topic Sentence 3: Oedipus‘s realization, that he must face
the origins of his birth and rid Thebes of himself, enables
him to identify with the ideal tragic hero.
• Thesis: Without Oedipus’s investigations of his own
scandalous affairs there would be no conflict, no symbolic
resurrection, and no one would have died as a result of
his actions.
Topic sentence 1:
Topic sentence 2:
Topic sentence 3: