English 9
Mrs. Sharp
name:
period:
Anthem Final Project
Thesis Statement Notes
A thesis statement is like a topic sentence in a paragraph. It is the topic of your entire essay. Like a paragraph topic
sentence, your thesis statement will make a claim/answer the question and set up your reader with all of the ways you’ll
prove your point in your essay.
THSIS STATEMENT EXAMPLE:
ANSWER/CLAIM
High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects
before entering college in order to increase their maturity, global awareness, and respect for others.
1
DO’s for Thesis Statements
2
3
DON’Ts for Thesis Statements
Clear, concise, and make a statement.
Announce too bluntly
Just answer the question.
Examples: In this essay I will …
This paper will explain…
I believe that…
Thesis should be 1 sentence long
Use multiple sentences
Example: The first English settlers sailed
Example: The first English settlers sailed
to New England seeking religious freedom;
to New England in the early 1600’s.
however, the English who colonized the
They were seeking religious freedom. The
Middle Atlantic region did so for economic
colonists who ventured to the Middle
reasons.
Atlantic region were motivated mostly by
patriotism for the English or economic
opportunity for themselves.
Use parallel structure
Not use parallel structure
Example: My first grade teacher was
Example: My first grade teacher had the
remarkably able to meet the vastly
remarkable ability to meet the vastly
different needs of her students, to remain
different needs of her students, being
caring and strict at the same time, and to
caring and strict at the same time, and
inspire us with her creativity.
she was very creative, inspiring us to be
creative as well.
For your Literary Analysis (final project), in addition to just answering the question, it is best to use key words from the
prompt as well as provide the author’s name and the title of the work.
author and title
EXAMPLE:
One important theme in Ayn Rand’s Anthem is that, when everybody is made equal, no one is truly free.
answer to the question
key word
Often, you will need to list your main points within your thesis statement, so you reader knows all of the ideas you’ll be
presenting in your essay.
author and title
key word
answer to the question
EXAMPLE:
In Anthem, Ayn Rand important theme that making everybody equal makes no one truly free is shown through the
characters of Equality, Liberty, and International.
main points/reasons 1, 2, & 3
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH EXAMPLE
Stephen King, creator of such stories as Carrie and Pet Cemetery, stated that the Edgar Allan Poe
1
stories he read as a child gave him the inspiration and instruction he needed to become the writer
that he is. 2Poe, as does Stephen King, fills the reader's imagination with the images that he wishes
the reader to see, hear, and feel. 3One such story that illustrates his careful manipulation of the
senses is “The Tell-Tale Heart,” about a young man who kills an old man who cares for him,
dismembers the corpse, then goes mad when he thinks he hears the old man's heart beating
beneath the floor boards under his feet as he sits and discusses the old man's absence with the
police.
5
In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Poe uses vivid, concrete visual imagery to present the settings, to
describe characters, and to set the mood.
1. Hook
2 – 4. Background information leading to thesis/main point of essay
5. Thesis statement