Writing the Critical Analysis:
What makes a good thesis?
English IV, AP
• Most critical analysis papers explore a theme
• Often explored through 1 or 2 characters Use theme to
develop thesis and guide the argument
• Themes are the product of the text’s various resolutions
Developing a Thesis
• Central or dominating idea, the “message”
• Seldom directly stated
• It is an abstract concept expressed through recurrent
images, actions, character, symbols….it is inferred by the
reader
• It is NOT the subject or the conflict of the text
What is a theme?
• May not be a question
• Preferably one sentence in short papers (such as the one you are
about to write)
• If you choose to not accept this advice, remember this is a risk in writing
and it may or may not pay off.
• Controls/shapes the paper
• Provocative and insightful. Takes a stand and justifies the position
presented in the paper
• May be contestable….invites reasonable argument
• Specific, focused on the text, using powerful verbs and adjectives
• Be prepared to revise your thesis as you write and unearth new
ideas (this SHOULD happen, it’s not “bad”)
• MUST be located in the last sentence of the introduction. This is
an expectation.
Guidelines for thesis
statements
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Is the thesis focused?
Specific in terms of what you will be proving/arguing?
Declare what you believe and what you intend to prove
Do not ask questions or offer “what if” statements
Do not use first or second person point of view (I believe, I think,
etc….)
Do not make vague references (“in this time period,” “many
characters,” etc…)
Be careful that your thesis is not too broad…you only have a few
pages to prove your thesis
BE SPECIFIC
The thesis may NOT be plot
• Do not write a thesis that offers no opposition: “People
should avoid driving under the influence of alcohol.” This
invites a “duh” response. Who would disagree?
• Use active voice
• Avoid “to be” verbs
• Do not be cute or trite
• Use a formal tone, but be natural. (“million dollar” words
are not nearly important as having an actual point.)
Other tips….
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What am I trying to prove?
How can I prove it?
What am I trying to say?
SO? What’s my point?
Is this significant? Why?
• The purpose of your paper and how you organize it should be
guided by the thesis.
Always ask. . .
• The Wife of Bath believes women are superior and men
need to be controlled by women.
• The Wife of Bath’s recurring emphasis on the inadequacy
of male judgment reflects her belief that absolute
feminine dominance is in the best interest of both
genders.
• Through a haze of mistrust and misconceptions, Iago fails
to see that women are neither weak nor incapable of
discerning and speaking the truth, which ultimately leads
to his destruction.
• Iago’s inability to understand women results in
misconceptions; these misconceptions eventually result in
his downfall.
Sample Thesis Statements: what
is acceptable?
• Your intro/thesis statements/topic sentences are due
Monday of next week.
• They must be
• Typed
• Utilize proper MLA format (see handout)
• 12 pt. font
• Times New Roman ONLY
• Double-spaced throughout
• You will see a zero in the grade book if you do not turn it in.
(TWO copies are required)
• Visit the website and print off docs for thesis statements, review
this power point, etc.
• In Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King, the duality of Oedipus’ character both
appeals to and causes revulsion in the audience. Through his dignified task
of searching for the truth and settling for nothing less, Oedipus himself
uncovers the horrors of his actions yet still maintains his nobility. Due to his
past triumphs where he relies on his swiftness and quick thinking, Oedipus,
with no reason to doubt himself, once again acts swiftly, quickly, and
demandingly to save the citizens of Thebes. Tragically, his heroic action
serves as a catalyst for his own undoing and these traits that made him king
transform him into a blind exile who finally gains true insight. The concept
of man’s insignificance is established by Oedipus’ destruction, and one
recognizes that Oedipus deserves both pity and admiration in his mature
perspective on his fate. Although the main plot centers on Oedipus’ quest
for self-knowledge, an investigation of the prophecies and the lack of the
gods’ presence suggests that Oedipus’ destruction stems not only from
his shortcomings, but also the cruel playfulness of outside forces.
Sample Intro
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Control the paragraph
Do NOT lead with plot summary. Defeat the demon!!!
Focus on one dominant idea to support your thesis
May contain an element of plot and an element of
analysis. This is different from mere plot summary
• Do not use quotes in topic sentences
Topic Sentences
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Thus by examining Oedipus’s behavior both before and after he knows the truth, one can see
that the characteristics that lead him to inadvertently discover his fate are in fact not vices,
but instead are the very traits that make him a noble and successful ruler.
One such characteristic is Oedipus’s father-like devotion to his city, which is one of his initial
motivations to end the plague, but also leads him to publicly display his downfall to the chorus.
The play opens with Oedipus calling to “[his] children,” the citizens of Thebes, as they beg at the
altars, which immediately establishes the compassion he has for his subjects. They come to him
“kneeling at [his] feet,” a classically infantile position, and Oedipus states that he “would be blind
to misery” to not help them (1, 14). As they plead for help, he assures them that he has already
taken steps to end the plague, much in the same way a father would take initiative to take care of
his children before they even asked for the assistance. This same paternal love is echoed
throughout Oedipus’s search for Laius’s murderer. During his first interaction with Creon, for
instance, he claims that his grief for his people is beyond his fear for his own life (105-06). This
shows the depth that Oedipus cares for the Theban people, as many parents go to extreme lengths
to put their children’s livelihood above their own, including putting themselves directly in harm’s
way to save their children. In Oedipus’s case, he puts himself at risk from the danger of the
unknown by persevering in his quest for answers.
Thesis/Topic Sentence
• Although the main plot centers on Oedipus’ quest for self-knowledge, an
investigation of the prophecies and the lack of the gods’ presence
suggests that Oedipus’ destruction stems not only from his
shortcomings, but also the cruel playfulness of outside forces.
• By recognizing and enduring the consequences of his actions, whether
intentional or not, Oedipus demonstrates a prowess worthy of praise. The
devoted king holds the welfare of the polis above his own. With his city
struck by a plague, Oedipus already sends Creon to the oracle for advice and
requests for Tiresias in order to save his people. This well-prepared man
deserves recognition for his selflessness and his search for the origins of his
birth: “I must know it all/ must see the truth at last” (1169-70).
Thesis/Topic Sentence
• Each body paragraph should logically and decisively
prove your topic sentence/thesis
• Prove it
• Show it (textual evidence)
• BLEND concrete detail and commentary
• Avoid plot summary
• Embed quotes (no dangling quotes…no widows/orphans)
Body paragraphs
• Thesis: By skillfully constructing the narrative of Mersualt, Camus
impresses upon the reader his quintessentially Existential viewpoint of
the world.
• Step One: Topic Sentence: Mersualt’s propensity toward lying serves
as one of the many ways in which Camus calls into question any
notions of objective, absolute truth—a central concept of Existential
thought.
• Step Two: gather evidence, quotes
• ***doing this first will ensure you have something to analyze before you set off
to write the paragraph
• Step Three: organize your ideas (where/in what places does Mersualt
lie? How does Camus question absolute truth? How should I arrange
those examples?)
• Step Four: Write the paragraph
Responding to the thesis
statement
• Finish the paper a few days early…..yes, I’m being serious…
• Take some time away from the paper, then come back and read your
paper.
• What works? What doesn’t? REVISE (content, clarity, organization)
EDIT (grammar, spelling)
• Read what is ON the paper, not what you meant to say. You don’t get to
defend your paper; it’s a one-shot opportunity.
• If you write only one draft and submit it for a grade, be prepared that
you may not receive a particularly “good” grade. This is why workshops
are so important.
• Once the due date arrives, you are submitting for a grade and I am no
longer available to help you.
Other suggestions….
• Intro must function as a “bookend” to the conclusion.
• Be prepared to rewrite the intro. You may find that your ideas
change as you write the paper
• Is your thesis the last sentence?
• Does it offer focus for the paper?
• Get into the text immediately! Do not offer broad assumptions
such as “All people search for love.” That is a monumental task
and certainly not one you can actually prove in a short paper.
• Conclusion
• Do not repeat the thesis
• Let the topic sentence from the conclusion flow as a logical
conclusion of your analysis
• Summarize key points that bolster your judgment, but do not
simply summarize the paper
Introductions and
Conclusions
• Oedipus falls from glory because of his greatness. He is a
grand and successful ruler who seeks the best for his
subjects. It is merely an unfortunate and strange
coincidence that what should have been a noble
investigation becomes something terrible. This turn of
events was through no purposeful wrongdoing on
anyone’s behalf, but merely a chance outcome. Oedipus
fulfilled his dutiful role as king, but by doing so he
unwittingly brought the dark reality to light, and brought
the glory of his reign to a dark end.
Conclusion example A
• By examining the circumstances around the discovery, Oedipus warrants
laudation for publicly exposing his ruin, his father-like devotion to his city,
and truly accepting accountability. Because his pitiable fate is subject to the
capricious will of the gods, Oedipus also deserves sympathy for his
unavoidable fate. Oedipus never blames the gods and refuses to wallow;
instead, he truly accepts his fate in its horrific entirety. Throughout his search
for self-knowledge, Oedipus functions as judge, prosecutor, and investigator.
After finally understanding his past, Oedipus makes the ultimate choice to
claim total responsibility and magnificently suffers the consequences of his
foul acts. He willingly accepts the burden, blinding himself as a testament to
his own free will, which symbolizes his enlightenment. Even though Oedipus
ultimately secures his own ill-fate, the indecipherable riddle, puzzling
prophecies and lies propel him to commit his predestined foul acts and thus,
Oedipus demands pity.
Conclusion example B
• Method One: blend the text as if the words were
already a natural part of the sentence
• Scrooge insolently interrupts the seasonal dialogue by
exclaiming to his nephew that “every idiot who goes about
with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his
own pudding” (14).
• Method Two: Use a colon. The sentence that
precedes the colon explains the writer’s point; what
follows is the evidence.
• By excluding himself from humanity and working with
incredible devotion, Frankenstein discovers how to generate
life: “I pursued knowledge to her hiding places. . .[and] I
became myself capable of bestowing animation upon
lifeless matter” (50).
Using Textual evidence
• Method Three: Identify the speaker of the dialogue before the
quotation.
• Medea tells Jason that “[her] pain’s a fair price, to take away [his]
smile” (1362-63).
• Remember:
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Evidence should blend smoothly with analysis
Must be grammatically correct
Explain the text; why does it prove your thesis?
Don’t blend too early; set up the context
Explain the context (In Medea’s first conversation with Jason)
Why brackets? When you are changing some aspect of the quote to blend
into your sentence structure. This is allowable so long as you do not
change the meaning.
Using textual evidence
• Drama, like poetry, requires careful attention to line numbers. Thus, you will
be citing line #’s, not page #’s.
• Look at page 58. “you, a living curse, already A traitor both to your father
and your native land.” The quote looks awkward because there appears to be
a grammatical error (not to mention it is not embedded).
• Here is the correct way to quote multiple lines from a play (or a poem).
Jason accosts Medea, calling her “a living curse, already/ A traitor to both
[her] father and [her] native land” (1330-31).
• The slash (/) tells the reader that multiple lines have been quoted. The
parenthetical citation tells the reader where to look for the quote.
Remember—we do not reference the page #’s.
How to quote a play
• When you quote, you must offer analysis of that quote. Blend
evidence and commentary.
• The parenthetical citation ALWAYS belongs at the end of the
sentence, even if your quote is located in the first half or the middle.
• The period (end punctuation) goes AFTER the parenthetical citation.
i.e. (Beard 28).
• Quotes should NOT be used in thesis statements, topic sentences, or
to conclude the paragraph.
• The minimum expectation is that you will quote the text at least
twice per body paragraph. (6-8 quotes in the entire paper—
MINIMUM).
Remember….