Essay Checkup
Thesis Statements
Topic Sentences
Lesson Objectives
• By the end of class today, you will:
– Know whether your thesis statement and your
topic sentences are merely factual
statements;
– Be able to convert a factual statement into a
solid thesis statement or topic sentence.
Diagnosis
Several students wrote thesis statements
and/or topic sentences that were little
more than factual statements about the
novel.
SYMPTOMS
The thesis statement or topic sentence…
– Describes or restates what happened in the
novel.
– Does NOT have any opinion words or phrases.
– Speaks for itself. There’s nothing to prove,
argue or interpret. You can back the statement
up by listing examples without explaining or
analyzing anything.
What symptoms can you detect in the
following sentences?
• In My Antonia, novelist Willa Cather gives equal
importance to the individual and the community.
• In Ethan Frome, the main character dislikes his
community and wants to be unique.
• The main character in Kate Chopin’s The
Awakening does not like society’s rules and wants
to be independent.
Treatment
SIGNIFICANCE
Why is this fact important to the novel’s
theme or lesson about life?
REASON
What point is the author trying to make by
incorporating this fact into his/her novel?
In My Antonia, novelist Willa Cather gives
equal importance to the individual and the
community.
Q: Why is this fact important to the theme?
A: It is important because it shows that she
believes that both are necessary for a balanced
life.
NEW THESIS
In My Antonia, novelist Willa Cather gives equal
importance to the individual and the community
in order to show that both are necessary for a
balanced life.
In Ethan Frome, the main character dislikes
his community and wants to be unique.
Q: What point is the author trying to make by
incorporating this fact into his/her novel?
A: Every human being has the desire, at some
point, to be distinct from others.
NEW THESIS
In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton uses the main
character’s internal conflict to represent every
human being’s desire to be unique.
The main character in Kate Chopin’s The
Awakening does not like society’s rules and
wants to be independent.
Q:
A:
NEW THESIS
BEFORE AND AFTER
• In My Antonia, novelist
Willa Cather gives equal
importance to the individual
and the community.
• In My Antonia, novelist Willa
Cather gives equal
importance to the individual
and the community in order
to show that both are
necessary for a balanced life.
• In Ethan Frome, the main
character dislikes his
community and wants to be
unique.
• In Ethan Frome, Edith
Wharton uses the main
character’s internal conflict to
represent every human
being’s desire to be unique.
Your Turn
• Write your thesis statements and topic
sentences in the spaces provided on the
handout. If you don’t have topic
sentences, write sentences that
summarize what you will include in the
paragraph.
Exchange Papers Within Your
Group
Check Your Partner’s Statements
For Symptoms
The thesis statement or topic
sentence…
– Describes or restates what happened
in the novel.
– Does NOT have any opinion words or
phrases.
– Speaks for itself. There’s nothing to
prove, argue or interpret. You can
back the statement up by listing
examples without explaining or
analyzing anything.
ON A STICKY NOTE…
• Write the “prescription”– a question that
will help you/your partner create a better
thesis or topic sentence.
• Do this for every sentence that has
“symptoms.”
Rewrite your statements as needed.
EXIT TICKET/Test Grade
Revised sentences on the handout.