Writing a Thesis for a Literary Analysis Grade 11 English

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Writing a Thesis for a Literary AnalysisGrade 11
English
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Your Goal for the Essay

• Writer presents the reader with a new, original
  way of looking at the novel.

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Definition of Literature Analysis

• Writer
• is asked to analyze a work based on a prompt.
• Will use careful reasoning to explain how that
  evidence relates to the main points of the
  interpretation.
• Writer forms a thesis based on this
  interpretation.

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Deconstructing a Prompt(constructing means to
build) Deconstructing means to take apart

• To deconstruct a prompt
• Read it
• 2. Take it apart
• 3. Understand what you need to do
• 4. Determine how to respond to the prompt
  correctly

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Identifying Key Parts of a Written Prompt
Does the prompt give you suggestions to get
started?

• Pay careful attention to the wording of the
  prompt.

• Look for suggestions in the prompt to get you
  started (ideas to think about, verbs that tell
  you what to do).

• Use key words from the prompt to construct
• your thesis statement.

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Identifying Key Parts of a Written Prompt
You can use the word RAFTS to help you remember
how to deconstruct a prompt.
What role do you take as the writer? (student,
citizen, expert)
Role
Who is your audience? (class, parent, teacher,
friend)
Audience
What kind of response are you writing? (essay,
letter, descriptive)
Format
What are the verbs in the prompt asking you to
do? (advise your classmate, justify your
opinion, explain why)
Task
What are the key words that you need to include
in your response? Hint Use these words to
construct your thesis statement.
Strong key words
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How do I develop a Thesis?

• Writer
• Makes a more comprehensive list of the details
  that relate to your point.
• Remembers that one of the qualities that makes
  for a good interpretation is that it avoids the
  obvious.

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The Thesis

• Writer creates the thesis
• a one sentence condensation of the analysis that
  is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a
  thesis statement.

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A thesis statement

• tells the reader how you will interpret the
  significance of the subject matter under
  discussion.
• is a road map for the paper in other words, it
  tells the reader what to expect from the rest of
  the paper.

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A thesis statement

• directly answers the question asked of you. A
  thesis is an interpretation of a question or
  subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or
  topic, of an essay might be The Great Gatsby a
  thesis must then offer a way to understand the
  novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.

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A thesis statement

• is usually a single sentence usually at then end
  of your introduction (your first paragraph) that
  presents your argument to the reader.

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Formulating a Thesis Statement

• Essay must be thesis driven, so form a thesis
  based on the prompt.
• Ask yourself Do I answer the question?
  Re-reading the question prompt after constructing
  a working thesis can help you fix an argument
  that misses the focus of the question.

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Formulating a Thesis Statement

• Ask yourself
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis
  statements that are too vague often do not have a
  strong argument. If your thesis contains words
  like good or successful, see if you could be
  more specific why is something good what
  specifically makes something successful?

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Formulating a Thesis Statement

• Ask yourself
• Does my thesis pass the So what? test? If a
  readers first response is, So what? then you
  need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to
  connect to a larger issue.

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So, how do I do it?

• Use your prewriting time to jot down ideas that
  support your thesis.
• Choose the pieces of evidence youll be able to
  say the most about.

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Thesis Supported by Evidence

• As you begin thinking about what claim/thesis you
  can make (i.e. what kinds of conclusion you can
  come to) keep in mind that they should relate to
  the evidence.

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Thesis Supported by Evidence

• In your essay you will
• Support your thesis with appropriate examples
  from the work(s).
• Each time you use a specific reference to your
  story, be sure to explain the significance of
  that evidence in your own words.

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And that is how you write a thesis for a literary
analysis!