(WR1) Lesson Topic 1: Thesis Theories

Lesson Topic 1: Thesis Theories

An illustration of a man with light skin and blond hair. He holds a comically large pencil in his left hand. The pencil is sharpened. The man has a quizzical or confused look on his face, with his brows furrowed and his tongue hanging out on the right side of his mouth. The man wears a blue collared shirt.As we learned in earlier modules, the thesis statement is one sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay. For this module, you will write a thesis statement about a particular topic of interest to you in the novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.

There are many different topics you might choose to write your thesis statement:

  • If you enjoy the historical background of the novel, you might choose to focus on the similarities between the novel and history.
  • However, maybe the characters interest you. If you would like to write about the characters, you could use your compare and contrast brainstorming from the earlier module to write your thesis.
  • If the bigger picture of the novel interests you, you might focus on the theme of the novel, and how the theme continuously appears throughout the novel.
  • Whatever topic you choose, make sure that you can find information from other sources to support your claims.

Writing a thesis can be a difficult part of starting an essay because the thesis statement is the main focus of the paper. Therefore, the thesis statement is also the most important part of writing an essay. Your thesis statement should always include the title of the text and the author of your primary source. Also, you want your thesis statement to be broad enough to write about many different pieces of information.

In this illustration, a classic scene from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is portrayed. Juliet sands on a balcony while Romeo appears from below on one knee, bearing a flower for Juliet. Juliet has light skin and long blonde hair. She wears a puff-sleeve orange top and full red skirt. The hem falls to her feet. Romeo has light skin and wears a feudal knight type outfit of purple and turquoise, with magenta shoes and a magenta head covering. For example, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a play about two teenagers who fall in love. A thesis statement for an essay on the theme might look like this:

In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the theme of love appears throughout the play.

However, a thesis statement about characters within the play might look like this:

In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the characters Romeo and Juliet have many different similarities and differences throughout the play.

Each thesis statement is broad enough to find information and write an entire essay.

 

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