Thesis Statements for Literary Essays

1. Thesis Statements for Literary Essays

2. A thesis statement should • Include the name of the work and the author. • Avoid starting with There is/are/was/were or It is/was. • Typically appear at the end of the introduction.

3. A thesis statement should • Be declarative (not a question). • State a specific, debatable topic. • Interpret or analyze, not evaluate.

4. Be declarative (not a question). • Why does Mark Twain use pre-Civil War America to set his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? An ANSWER to that question might turn into a good thesis.

5. State a specific, debatable topic. • Dorothy Parker's "Résumé" uses images of suicide to make her point about living. …but what IS her point about living? State THAT in the thesis. • Dorothy Parker's "Résumé" doesn't celebrate life, but rather scorns those who would fake or attempt suicide just to get attention.

6. State a specific, debatable topic. • Shakespeare's Hamlet is a play about a young man who seeks revenge. This is merely a summary of the plot. • Hamlet experiences internal conflict because he is in love with his mother.

7. State a specific, debatable topic. • Spirituality means different things to different people. King Lear and The Book of Romans each view the spirit differently. So what? This offers no indication about HOW they differ. • King Lear and The Book of Romans each view the soul as the center of human personality.

8. State a specific, debatable topic. • Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote many poems with love as the theme. Not debatable. Not specific. • Edna St. Vincent Millay’s use of love as a theme in her poems reflects the many romantic relationships she had outside of her marriage.

9. State a specific, debatable topic. • There are many symbols in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House that show emotions. Not debatable. Not specific. • The symbols in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House express the tension between the husband and his wife.

10. State a specific, debatable topic. • Hamlet and King Lear have similarities and different. Too vague. • Hamlet and King Lear both deal with the turmoil of men in positions of leadership.

11. State a specific, debatable topic • “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?” proves the point that the pen is mightier than the sword.  Cut the clichés. Just state what you mean. • “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” juxtaposes human beauty to nature.

12. State a specific, debatable topic • The structure, character, and dialogue in “Black Boy” show us how all humans search for knowledge. Uses too personal of language and vague wording. • The dialogue in “Black Boy” reflects the dialect of the author, Richard Wright, where he grew up, in East St. Louis.

13. Interpret, not evaluate • Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is an important American novel. • Holden Caulfield is an unforgettable character in The Catcher in the Rye. Unless you are writing a review, it is not your job to praise or criticize the work. • Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American ideals, one must leave ‘civilized’ society and go back to nature.