Crafting a Thesis Statement for Analytical Essays

How to Write a Thesis Statement

Features of the Analytical Genre

1. Never use personal pronouns (I, me, my, we, us, our, you, etc.).
2. No rhetorical questions.
3. Do not use figurative language yourself.
4. No contractions (don't = do not).
5. Events in the novel are written in present tense ("Falk goes to Gretchen's").

Structure of an Analytical Essay

Purpose of an Analytical Essay

1. The entire purpose of an analytical essay is to respond (answer) to an essay-question analyzing evidence to support/justify your response.
2. In order to respond (answer) the essay question, you must create your thesis statement.
3. Your thesis statement is your response to the question. It is the purpose of your essay. It will dictate what you write in your body paragraphs.

Thesis Statements

1. A thesis is a direct response to the essay question.
2. It will answer the question, state how that answer will be proven, and explain why the author made such choices.
3. It must contain these three elements: answer + how + why.
4. It will be 1-2 sentences long.
5. It goes in the middle of your introduction.
6. You will formulate your body paragraph topics and evidence ONLY ONCE you have created your thesis statement.

Steps

Example

Question: To what extent does the literary form of Macbeth reflect themes of violence and guilt?

Use the steps above to get the answer:

Step 1

Break down the question—highlight or underline key words or phrases—and then unpack them.

Step 2

Decide on your answer. A tip is to rephrase the essay question as a statement.

This is your 'answer' to the essay question—it is what you will set out to prove in the body of your essay.

Step 3

Think back to the text, and decide how you will prove your answer.

Step 4

Put 'Step 3' into a succinct phrase.

Step 5

Go back to the 'answer' and 'how' and decide why the author has chosen to create the text in this way—what is the message for the audience?

Step 6

Put it all together!

Answer + How + Why

To a significant extent, the literary structure of Macbeth reinforces messages surrounding ambition and guilt, evident in the sequencing of the soliloquies and their revelations about Macbeth and his Lady. Consequently, Shakespeare's literary form reveals that the desire for more leads to the loss of what one already has.

Planning Body Paragraphs

1. Now, before you start writing, you should plan your body paragraph topics.
2. This should be easy enough because, in your thesis statement, you have already outlined HOW you are going to prove your claim.
3. All you need to do is find moments in the text that connect to the HOW.
4. Keep in mind, you will have 2-3 body paragraphs, and ideally 2 pieces of evidence per paragraph.
5. In one paragraph, this evidence can come from the same or different scenes.

Organize that evidence into paragraphs:

Paragraph 1: Too Much Ambition

• Evidence 1—evidence should link to soliloquies and the ordering of those soliloquies
• Evidence 2—evidence should link to soliloquies and the ordering of those soliloquies

Paragraph 2: The Guilt that Tortures

• Evidence 1
• Evidence 2

Paragraph 3: The Loss of Everything

• Evidence 1
• Evidence 2