A thesis statement for an essay should be one sentence only, and you should be able to back it up with evidence from the literary text and scholarly criticism.
To develop your thesis statement for Essay 1, you will need to first select one of following literary texts we have read:
• Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour
• Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
• Langston Hughes, “Harlem”
• Stacey Waite, “The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV”
• Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”
• William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”
Once you have selected the literary work you wish to write about, you will need to select one of the following elements of literature:
• Speaker/Narrator
• Setting (either place or time)
• One of the characters or the relationship between characters
• A theme of the work
• The tone of the work
• Symbolism within the work
• Irony within the work
Now that you have chosen both the literary work and the element of literature, it is time to consider your opinion. For example, let’s say that you have chosen “The Story of an Hour” and Mrs. Mallard. What do you think about Mrs. Mallard in the story? Is she a horrible person for reacting to her husband’s presumed death the way she does? Are her feelings understandable considering the time period and way marriages work for women? What is “the joy that kills” her? Is it, like the doctors think, her happiness at seeing husband alive again, or the joy she felt at freedom and the despair she feels when it is take away?