A thesis, which often appears in the introduction, announces an essay’s main point (see also 1c and 53a). In a literature analysis, your thesis will answer the central question that you have asked about the work. Putting your working thesis and notes into an informal outline can help you organize your ideas.
Drafting a thesis
When drafting your thesis, aim for a strong, assertive summary of your interpretation. Here, for example, is a successful thesis taken from a student essay, together with the central question the student had posed.
question
What is the significance of the explorer Robert Walton in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein?
thesis
Through the character of Walton, Shelley suggests that the most profound and useful sort of knowledge is not a knowledge of nature’s secrets but a knowledge of the limits of knowledge itself.
As in other college writing, the thesis of a literature paper should not be too factual, too broad, or too vague (see 1e). For an essay on Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the first three examples would all make weak thesis statements.
too factual
As a runaway slave, Jim is in danger from the law.
too broad
In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain criticizes mid-nineteenth-century American society.
too vague
Huckleberry Finn is Twain’s most exciting work.
The following thesis statement is sharply focused and presents a central idea that requires discussion and support. It connects a general point (that Twain objects to empty piety) to those specific aspects of the novel the paper will address (Huck’s status as narrator, Huck’s comments on religion).
acceptable thesis
Because Huckleberry Finn is a naive narrator, his comments on conventional religion function ironically at every turn, allowing Twain to poke fun at empty piety.
Sketching an outline
Your thesis may strongly suggest a method of organization, in which case you will have little difficulty jotting down your essay’s key points. Consider, for example, the following informal outline, based on a thesis that leads naturally to a three-part organization.
Thesis: In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie grows into independence through a series of marriages: first to Logan Killicks, who treats her as a source of farm labor; next to Jody Starks, who sees her as a symbol of his own power; and then to Tea Cake, with whom she shares a passionate and satisfying love that leads her to self-discovery.
Whether to use an informal or a formal outline (see 1d) is to some extent a matter of personal preference. For most purposes, you will probably find that an informal outline is sufficient, perhaps even preferable.
Drafting an introduction that announces your interpretation
The introduction to a literature analysis is usually one paragraph long. In most cases, you will want to begin the paragraph with a few sentences that provide context for your thesis and to end it with a thesis that sums up your interpretation. You may also want to note the question or issue that motivated your interpretation. In this way, you will help your readers understand not only what your idea or thesis is but also why it matters.
The following is an introductory paragraph announcing a student’s interpretation of one aspect of the novel Frankenstein; the thesis is highlighted.
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Walton’s ambition as an explorer, to find a passage to the North Pole, mirrors Frankenstein’s ambition as a scientist, to discover and master the secret of life. But where Frankenstein is ultimately destroyed by his quest for knowledge, Walton turns back from his quest when he learns of Frankenstein’s fate. Walton’s story might seem unimportant, but paired with Frankenstein’s, it keeps us from missing one of the novel’s most important themes. Through the character of Walton, Shelley suggests that the most profound and useful sort of knowledge is not a knowledge of nature’s secrets but a knowledge of the limits of knowledge itself.
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