SAMPLE THESIS STATEMENT Your thesis needs to relate a hypothesis/supportable opinionstage of psychosexual development/fixation issues By the end of the Dream, the recurring issues Jack experiences with his symbolic “parents” indicate a fixation in the phallic stage of psychosexual development.
SAMPLE TOPIC SENTENCE OUTLINE Like your thesis, your topic sentences must relate an opinion/argument that you can support using evidence from the story. A statement of fact is NOT a topic sentence, since it proffers no argument. TOPIC SENTENCE 1: At the beginning of the tale, we see Jack moving through the oral stage with little difficulty. TOPIC SENTENCE 2: Jack transitions quickly, if not painlessly, through the anal stage. TOPIC SENTENCE 3: Jack spends much of his time struggling through the phallic stage and suffers an Oedipus complex in his dealings with the Giant.
SAMPLE CONCLUSION Your conclusion should include your diagnosis: Based upon the evidence you’ve presented throughout your essay, is the Dreamer fixated or healthy? Jack remains fixated in the phallic stage and suffers from an unresolved Oedipus complex.
SAMPLE INTRO PARAGRAPH WITH THESIS SAMPLE INTRO PARAGRAPH WITH THESIS Your thesis needs to relate a hypothesis/supportable opinionstage of psychosexual development/fixation issues In “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Jack, our Dreamer, passes from the oral stage through the anal and phallic stages. He faces little difficulty in the oral stage, and quickly transitions through the anal stage. His main difficulties occur during the phallic stage, and his strong Oedipus complex creates many problems for the Dreamer. By the end of the Dream, the recurring issues Jack experiences with his symbolic “parents” indicate a fixation in the phallic stage of psychosexual development.
SAMPLE BODY PARAGRAPH (¶3): Jack transitions quickly, if not painlessly, through the anal stage. We see him enter this stage as soon as he attempts to pass his mother the magic beans (1). The “beans” represent Jack’s seed, which he offers his mother. Although this should symbolize Jack’s endeavor to enter the phallic stage, his mother feels disgusted by this gesture and throws “the beans out of the window and into the garden” (1). During the anal stage, which is characterized by one’s control---or lack thereof---over bowel movements, children may suffer their parents’ aversion to this function. By rejecting the beans, Jack’s mother shows her disgust with Jack, a sure sign that he has entered the anal stage. However, Jack remains in this stage only briefly, as we see when “poor Jack [goes] to bed without any supper and [cries] himself to sleep” (1). Once he awakens, we will see that Jack has overcome the anal stage of psychosexual development and entered into the third, phallic stage of psychosexual development.
WHAT NOT TO DO WITH QUOTATIONS Jack remains in the anal stage only briefly. “Poor Jack [goes] to bed without any supper and [cries] himself to sleep” (1). Then, he moves to the phallic stage.