The Glorious Thesis Statement Or How to Focus Your Essay & Quit Rambling Incessantly

From Claim to Thesis Initial Claim: The Harry Potter series is a literary classic. Support for claim: characters, plot, and theme Working Thesis: The Harry Potter series has become legendary children’s books and enduring literary classics because of its three- dimensional characters, exciting plot, and complex themes.

Closed Thesis Explicitly states what will be argued Generally found in the introduction Limits the number of points to be made Good for timed writing and short essays Previews the points to be made: The three-dimensional characters, exciting plot, and complex themes of the Harry Potter series make them not only legendary children’s books but enduring literary classics.

Open Thesis Does not list all points to be covered Guides the argument for multi-point essays Avoids cumbersome/awkward thesis in longer essays

At a glance Initial claim: Harry Potter series is not an enduring classic Support for claim: Main characters are good or bad—not a bit of both Minor characters become caricatures Plot is repetitious and formulaic Magic follows no logical system of rules Possible open thesis: The popularity of the Harry Potter series demonstrates that simplicity trumps complexity when it comes to the taste of readers, both young and old.

Counterargument Thesis Contains a summary of the counterargument Often qualified with although or but prior to the writer’s opinion Increases strength of controversial arguments Makes author’s thesis seems more reasonable: Although the Harry Potter series may have some literary merit, its popularity has less to do with storytelling than with merchandising.

In practice Develop a thesis statement that could focus an argument in response to each prompt. Discuss why you think the chosen structure (closed, open, counterargument) would be appropriate or effective. Same-sex classrooms have gone in and out of favor in public education. Write an essay explaining why you would support or oppose same-sex classrooms for public schools in grades 10-12. Write an essay explaining why you agree or disagree with the following quotation: “Advertising degrades the people it appeals to; it deprives them of their will to choose.” Plagiarism is rampant in public high schools and colleges. In fact, some people argue that the definition of plagiarism has changed with the proliferation of the Internet. Write an essay explaining what you believe the appropriate response of a teacher should be to a student who turns in a plagiarized essay or exam.