Finding a Thesis for Your Literary Analysis Paper

English 10: The Great Gatsby

Jour

nal P

rom

pt

(Woo

hoo

!!!)

Tell me what you have learned about thesis statements in the past. How should they be formatted? Where do they go? What is their function?

A th

esis

is. .

. A statement regarding an observation that you made about the genre, time period, social aspect that you are research about film

A statement that you can spend the rest of your paper backing up!

Goes at the end of your introduction

Remember, don’t stray from the thesis in your paper!

Yeah

, but

how

do

I com

e up

with

on

e?

My answer to you is to work backwards!

That means: Look at your packet,

activities, notes What observations have you/

the class made about the novel?

Which of the prompts do you believe that you have the most to say about?

Exam

ple:

Par

t On

e

I’m doing my literary analysis paper on how the color white is used in The Great Gatsby

While reading the play with the class, I noticed a few things. . .Daisy seems to be associated

with whiteJordan does as wellOther symbols of white used

too

Exam

ple:

Par

t Tw

o

Figure out how you can support these observations in a paper

Example: Daisy associated with white

White dress White house White face

Other symbolic images are as well White pathway that Daisy and Gatsby

walked on White steps where an obscene word

was written Jordan

White dress White golf shoes

Exam

ple:

Par

t Th

ree

What are some things that these three elements might have in common? Daisy’s whiteness Other whiteness in the

novel Jordan’s whiteness

Brainstorm with the people around you!

Exam

ple:

Par

t Th

ree These were the things

that I thought they had in common. . . All of these aspects had

to deal with corruption in some way

Each of the white things listed were actually the opposite of the color’s usual meaning (purity)

Exam

ple:

Par

t Fo

ur

Now, use these commonalities to make a thesis!!!

My Thesis:The Great Gatsby uses the color white, usually associated with purity, to suggest that even the most innocent-seeming of things can be corrupt in some way.

Now

it’s y

our

turn

! Get in groups based on your topic (one, two, or three)

SHARE with one another the particular aspect that you are studying

Work together to fill out the handout given

Bounce ideas off of each other to come up with a thesis!!!