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Thesis Statement. Role Characteristics. Role of Thesis Statement. States IN A SINGLE SENTENCE what the argument of the essay will be Every paragraph must support some aspect of it (it defines the structure to follow) Therefore, Provides STRUCTURE for the Essay
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Thesis Statement Role Characteristics
Role of Thesis Statement • States IN A SINGLE SENTENCE what the argument of the essay will be • Every paragraph must support some aspect of it (it defines the structure to follow) • Therefore, Provides STRUCTURE for the Essay • Helps the Writer and Helps the reader
UNIFIED: since the thesis statement provides the structure and argument for the essay, it must have only one main clause, or you will have a divided paper FOCUSED: the thesis statement must provide a focus for the analysis that will follow since all analysis will point back to some aspect of it. ASSERTIVE: must provide a point for the essay A Good Thesis Statement must be
Use of “to be” verbs in thesis statement especially if the predicate merely renames the subject (Predicate Nominative or Predicate Adjective) e/.g. “Okonkwo is an ideal Ibo warrior.” Vague predicates Interesting Great Important Really good AVOID
Sample problems • “Okonkwo is an ideal warrior among the Ibo.” • “Okonkwo exhibits many Ibo ideals, but the Ibo have an imbalanced view of gender, like Creon. • “Okonkwo fails to grow.”
Does this Work? • Although Okonkwo exhibits many masculine ideals of the Ibo people, • he fails to learn the deeper foundation of these values in the feminine • because fear and rigidity prevent him from fully growing up.
Does this Work? • Okonkwo’s rigidity, motivated by a fear of being like his father, helps him achieve great things, but • ironically leads to his downfall, due to his inability to adapt to change.