Thesis driven essay

THESIS STATEMENTS: CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPERS

What is a thesis?

The thesis statement is one of the (if not the) most important parts of your paper. It should be introduced in the first paragraph and serve as the focus of your analytic argument. The thesis is the thread (a strong one!) that ties together your interpretations of all the significant moments, patterns, developments, changes, and/or contradictions that you will develop in the body of your paper. Think of the thesis statement as a contract between you (the writer) and the reader. The thesis makes certain promises to your reader; it then becomes your job to fulfill that promise using specific textual moments. The more specific your promise, the easier it will be to find specific passages to support your argument.

This sheet offers general guidelines on writing thesis statements, but it’s important to remember: thesis statements are NOT formulas, and a successful one cannot be reduced to its parts. Successful theses provoke thought, they read beautifully, they elaborate on an essential theme of the work, and they consider a specific issue.

Your thesis should include three components: WHAT, HOW, and WHY

WHAT—claim about the text

HOW—your method of analysis and the evidence you will use to prove your claim (i.e. visual techniques, concepts, general themes, theories, historical evidence, etc.)

WHY—the significance of your argument in terms how it contributes to a greater understanding of the film, its genre, stylistic techniques, historical/cultural context, themes, and/or its illumination of a specific film theory (i.e. this component of the thesis statement answers the dreaded “so what?” question)

Example of a Strong Thesis Statement:

Although Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby presents a lead female character who evokes toughness and strength, the film’s spectator ultimately perceives her as infantilized and abject; she becomes a “baby” who must be taken care of and saved by a patriarchal figure. Close semiotic analysis of the film’s emphasis on its female protagonist’s body--its building and subsequent decay--reveals both fascist and misogynistic underpinnings beneath the film’s surface of “girl power” and father/daughter reconciliation. Like so many of Hollywood’s mainstream films, Million Dollar Baby participates in the social devaluing of the female body that goes hand in hand with the oppression of women in both popular culture and the “real” world.

Please note:

1. A thesis can be (and probably should be) more than one sentence.

2. The part of the thesis in plain text (“Although Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby presents a lead female character who evokes toughness and strength”) is a potential contradiction to your argument; a strong thesis usually addresses a potential opposing viewpoint. This ability to imagine and answer an opposing viewpoint ensures that your thesis is arguable.

3. A good thesis should address these three questions of what? how? and why? in some way. Most students have trouble answering the “so what?” question for their thesis; it is answering this question that makes your argument relevant to the entire text. Be careful, though, that your answer to the “so what?” question is not a generalization “about the world we live in, or life in general”; it should be SPECIFIC and justify why and how your argument is significant in a theoretical, historical, sociological, and/or popular cultural context.

Where can I get a good thesis statement?

In a crunch, use the Magic Thesis Statement (but adapt it!): By looking at HOW (evidence to prove the claim), we can see WHAT (your claim about the text), and this is important because WHY.

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Some Problems with Thesis Statements

The plot summary thesis:

The film shows a woman become tough, but then weak.

Proving the universal:

Million Dollar Baby presents the power of friendship and inner-strength.

The overly general thesis:

Million Dollar Baby reveals how film images can have a lasting effect on their spectators. [Note: if you can plug another text into your thesis, your thesis is probably too general.]

The cliché thesis:

Million Dollar Baby proves the point that love and human connection is mightier than the fist.

The list thesis:

The structure, characters, and dialogue in this film show us how all humans search for love.

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Remember, a successful thesis statement…

 is specific.

 addresses a potential contradiction and is arguable.

 provides a logical way to structure the argument.

 is fairly daring intellectually and has an interesting “so what?”.

· expresses your position, why it’s significant, and how you plan to defend it.

· tries to make the text/subject matter “new” for the reader by revealing something compelling about it and by fleshing out its potential meaning.

· is original, valid, and convincing.

· is carefully worded.

· should give readers a good idea of how you will develop your essay since it suggests your direction, emphasis, and scope. It should suggest how your ideas are related, in what order your major points will be introduced, and where you’ll place your emphasis.