Thesis Statements for Thematic Essays

For starters, review the explanation in the theme chapter of our textbook.

Then, consider the following themes from stories we've previously read and discussed in class.

"A&P”

The challenges of living in a corporate world
The difficulty of living a moral/ethical life: “I thought how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.”

“Cathedral”

    * How the blind can help a person see. (How Robert helped the narrator realize the goodness in life.)
    * How touch, questions, and altered states can move a person from apathy to enlightenment.

“Everday Use”

    * Family traditions and skills are the true basis of heritage.
    * Intelligence is not always based on what is taught in school.

And finally, consider these rough draft examples from your classmates: some work, some are too broad.

Following a teenage girl, Lola, who lives and eventually runs away from her abusive mother, this story shows how some major changes can affect people for the worst, whether it would be changes to one’s health, the people around them, or their environment.
Junot Diaz allowed readers to dig deep into their mind to realize perseverance isn’t just getting past something hard, it’s having the ability to develop courage, strength, and hope leaving room for determination.
It can be difficult for a person to fully integrate himself in two different cultures. He can find it hard to fully acclimate the language and mannerism, values, and comfort of both new and original cultures.
St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” shows that the selfish, overly-competitive nature of humans is more animalistic than the behavior of real animals through the words of the nuns that run the home, Claudette’s change in character, and the girls’ treatment of their youngest sister.
Tim O’Brien makes it clear through his story that the burdens we all carry are what define individuals and take on many forms including mental, spiritual, and physical.

Together, these should give you an idea of how to narrow down a theme to a thesis.

Other words that can set up thesis statements and topic sentences are found in the list below:

agree
argue
believe
charge
claim
comment
conclude
conside
criticize
declare
describe
define
discover
emphasize
explain
feels
illustrate
imply
indicate
reinforce
reveals
shows
suggests
supports