Literary Essays:Thesis Development

ENG4U

Theme Practice

• Which of the following are not themes of the movie Titanic?– Love– Jack and Rose– The boat– Pride– Classism– Leonardo DiCaprio

Theme Practice

Theme Practice

• Which of the following are not themes of the movie Transformers?– Robots in disguise– The role of technology in war– Optimus Prime– Cool cars– Government conspiracy

Theme Practice

• The purpose of a literary essay is to analyze the author’s choices and what we can learn from them

• It takes a lot of thought and planning to write a literary essay!

• The following examples are from Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games (the fall semester’s ENG3U novel)

Steps

1. Identify themes2. Identify points of interest3. Make connections4. Ask yourself guiding questions

1. Determine the purpose of the connections

5. Create your thesis

Step 1: Brainstorm 10 themes

1) Freedom2) Equality3) Love4) Friendship5) Responsibility6) Violence in media7) Government8) Utopia/Dystopia9) Dehumanization10) Power

Step 1: Find Thematic Connections

1) Freedom2) Equality3) Love4) Friendship5) Responsibility

1) Violence in media2) Government3) Utopia/Dystopia4) Dehumanization5) Power

Step 2: Brainstorm 5-10 unique, interesting features of your novel

• Things that are not unique points of interest:– Characters– “Their experiences”– Feelings

Step 2: Brainstorm 5-10 unique, interesting features of your novel

• Battles in the hunger games• Sacrifice• Genetics: muttations & the Capitol• New country structure & districts• Symbolic name meanings• Rebellions• Money as key to safety: tessera• Sponsors & gamemakers

Step 3: Find Connections

• Make connections between your themes and points of interest

Step 3: Find ConnectionsChoose a theme: Which points of interest does itconnect to?

• Government could connect to:– Battles in the hunger games– Sacrifice– Genetics: muttations & the Capitol– New country structure & districts– Symbolic name meanings– Rebellions– Money as key to safety: tessera– Sponsors & gamemakers

Step 4: Ask Yourself Questions

Write 3-4 questions that you would need to askyourself to fully understand the connections you’vemade.

• What does the government gain and lose from making people fight?

• How do characters’ sacrifices affect the government’s power?

• Can an individual change the government’s decisions?

Choose your best question

• Which question will best allow you to analyze the connection between your theme and point of interest?

• How do characters’ sacrifices affect the government’s power?

Answer your question

• How do characters’ sacrifices affect the government’s power?– The districts’ inability to save its children shows the

government’s initial control– Katniss makes people realize District 12 could be a

threat when she volunteers to take Prim’s place– Katniss and Peeta deciding to kill themselves makes

the government change its rules for the first time ever• Therefore: the bigger the personal sacrifice, the

more it threatens the government’s control

Step 5: Create your thesis

Basic Structure(Author) uses (point of interest) to show the

theme of (theme).

Better Structure (Analysis!)(Author) uses (point of interest) to show (theme

+ “so what?).

Step 5: Write your thesis (basic)

• Theme: government control• Point of interest: sacrifices

ThesisIn her novel The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collinsuses various characters’ sacrifices to show thetheme of government control.

Step 5: Write your thesis (better!)

• Theme: government control• Point of interest: sacrifices• Connection: the more personal the sacrifice is, the

more it threatens the government’s control

ThesisIn her dystopian novel The Hunger Games, SuzanneCollins uses various characters’ sacrifices to show thatan individual can have the power to bring about changefrom an oppressive government.

Try it together!

• Groups of 3• Novel: Lord of the Flies

Step 1: Themes

• List 5-10 themes from Lord of the Flies– Find connections between the themes

Step 2: Points of Interest

• Identify 5-10 unique features of Lord of the Flies

Examples

ThemesCivilization vs. SavageryIndividualism vs. CommunityOrder vs. ChaosLoss of innocenceFear of the unknownWarResponsibility

Points of InterestJack’s war paintThe BeastThe fireThe boys’ hunting danceBig ’uns vs. Little ’unsPigs & Lord of the Flies…

Step 3: Make Connections

• Choose your best theme– Find connections between your theme and your

points of interest

Step 4: Ask Yourself Questions

• Create analysis questions to help you find the importance of the connection between your theme and points of interest

• Choose your best question and answer it

Step 5: Write Your Thesis

Basic Structure(Author) uses (point of interest) to show the

theme of (theme).

Better Structure (Analysis)(Author) uses (point of interest) to show the

theme of (theme + “so what”?).

Example

William Golding uses the beast to show the theme of fear of the unknown. (good)

ExampleIn Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the boys’increasingly realistic hunting dances to show the themeof civilization vs. savagery. (good)

So what? If we’re not careful, civilized people can easily become savage

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the boys’increasingly realistic hunting dances to show howdangerously easy it is to descend from civilization intosavagery. (better)

Example

William Golding uses the conflicts about basic survivalneeds at camp to show the theme of invididualism vs.community. (good)

So what? Working together is better & more effective than individualism

William Golding uses the conflicts about basic survivalneeds at camp to teach that working as a community ispreferable to individualism. (better)

ExampleWilliam Golding uses the beast to show the theme of fear ofthe unknown. (good)

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the boys’increasingly realistic hunting dances to show howdangerously easy it is to descend from civilization intosavagery. (better)

William Golding uses the conflicts about basic survivalneeds at camp to teach that working as a community ispreferable to individualism. (better)

Guernsey

• Make a list of 8-10 themes• List 8-10 points of interest: STOP! Get checked!• Make connections between themes & points of

interest• Write 2-3 questions that can help you explain the

connection between themes & P.O.I– Answer your best question

• Write your thesis– (Author) uses (P.O.I) to show (theme + “so what”)

Next Steps

Assignment (details tomorrow)• Plan essay for Guernsey– Thesis planning (done!)– 3 sources for possible works cited (details

tomorrow)– Introduction paragraph (details tomorrow)

• Due Wednesday

Homework

• Finish thesis planning– Questions Answer questions Write thesis

• Tomorrow we will have time to work on research and writing. If you like to work on a computer, bring it with you. If you prefer to write by hand and type things at home, that’s fine too

• Bring Guernsey tomorrow