Thesis Statement

1
Thesis Statement

• A thesis is an evaluative judgment or assertion
  about a given topic (in this case, your specific
  tale)
• You need to formulate some sort of brilliant
  insight into your tale and set forth an original
  opinion.
• You will then defend that thesis with evidence
  from
• 1) the tale itself
• 2) any information you may have found from
  reference books or internet

2
Thesis examples

• These are actual thesis statements that seniors
  like yourselves have written in previous years.
• Chaucer creates a striking paradox between the
  morality of the Pardoners tale and the ironic
  contradiction of the Pardoner himself.
• Chaucers main influence in the creation of The
  Prioresss Tale was the tremendous friction that
  characterized Judeo-Christian relationships 14th
  century England.
• Chaucers personal life and development plays
  heavily into the diverse characters presented in
  The Reeves Tale.
• Chaucers Wife of Baths Tale is a direct
  reflection of the personality of the Wife of Bath
  herself.

3
Actual Intro with Thesis (courtesy of Junior
Escobar Ashley Bullard)

• Chaucer displays people as they actually
  are, not what theyre stereotypically thought to
  be. Every character tends to have a different
  face. They are all introduced as good people with
  honest reputations, but as the story progresses,
  the mask of each character is unraveled. Led by
  greed, infidelity, and selfishness, the
  characters in Chaucers The Shipmans Tale
  reveal the true meaning of hypocrisy.

4
Writing a Thesis

• Review any information you gleaned from your
  research. You may augment that research from
  reference books and/or valid internet sources.
• Generate an original thesis statement that
  demonstrates brilliance and creativity on your
  part.
• You will then support for your thesis in the form
  of topic sentences.
• The beauty of English class is that you are never
  wrong if you can logically, coherently, and
  thoroughly support your argument.