Sample Thesis Statements for P1

Do not use “and” in the thesis statement…the main idea of Paper 1.

Samples”

Sample: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is devotes itself primarily to the failure of the American dream.

Sample: F. Scott Ftizgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about the terrible costs of the American dream.

Sample: F. Scott Ftizgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about the the American dream’s  tragic impact on its major characters.

NOTE: Later, when you are writing your Paper 1–

To start your essay, use the following phrasing:

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (verb of your choice)…. Make this first sentence of the essay be your thesis statement.

There is discussion in textbooks about where to place your thesis: Should it be the first sentence? Should it be in the middle of the first paragraph or at the end of the first paragraph?

For this class, for the purpose of uniformity and clarity for your reader (me), make your first sentence be your thesis statement.

Consider:

Consider that for Paper 1 you need one main idea.

Consider that “and” puts your thesis in the danger of having two.

Take this thesis for example:

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about the folly in the American dream

and the dangers of pursuing possessions for purposes of self-gratification.

Thesis statements with two main ideas:

Consider:

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about the folly in the American dream

and

the dangers of pursuing possessions for purposes of self-gratification.

The thesis is about the dream’s folly

AND

it is about the danger of pleasing oneself.

Which is the main idea?

Is the dream a folly

OR

Is it a danger?

When you reach your closing, is it about folly and danger?

Are the three supporting 20-sentence paragraphs of the body about

BOTH

folly and danger?

Do dangerous things tend to be “lacking good sense”?  If it is about danger more than folly, then focus on danger.  If at some point in the body you want to say that it is foolish, go ahead.  This way with a focus on danger you can describe tone or setting in the second body paragraph and characters in the third body paragraph without concern about tying danger and folly together somehow.

Conversely, if the thesis is about folly and not danger, again you will be able to focus on folly without having to reconcile how folly can be dangerous.  Nevertheless, you can make the point that a factor related to this kind of folly is danger.

As you start to work on your papers, consider a thesis statement that does not use “and” in it so that you are able to focus on a main idea.

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