What is the significance of a thesis statement?
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the instructions for the Week 5 –
Final Paper. For your final paper, you will analyze how one of the five themes discussed
during the course is explored in at least two works from different writers read during the
course and in at least one non-literary work (e.g., painting, sculpture, mixed media, music,
dance, film, graphic novel, etc.; you may choose a non-literary work found in the course,
or one found on your own that is not referenced in the course).
For this assignment, you will create a formal, detailed outline of your paper. You must
integrate a minimum of two scholarly (secondary) sources into the draft, (you will
integrate a minimum of three scholarly sources into the final paper for Week 5).
In your paper,
• Compose an introductory paragraph that presents your topic or theme and
the three works you will discuss in the paper.
• Propose a tentative thesis statement that asserts a central idea about the
significance of your chosen theme in two literary works and one non-literary
work. (Remember that the thesis statement should give purpose and direction
to the paper.)
• Outline at least five topic sentences that support the thesis.
o Include at least two subtopics that elaborate on each topic
sentence.
• Integrate two scholarly sources into the outline.
Outline Structure
• Introduction
o Thesis: Indicate your topic, your main point about that topic, and
the points of discussion for that topic.
• Body Paragraph 1: Topic sentence goes here.
o Supporting evidence: A paraphrase or quote from one of your
sources goes here, along with an in-text citation.
▪ Explanation of the meaning of the supporting evidence.
▪ So what? A direct statement on how the supporting
evidence does in fact support the claim made in the topic
sentence.
• Body Paragraph 2: Topic sentence goes here.
o Supporting evidence
▪ Explanation
▪ So what?
• Body Paragraph 3: Topic sentence goes here.
o Supporting evidence
▪ Explanation
▪ So what?
• Conclusion:
o Rephrased Thesis Statement: Rephrase your thesis.
o Strong Closing: Close your paper with the significance of this
discussion. Why is this discussion important?
