We all have been there- we’re assigned an essay, given the prompt, and stare hopelessly at a Word Document, hoping that all the ideas rolling around in our head will just appear on the paper. The worst part of an essay is getting started. Introductions are hard to write, and some students may skip them all together and write it last. This strategy is fine f you already have your thesis written. If you are going to skip your intro, please still write your thesis. If you don’t, you might as well not write the paper altogether, because it will be jumbled, incoherent, and rambling.
YOUR THESIS IS YOUR FRIEND.
Most people loathe thesis statements (myself included) and have no clue whatsoever as to how to write a proper one. A thesis, as we all know, states what we are writing about, or more importantly, arguing for. However, we CANNOT write the cookie cutter, three part thesis we learned once in fifth grade and decided to use forever. This limits our essay to three body paragraphs, and our essay becomes either extremely condensed as we want to fit in information, or stretched out, as we simply don’t have enough to write about. Also, the thesis sounds stupid.
General formula for english essays:
Right now you’re probably confused as to what the skeleton is asking for, but I’ll explain with a prompt and an example thesis.
Prompt: Discuss the significance of old age and death in King Lear, and how it contributes to the theme.
Novel/poem title and author are self explanatory. Where I had put (diction, simile, etc) is where you stick what the prompt is asking. Whether it be asking how simile brings about change or how diction is conveyed, fix the words to stick it there, and make sure it will fully answer everything the prompt is asking.
Instead of just blatantly stating theme, I put generalization about the human condition. Although it truly is where you put the theme of the novel, poem, etc, you must remember it is a generalization of us. The theme of any story is general and NOT actually about the specific events itself- it should be able to be applied anywhere. Remember that. I’ll do another prompt- this is on the novel Crime and Punishment.
Prompt: Describe the importance of the city to the plot. How does the city serve as a symbol of society and of Raskolnikov’s state of mind?
Here I changed the formula to fit my prompt and thats ok. However, I still maintained my general theme without applying it only to the novel itself.
I survived my senior year of high school by using this formula, but always remember to use your thesis like it is- the driving force of your paper. Because the generalized theme is stated, make sure to apply it in your paper itself!!! Don’t just leave it there in the thesis statement. It will strengthen your paper and ultimately give you more ideas.
If you have any questions or need help with a prompt/thesis, don’t hesitate to send an ask!
The following are audiobooks of common required school readings. The posted videos are of the book in the SMALLEST NUMBER OF VIDEOS NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE FULL BOOK. However if you are searching for a specific chapter, most of these novels can also be found broken up into several videos with specific chapters.
