Strong and Weak Thesis Statements
• Thesis statements.
o A strong and useful thesis statement…
 Is the specific claim you’re trying to prove about your text and topic;
 Gives direction to your essay and document because it has to be proven with evidence;
 Despite traditionally coming in the first paragraph, it might look like your conclusion;
 Should be specific, clear, arguable;
 Requires proof because it is not obvious;
 Can be more than one or two sentences long;
o Bad theses or statements mistaken for thesis statements include:
 Topic sentences, general statements of intent (I’m going to discuss the role of monsters in Beowulf and The Hobbit);
 The questions you’re trying to answer (Where did Tolkien get the idea to use a dragon as his antagonist?);
 Vague assertions (Both Beowulf and The Hobbit are about the struggle of good versus evil);
 Obvious assertions, regardless of whether they’re true and accurate (Bilbo is a hobbit who did not want to have adventures but ended up liking them);
 Preview of the essay’s content (First we will examine the role of dragons, then trolls, then elves in The Hobbit and The Prose Edda);
 Untenable assertions not supported by the text (Tolkien was the first person to ever write a fantasy novel).
• Starting your thesis: Because you need an insightful thesis to take you beyond mere plot summary, you can begin formulating your thesis by trying to answer these questions about the two texts you have chosen:
1. What choice Tolkien made reminds you of something else we have read? What stood out to you about it, and why?
2. Are there any interesting contradictions in the way Tolkien presents one of his monsters? How does that compare with an earlier text we have read?
3. Is there anything in The Hobbit you find particularly surprising? Why did it surprise you? Use one of the medieval texts we read as a point of comparison to explain why Tolkien’s choice was revolutionary.
• Answer each of these questions with at least 2 or 3 sentences. Are there any characters, scenes, and/or themes that overlap in your answers to each question?