1. Developing thesis statements for
literary analysis
Spring 2015

2.  A claim is a statement that others will
consider to be true
 An issue is a question with various debatable
answers
 Claims are the debatable answers
 In literary studies, look at the ten kinds of
issues from the last power point.
 You may want to qualify a claim, which
involves expressing the claim in words that
make it less absolute (Perhaps, Probably,
Most likely, Some, many, most, several) to
limit the scope

3.  Evaluation
 Interpretation
 Interpretation is the kind of analysis that
depends on hypotheses rather than simple
observation of plain fact. This builds your central
claim or thesis statement. When you attempt to
interpret a work, you are mostly analyzing it;
when you attempt to evaluate the work you are
mostly judging it.
 You will be identifying an issue and making one
main claim about it, which is your thesis. As you
attempt to support your main claim, you will
make a number of smaller claims

4.  Argumentative essays attempt to persuade
 Support your claims
 The process of trying to persuade others will
force you to clarify your ideas, review why
you hold them and shape your argument.
 You must acknowledge counter-arguments
when you argue your thesis and prove why
your thesis is more credible.
 You prove this by using evidence and
warrants from the text.
 Your job is to persuade your audience to
accept whatever central claim you make.

5.  Evidence is the support that you give your claims
so that other readers will accept your argument.
 When you make an argument about literature,
the most valuable evidence is likely to be details
from the work itself. Direct quotations are the
most powerful arguments
 If you make claims about the historical or
cultural context of a work, your evidence may
include facts about the original circumstances-
the authors’ experience or biography or
statements.
 Acknowledge that there are other points of view.

6.  Warrants are beliefs that lead people to call certain
things evidence for their claims- they explain and
build the bridge for why you offer this evidence to
support your claim.
 They articulate what assumptions you are making
that makes you believe you have strong evidence.
Warrants and assumptions are synonyms
 What are your reasons for presenting this evidence as
support for your claim?
 Some of your assumptions might be about literature
example- images are symbolical and therefore
significant, or they relate to how a character behaves
 Some of your assumptions can be about life or human
nature, some may be about historical periods and
cultures (office culture- Orientation, Antiguan
culture-Girl)

7.  Your attempt to persuade your audience,
classmates and instructor to accept your
claims regarding an issue by presenting
evidence and relying on warrants.

8.  Something that people have disagreed with
or might disagree with-questions with no
obvious, immediate answers.
 There are 10 issues that raise in literature
courses.
 Who remembers what they are?

9.  1. Fact
 2. Theme
 3. Definition
 4. Symbolism
 5. Pattern
 6. Evaluation
 7, Historical and cultural context
 8. Genre
 9. Social policy
 10. Cause and effect

10.  Claims are the debatable answers to an
inssue. In literature classes, two common
types of claims are those of interpretation
and those of evaluation.

11.  Changing people’s minds, convincing them
that claims are reasonable has been studied
for centruies under the term rhetoric
 Effective persuasion may involve making
qualifications and concessions-avoiding broad
generalizations that could refer to other
bodies of work. Narrowing your central claim
can achieve this.

12.  In this class, audience includes peer review
and instructor feedback. If you are to
persuade them with your writing, you must
take their experience and assumptions into
consideration

13.  Is the support that you give your claims so
that others will accept them. When you
make an argument about a literary work,
your audience expects you to support your
case with dtails in the text and to convince
them by methodically laying out your claims
as well as your reasons for them.

14.  Are the beliefs that lead people to call
certain things evidence for their claims.
 The terms warrants and assumptions are
more or less interchangeable

15.  Some literary works can be said to present
arguments themselves. Certain characters
make claims, often in debate with one
another, through characterization, plot and
image and other works indicate that the
author is arguing for a certain position (social
change)
 Your next essay should reflect use of these 10
issues in literary analysis.