I am currently spending my prep periods grading The Scarlet Letter literary analysis papers. During the reading process I discovered one common thread amongst the papers: no clear thesis statement. Since we are still within the same unit (currently reading The Crucible) I have decided to create a series of minilessons and assignments that focus on developing thesis statements.
Step 1: define thesis statement for the students. Topic + Opinion = Thesis
For this minilesson we created a variety of thesis statements based on The Crucible. I gave the students an example essay question and as a class, they developed a thesis statement. The biggest challenge was getting them to recognize that a thesis didn’t need to be three or four sentences long. Once we broke their ideas down, it seemed quite simple to them. In the end, I think I just had to show them that a thesis statement didn’t need to be this long, intelligent, highly brilliant thing. It is after all just a sentence.
Step 2: students create their own.
I decided to stick with The Crucible as the writing example in order to not confuse the students. Again I gave the students a series of potential essay questions, but this time I sent them away to create the thesis statements on their own.
Student examples:
Control and empowerment is obtained out of personal, selfish desires that damage others’ lives (BC).
Hatred among individuals is rampant in this Puritan community and accusing one’s enemy of witchcraft is the weapon of choice in this society (JS).
Overall, I think the unit was successful. The students seem to have a stronger hold on thesis statements. My goal now is to develop some reteaching minilessons to better prepare the students for the full essay on Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail.
