Finding a Thesis for Your Literary Analysis Paper English 9: Romeo and Juliet

Journal Prompt (Woo hoo!!!) Tell me what you have learned about thesis statements in the past. How should they be formatted? Where do they go? What is their function?

A thesis is...  A statement regarding an observation that you made about the genre, time period, social aspect that you are research about film  A statement that you can spend the rest of your paper backing up!  Goes at the end of your introduction  Remember, don’t stray from the thesis in your paper!

Yeah, but how do I come up with one?  My answer to you is to work backwards!  That means:  Look at your packet, activities, notes  What observations have you/ the class made about the play?  Which of the prompts do you believe that you have the most to say about?

Example: Part One  I’m doing my literary analysis paper on how foreshadowing is used in Romeo and Juliet  While reading the play with the class, I noticed a few things...  Juliet seems to have visions of Romeo frequently that are bad  Romeo also seems to have visions that would suggest a bad fate for him  Even though both frequently see that something is going to happen, they end up dying anyway

Example: Part Two  Figure out how you can support these observations in a paper  Example:  Juliet’s foreshadowing  When he is climbing out her window  When she first talks to her mother about Paris  Romeo’s foreshadowing  When he is about to attend the party at the Capulet mansion  When he tells the Friar he would rather die than be banished  They try to be together anyway  Get married  Hatch a plan to be together after banishment  Suicide

Example: Part Three  What are some things that these three elements might have in common?  Romeo’s visions  Juliet’s visions  Their death despite these visions  Brainstorm with the people around you!

Example: Part Three  These were the things that I thought they had in common...  All of these aspects had to deal with fate in some way, shape or form  Seems like their lives were spelled out for them, and there was no way of avoiding it

Example: Part Four  Now, use these commonalities to make a thesis!!!  My Thesis: Romeo and Juliet uses foreshadowing to suggest that fate is unavoidable; even though both characters have premonitions that something bad will occur, they choose to be together anyway, and still end up dying as a result.

Now it’s your turn!  Get in groups based on your topic (one, two, or three)  SHARE with one another the particular aspect that you are studying  Work together to fill out the handout given  Bounce ideas off of each other to come up with a thesis!!!