1. Yuck Thesis: American society forgives but does not forget.
Is it arguable?
Does it tell us something about American society?
Is it clear (and not a cliché)?

2. Thesis: American society does not allow people to move past their wrongdoings.
1. Is it arguable?
2. Does it tell us something about American society?
3. Is it clear (and not a cliché)?

3. Sample Paragraphs
Even when people do penance for their wrongdoings, Americans do not forgive them. For example, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is punished and told to wear a red “A” on her chest so that everyone would know she was an adulteress. Hester punished herself even further by wearing the letter longer than she was required to and moving to the outskirts of town.

4. However, the townspeople never forgave Hester
However, the townspeople never forgave Hester. She was still an outcast even years later, as shown by this passage: [insert lines from book showing town’s reaction to Hester here].
The townspeople’s treatment of Hester is similar to the way Americans today treat ex-convicts. Once a former prisoner has…

5. finished his or her sentence and is released on parole, he or she is not given a fair chance for success in American society. Despite government funding for employers who hire ex-convicts, former prisoners still have trouble finding a job. According to the New York Times, only x% of former prisoners are able to find steady employment within six months of release. Of those who do find work, most end up in menial, minimum wage jobs such as grocery bagging (citation).