Once Upon a Time<\/em> adapts \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d to depict how children could get lost in grief after experiencing the death of a loved one.<\/p>\nThis is a claim, but it\u2019s off topic. Return to the prompt. This instructor is not looking for an example of a fairy tale adaptation in pop culture. Rather, they are seeking a close reading of the text and an argument as to why the story is still meaningful. Return to the original prompt throughout your writing process so you stay focused on the right topic.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n4.) The Weak Thesis<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\nWhat am I showing my reader?\u00a0 <\/strong>The fairy tale \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d is about hunger. <\/strong><\/p>\nHow will I show it? <\/strong>There\u2019s examples of overeating throughout the story.<\/p>\nThesis: <\/strong>The fairy tale \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d is about hunger because there\u2019s examples of overeating throughout the story.<\/p>\nWe have an idea, and we have the evidence that lead to the idea, but this thesis is weak because the \u201cexamples of overeating . . .\u201d is a vague statement. Who is over eating? What about hunger? Is there a more specific word that relates to hunger and over-eating? \u00a0The verb \u201cis\u201d can also be strengthened by using an action verb.<\/p>\n
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5.) The Slightly Stronger High-School-Thesis-Statement<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\nWhat am I showing my reader?\u00a0 <\/strong>All of the major characters in \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d struggle with gluttony. <\/strong><\/p>\nHow will I show it? <\/strong>I\u2019ll show it through three groups of characters. The parents abandon their children because they are starving and don\u2019t want to share the remaining food. The children overindulge when eating the candy house so they are sleepy. The witch wants to eat the children but not before she fattens them up.<\/p>\nThesis: <\/strong>The well-known fairy tale, \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d is about gluttony because the parents, the children, and the witch are gluttonous.<\/p>\nYes, gluttony is the right word, and that makes it a little stronger, but the 3-reasons-thesis will not serve you well in college. The general high school thesis format looks like this:<\/p>\n
__________________ is true because\u00a0 of_____________, ___________, and ____________.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not wrong; in fact, it\u2019s a good step in the right direction, but this format is a barrier to more complex ideas, and remember, your paper is only as good as your idea. This format limits you to three major reasons, and it doesn\u2019t leave room for the actual relevance of the idea. \u00a0One way to make this stronger would be to look at the evidence we present. Can we put it into one major group or use one term to describe it all? The parents, the witch, and the children are all characters<\/u>. Maybe that\u2019s the term. When we use a term to group our evidence together, we make room for a more complex idea.<\/p>\n
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6.) A Stronger College-Level Thesis<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\nThesis: <\/strong>The well-known fairy tale, \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d portrays gluttony by featuring characters who all fail to manage their intense hunger. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nThis thesis is more specific so it is by far stronger. Now we have room to make an interesting and complex thesis statement, and we do this by asking ourselves this: why is this theme still relevant? Why should our reader care about some fairy tale about gluttony? Often at this stage you may need to return to the story to draw out more evidence or think about other common themes. Remember, our prompt wants to know why this story is relevant. Why is gluttony relevant?<\/p>\n
<\/h4>\n7.) The Strongest Thesis<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\nWhat am I showing my reader?\u00a0 <\/strong>All of the major characters in \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d struggle with gluttony so the reader can grapple with gluttony alongside of each character.<\/p>\nHow will I show it? <\/strong>I will show that every character is gluttonous, and I will look at how little description exists for each character.<\/p>\nWhy does it matter<\/strong>? Well, when I think of society today, I think of excess. We over-consume\u00a0 not only food, but resources, and televisions shows through \u201cbinging\u201d etc. Is this a form of gluttony?<\/p>\nThesis: <\/strong>The well-known fairy tale, \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d allows the reader to vicariously grapple with gluttony by showing how each character in the tale fails to manage their hunger, making the story ever-relevant in a society that is defined by over-consumption.<\/p>\n
\nThis is the strongest thesis because it indicates what will be argued, how it will be argued, and why it\u2019s significant<\/strong>. It is specific, it is interesting, and it is debatable. It uses strong verbs and focused words.<\/p>\nA strong thesis like this is also thought provoking. It puts a new spin on something familiar to your reader so you have plenty of options for a conclusion, too. For example, once you prove that Hansel and Gretel is about gluttony, you can ask all sort of questions. Does liking \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d mean you struggle with gluttony? Is \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d constantly adapted because our culture hasn’t overcome gluttony? Is it still about gluttony in adaptations or are those essential details amended? If so, why?\u00a0 What does the ending mean since the children return home to the parents that abandoned them for food? Is it all a cycle where they will be abandoning by their parents again during the next famine?\u00a0 There\u2019s so much here to explore and there\u2019s a variety of directions for your conclusion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When forming a thesis ask yourself these questions:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- What is my idea?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
- How will I show it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Why does it matter?<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Is my idea responding to the prompt?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Writing a thesis is a process. You start with a topic, it evolves into an idea, and then you refine it as you analyze your evidence until it’s an interesting claim. You don’t have a real thesis statement until you have crafted it to be as focused and as intriguing as possible. Students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":376,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,113],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-writing-tips","category-resources-for-freshmen","tag-thesis-statements","post-preview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":672,"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}