Writing Analytical Thesis Statements
Textual analysis is an integral part of literary studies. It allows readers to interrogate how the various parts of the text in a novel, poem, play or short story, work with each other to present a specific argument. As part of this class, students will work to craft a ensayo final or final paper using textual analysis.
An important part of the literary analysis paper is the thesis statement. In order to assist you in crafting a strong thesis statement, you can review a list of resources that explain it in more detail, as well as providing you with examples. But if you are still wondering what a thesis statement is, here is a quick definition. A thesis statement is "an analytical essay answers how something does what it does or why it is as it is. Therefore, a thesis statement in an analysis paper should be answering a HOW or WHY question."
Click here to view the full hand out from the University of Arizona.
A short guide to close reading for literary analysis (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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