English
Instructions
Post your tentative thesis statement for your literary analysis essay on Sula. Remember that a thesis takes a position about your topic. You are making a kind of argument, an argument that supports a particular analysis of the novel.
Here are two examples of posts and responses with good suggestions for improvement:
Cassie: In Toni Morrison’s novel Sula, both Sula and Nel go on journeys of self-discovery and happiness, which is accomplished through their friendship. However, Sula’s journey of self-discovery continues after their friendship is destroyed while Nel’s is halted due to their differing life paths.
Brian: Hey Cassie!
I love how you started off your thesis really strongly, making a clear the idea that Nel and Sula go on journeys of self-discovery together. I do also see that the thesis has been broken up in two sentences which I think should be an entire sentence. I like how you ended it as well, seeing both sentences combined would make your thesis statement even better!
Professor: Cassie, good point about the characters’ journeys being made possible through their friendship! To focus this idea more clearly, you may need to describe the character traits that make Sula more able to pursue her journey of self-discovery and Nel less able to do so (at least maybe until the very end of the novel). By the way, sometimes, especially when two sentences are closely connected to one another, you can have two sentences make up your thesis. You might even use a semi-colon (;) between the two sentences to indicate their close connection.
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Jason: Nel and Sula were childhood friends; as time went by, they grew apart and went down different paths.
Marianne: Nice statement, Jason. I agree that as time passed, both friends chose
differing life paths. How do these differing life paths affect the characters later on in the novel?
Professor: This is a good start, Jason! You probably need to focus the thesis a bit. As Marianne points out, it seems that perhaps a position about how these different paths affect Nel and Sula and what the novel is saying about friendship in connection with those paths would help focus your thesis around a more arguable interpretation. Without that information, your thesis becomes more of a summary than an interpretation of the nature of friendship in the novel.
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