Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Lit Essay #1 Thesis Statement
By midnight, Thursday, August 30, please post the title of the book you will write about and your thesis statement for your first independent study. Before you work on your paper this weekend, you may want to read some of your classmates' thesis statements. As you work on your paper, your thesis statement may change, so don't feel that the one you post is etched in stone (or in this case, in cyberspace).
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53 comments:
In the novel,"Plainsong", author Kent Haruf emphasizes his theme of finding meaning and happiness in even the hardest of circumstances through the poignant recurring image of eyes.
Here's mine to start things off:
Ernest Hemingway drenches the pages and content of The Sun Also Rises with alcohol fueled scenes as an indulgent foil to the bleak hopelessness of the characters' circumstances; he portrays the characters as ultimately culpable for their condition as their constant drunkenness serves as a microcosm of their broader complacency.
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Houssini uses friendships, eyes, and kites as vehicles to demonstrate the important traits of redemption, compassion, and honesty.
OR
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Houssini demonstrates the price of peace through the symbols of kites, eyes, and friendships.
Kara -- Looks good, though you need to make the phrase "finding meaning and happiness in even the hardest of circumstances " into a complete thought; what about it? I like the image you picked.
Rob --
A tad wordy, but a good idea. Is the foil indulgent, or are the characters? You'll need to add a "so what?"; what is important about their complacency?
Kerry -- Basically a good idea. Limit yourself to one symbol, and make a statement about your thematic topic: state what "the price of peace" is, or state what the book shows about redemption, or compassion, or honesty, or the interplay among them.
Joyce Carol Oates in "We Were The Mulvaneys" uses Marianne and her fathers distant relationship to demonstrate that even through a dramatic experience, nothing can break the love and bond of a family.
In Khaled Houssini's timeless novel, "The Kite Runner", he depicts how a boy becomes a man as Amir learns what it means to have true character in this dark age.
John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden portrays Cyrus a character in the novel as a lying, manipulating father to help strengthen the main theme of good vs. evil.
I'm having a really hard time coming up with my thesis so this is just preliminary.
In "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, the motif of slingshots represents protection and loyalty and further illuminate the immensely strong bond created in friendship.
Kerstin --
This idea could work as long as you don't think the relationship is too big a part of the main conflict of the book. Does it function as a microcosm?
Sam --
You have a thematic idea, though you need to define it in your thesis: what does it take to become a man? You're lacking half of your thesis, which is the specific literary element that you will focus on in order to examine the theme.
Annie --
You're on the right track, though you need to refine your thesis a bit. What quality or idea does Cyrus represent in the novel? And what about good and evil? "Good versus evil" is not a theme; you need to make a statement about it.
Katy D --
Looks like an interesting idea. You'll need to define "the bond of friendship" and explain what protection has to do with it. I like the slingshot idea.
In his novel, "Tortilla Curtain" Boyle inserts of the men in the grocery offering Candido a Thanksgiving turkey to symbolize the happiness he is rarely capable of grasping, and only momently able to maintain.
In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini juxtaposes a beloved pomegranate tree with the maturation of Hassan and Amir to illustrate the effect time may have on a close friendship.
Khaled Hosseini uses Amir's recurring car sickness in "The Kite Runner" to aid in the portrayal of the delicate and constantly changing structure of father-son relationships.
In John Steinbeck's novel, "East of Eden", Kate is linked to the story "Alice in Wonderland", in order to portray Kate as childlike as well as express her deepest insecurities.
In the novel, East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, the depression and suicide of Tom Hamilton is used to demonstrate the allure of sin and man's susceptibility to choosing to be conquered by sin.
Will H
John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden" uses "timshel", or the idea that you may choose to overcome sin to give significance to Cathy, Charles, and Calvin's own stories of sin and redemption.
Either that or something about Cathy and the references to her being the snake in the Garden of Eden, as well as Cain, and her brothel as the Land of Nod. Or something.
My thesis always changes as I write, but here is the general idea I plan on arguing:
In his gut-wrenching work, The Kite Runner, Khaled Houssini uses blood to trace the path from guilt to redemption.
The puzzling designation of Cathy’s possessions in her will amplify the larger conceptions of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden that there is always hope of redemption and man’s greatness is carried in a word of choice, timsel, thou mayest overcome sin.
Or
The scars’ physical foreboding interpretation on Charles’, Cathy’s, and the bartender’s foreheads alludes to the novel’s foundations that revolve around the fall of Adam and Eve and the hope of redemption and humanity’s potential greatness embodied by choice and infused by a single word, timsel.
In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini utilizes the main character Amir and his father “Baba” to illustrate the divergence between tradition and modernity. Not only between a father and a son, but the shifting way of life in Afghanistan.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini follows Amir as he tries to find forgiveness and there are multiple people and objects which symbolize this search for forgiveness; the best being Farid whose bitterness and eventual kindness represent Amir's path to redemption.
In the novel "The Kite Runner" Amir uses a fake beard to physically disquise himself but it also symbolizes how he has been disquising who he really is in the inside for his whole life.
L.Downs-
Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest", expresses the writer's views upon father-daughter relationships and the road of revenge by three motifs the sea, the weather, and alcohol.
Within the novel "Plainsong", author Kent Haruf magnificantly maniupulates the reoccuring imagery of the rising and setting of the sun to correlate with the rise and fall of everyday happenings of unusual extent to demonstarte how the characters come to handle them.
Karly B --
Looks good, but make your "theme" more universal; how does this apply to us all?
Melanie R and Caitlin Z --
Looks good.
Caitlin O --
Good focus, but you'll need to explain Steinbeck's purpose in setting this up.
Will H --
Good idea. Be sure to explain hos these incidents relate to the main conflicts of the novel.
Kdawg --
Good idea, but try to state what the path to redemption is in your thesis, and in the course of your essay -- explain why use blood as the image.
Jenna G --
You'd be better off finding a narrower and more focused symbol for the divergance of generations; the father and son are huge parts of the book.
Rachael H --
Good idea, but work on the wording of your thesis. Begin "The character Farid..."
Lisa P --
Good idea. you'll need to explain why the scene with the beard is a microcosm of Amir's whole life.
Lindzd --
Good basic idea, but define what that relationship is in your thesis, and choose just one symbol.
Megan J --
The focus on the sun sounds good, but you need to explain further Haruf's purpose in emphasizing this. Why do we care how they handle everyday happenings?
In Khaled Houssini's timeless novel, "The Kite Runner", he depicts how a boy becomes a man as Amir faces harsh realities, but eventually overcomes the face of darkness to find his true character in this dark world.
Mr. Sale the literary elements that I'll be discussing in my paper are the "harsh realities." I am correct in thinking that? hope this thesis works out better
Kayleigh --
The will is a good focus, but choose either the idea of redepmtion or timsel to relate it to.
The scars could also be a good focus, but again, work on the wording of your theme.
Mirzayi --
Timshel is something Steinbeck tells you, rather than something you have to interpret. Does that idea embody the theme of the book? One of the biblical allusions could serve as a focus if it's not too obvious.
Khaled Hosseini perpetual and rather captivating thematic symbols of books and blood in Kite Runner unveils the eternal struggle between social hierarchy, self-identity, and the ultimate redemption of a transcendental bond.
Is that too many themes or symbols because i think they all tie into each other and any help would be awesome!
Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” explores the developmental stages of transforming resentment into forgiveness in the midst of, and perhaps because of, a raging tempest. Shakespeare captures the essence of this transformation in the last scene when Prospero not only spares his enemies from his powerful wrath, but grants them forgiveness and grace.
Second try at thesis:
In "We Were the Mulvaneys", Oates uses "The Huntsman", a wood carving, to illustrate that in most situations there is the hunter, the hunted, and the onlooker.
The connection of father and son in Hosseini's Kite Runner explemlifies why our heritage, childhood, and hereditary traits become such a vital part of who we are.
Hi Mr. Sale- is this thesis setting me up for a theme-based instead of symbolic-based essay?
Bryan --
The overall idea looks good. Limit yourself to one symbol (books or blood), and in your thesis state the relationship among hierarchy, self-identity, and the "transcendental bond."
Amanda --
Your theme looks good. Will you argue that the scene is a microcosm of the process -- that it embodies what has been going on throughout the whole play? You'll need to relate the specific elements of the scene to the events elsewhere in the play.
Kaia --
Yes, this does sound prety much thematic so far. You need to identify a narrower, more focused detail of the book that represents the relationship. Also, it seems to me that heritage, childhood, and hereditary traits always determine who we are; what else is there? You'd be better off arguing that one of these factors outweighs the others.
Sam --
You still need to get to a more symbolic level. The "harsh realities" are the plot events that you will be discussing. Aside from his plot, what tricks of the literary writer's trade did the author use to enhance his narrative? What is an object, character, or setting that represents of embodies "harsh realities"?
I wasn't sure where I should post my poem from class. I hope here is okay. :)
Bent Cards
Stale air lays stagnant in chilled room.
Strong bitter coffee now lukewarm
Been forgotten; furniture old,
Chipped. Pictures of soccer team,
Younger days, hang boredly on walls.
Berrat hats, two warm sweaters;
Old gentlemen play the game of
Cards. One lost in decision, doesn't
Know what card to play. Three spectators.
Bundled warmly, all squak out advice
Admonition to hurry up
And play. Glarring bleakness of clouds,
Snow outside shine from window.
Furniture primitive, table
Smooth, ground sleak. Everyone has nothing
Better to do than sit and watch
The battle unfolds. Bent and cracked
Cards have ached to be used. Later
Bickering ensues. Few colors
Spice up room.
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