DEMONSTRATE HOW LITERATURE HAS HELPED YOU TO

DEVELOP YOUR OWN PERSONAL CODE

Personal Code Informational

Essay

You are writing about literature

World StateHamletOedipus RexAmir and Hassan

Anansi

Sacred TextsRamaBeowulfKing ArthurSir GawainDo the personal codes

depicted in literature relate to your own life?

Thesis Writing: Step One

What's your main opinion on this topic?

Literature influences the expectations for behavior and conduct within society.

Thesis Writing: Step Two

What's the first argument supporting your opinion?

Connect one of your codes to a character:

Rama perseveres to the end of his quest, no matter what the obstacle is.

Thesis Writing: Step Three

What's a second argument that supports your opinion?

Connect one of your codes to a character:

Anansi shows us that despite our flaws we can learn from our mistakes.

Thesis Writing: Step Four

What's a third argument that supports your opinion?

Connect one of your codes to a character:

“Rig Veda” reminds us to be humble, we have much to learn about ourselves and the world around us.

Thesis Writing: Step Five

What's the main argument against your opinion?

Connect one of your codes to a character who does not follow your code:

Characters in Brave New World are not true to themselves, and fulfill an identity that has been mass produced to conform to society.

Thesis Writing: Step Six

Put it all together to make a thesis statement…3-Argument2-Argument1-ArgumentExample/Non-Example

The 3-Argument Thesis Statement

Literature promotes sophisticated social behavior because it 1teaches us to attain our goals2 ,learn from our mistakes, and 3 remain humble in our pursuits.

2-Argument Thesis

Literature promotes sophisticated social behavior because it 1teaches us to attain our goals and 2 remain humble in our pursuits.

Two body paragraphs will illustrate first two arguments.

The third paragraph could possibly show how a character failed adhere to a social code, since he failed at one or both of the arguments posted.

1-Argument Thesis

Literature warns us against the dangers of hubris, showing the dangers of not remaining

humble in our pursuits. All body paragraphs will illustrate the argument.

Example and Non-Example Thesis Statement

Literature reminds us of the improtance of 1keeping one’s word and 2 illustrates the consequences of failing to do so.

Body paragraphs will address how the character keeps his word or faced the consequences of not keeping his word.

How NOT to Write a Thesis

× Readers learn a lot from “Beowulf,” Sir “Gawain and the Green Knight,” and “Le Morte D’Arthur.”

× Literature promotes better behavior which is demonstrated by the characters Amir, Hamlet, and Rama.

× Sometimes behavior is improved, and sometimes it’s not.

Story titles and character names are not arguments!

The base represents the attention grabbing opening sentence. This sentence should be a general or broad

idea that is related to your essay topic.

The center contains more specific information: Oral tradition, the purpose of storytelling , the

importance of social codes, overview of the novel, genre, era, or subject.

As the pyramid narrows, lead into the thesis statement with a solid

transitional sentence.

The point of the pyramid represents the last sentence in

your intro. the thesis statement.

Introductions: The Inverted Pyramid Style

Works Cited Help![Author’s last name, first name]. [“Title of Story”]. Glenco Literature the

Reader’s Choice. Edited by Beverly Ann Chin, et all. [Translated by]. New

York: Glenco McGraw Hill, 2002. [Pages]. Reprinted in World Literature.

Print.

 [Author’s last name, first name]. [“Title of Story”]. The Language of Literature.

Edited by Arthur N. Applebee, et all. [Translated by]. Evanston: McDougal

Littell, 2002. [Pages]. Reprinted in British Literature. Print.

 Biography - King Arthur: His Life and Legends. 1998. A&E Home Video, 2005.

DVD.