Developing a Focus for Essay
The questions below, taken from Hacker’s chapter L, should help you focus on developing a thesis or thesis question. Focus on the novel, The Secret History. Choose three of the questions below and write a thoughtful, one- or two-paragraph reflection on each one, focusing on how it could be developed into a paper.
1. Character: What seems to motivate the central characters? Do any of the characters change significantly? Do sharp contrasts between characters highlight important themes integral to the story?
2. Plot: What central conflict drives the plot? How are they illustrated in key scenes in the work? How is it resolved?
3. Setting: Does the setting (time and place) create an atmosphere, give an insight into a character, suggest symbolic meanings, or hint at the theme of the work?
4. Point of View: Does the narrator’s point of view influence our understanding of the story? Does the narration reveal the character of the speaker, or does the speaker merely observe others? Is the narrator perhaps innocent, naïve, or deceitful? How does this affect our understanding of the work?
5. Theme: Does the work have an overall theme (a central insight about people or a truth about life)? If so, how do details of the work illuminate this theme?
6. Language: How do metaphors, similes, and sensory images contribute to the work? How do recurring images enrich the work and hint at its meaning? Does the work contain a symbol? Does it contain irony?
7. Historical context. How does the work reflect the time and place in which it was written? Does it promote or challenge a philosophy that was popular in its time, such as Darwinism in the late 19th century, or the women’s movement in the mid-20th century?
8. Class: What economic struggles or power relationships does the work reflect or depict?
9. Race and culture: Are characters engaged in conflict with society because of race or ethnicity? Does the work celebrate a specific culture and its traditions?
10. Gender: Are character’s choices restricted because of gender? What are the power relationships between the sexes? How do characters deal with these relationships?
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