October 17, 2022

Analytical Paper Outline and Thesis Statement

This week, you will begin working on your second paper for the course – an analytical paper. You will develop an outline and a thesis statement for your analytical paper.

Using the critical reading skills practiced during this course, you will formulate a thesis statement that presents a unique and specific interpretation of a literary text. In order to analyze effectively, you will need to engage in close reading, or reading “between the lines.” This means that you will be choosing representative passages and carefully deconstructing them, highlighting connotations that may not be immediately obvious to fellow readers.

This week’s assignment:

Develop a thesis statement in which you present your interpretation of a literary text. Note: Your instructor will provide further details on your text options and other requirements in announcements.

Develop an outline using the provided template to help you organize your points to support your thesis statement. Think of it as a skeleton that you will “flesh out” when you write your paper. You must write full sentences for the thesis statement, the topic/transition sentences, the passages, and the restatement of thesis.

Note: The passages will be direct quotes from the text, so include quotation marks and a citation in APA style.

Do not include any information from research yet. You first want to make sure that you have enough evidence from the text itself to defend your thesis.

Do not rely solely on the instructions you see here. Your instructor will provide a list of texts to choose from and further details in the announcements page, so make sure to check there for complete guidelines regarding your analytical paper.

AnalyticalPaper Outline Template

When you write an analytical paper, your paper focuses on developing a nuanced interpretationof a particular work. Each paragraph should further that interpretation and must relate directly back to your thesis statement from your introduction paragraph.

For this assignment, you will develop an outline for your analytical paper. An outline is meant to help you organize your points. Think of it as a skeleton that you will “flesh out” when you write your paper. The more detail you include in the outline, the more likely you will develop a strong paper. Further directions below:

• You need to use a formal outline format; use the outline template provided below to help structure your outline.

• You must write full sentences for the thesis statement, the topic/transition sentences, the passages, and the restatement of thesis.Note: The passages will be direct quotes from the text, so include quotation marks and a citation in APA style.

• Do not include any information from research yet. You first want to make sure that you have enough evidence from the text itself to defend your thesis.

How to use the outline template: Erase each line before typing into the space. You may add or delete supporting points or details. To add, simply place your cursor at the end of a line, hit Enter, and you will see a new number or letter appear. To delete, simply highlight the line and hit Delete or Backspace.

I. Introduction

A. Background info: ___________________________________________________

B. Background info: ___________________________________________________

C. Background info: ___________________________________________________

D. Thesis statement:___________________________________________________

II. Body Paragraph 1

A. Topic sentence:____________________________________________________

1. passage: ____________________________________________________