Answer the four questions analyzing your partner’s thesis. The argumentative claim is the most important concept in the thesis, so analyze the claim most critically. How could the claim be more arguable?
1. What is the narrowed topic stated in the opening of the thesis?
2. What argumentative claim (interpretation) does your classmate make about the literary work? Is the thesis just a summary of the story or does it make an argumentative claim? If it does, how could another reader interpret the story differently? How could it be stated more boldly?
3. Does the thesis identify four subtopics the paper will consider after stating their claim? What are they?
4. Is the thesis stated in one sentence that is clear and complete? If not, which sentence should be omitted and how could the sentences be combined to fulfill the parts of the thesis: the narrowed topic, arguable claim, and the four subtopics?