Attached you will find a pdf labeled Paper Topics, you can choose any that deem fit for you. I choose Antigone because it seems the easiest, if you want to do another - please let me know and I will provide you with what you need. You will also find the a

Developing a Thesis

The thesis of your essay is its main point or governing idea, the central argument that structures evidence and smaller arguments. The thesis states what your essay will prove. To be effective, the wording of your thesis should be clear, concise, and exact. Since your thesis will serve as the foundation of your paper, it is important to consider potential flaws before you begin writing. The thesis of any literary-critical paper should be: (1) debatable Your thesis should not be an obvious fact about the text or a restatement of plot. “The Bible is a morally instructive book” is almost self-evident. “Though Hamlet hesitates, he eventually acts” does little more than restate the trajectory of the plot. “Debatable” means that someone could make a reasonable argument against your thesis. (2) focused enough to give the paper direction “Much of the violence in the Bible seems random and unnecessary from a modern perspective” is sufficiently debatable and faithful to the text but lacks focus. “Madame Bovary portrays the socio-economic situation of the middle class in nineteenth-century France” and “The model of love Shakespeare offers in Much Ado About Nothing is a departure from the traditional romantic conventions that preceded him” are too broad to be explored in a short paper. (3) more than a private opinion or speculation (potentially provable) “X is the only real character in the novel” is an opinion only relevant to yourself unless you can specify what “real” means and show it to be an issue in the novel. “God intended Moses to kill the Egyptian” is speculation that will likely remain speculation no matter how much text you quote. Make sure your thesis can be proved or disproved by evidence and analysis. Note that, in a sense, a thesis is an opinion, but one that can be backed up in such a way as to convince others it is not merely opinion. The question to ask is: can I make my opinion matter to someone else? Some other tips: Avoid arguments dependent upon generalizations. Statements like “In the sixteenth century, women were powerless and degraded” and “People are always driven by a desire for love and companionship” are often less accurate than they may seem and usually not nuanced enough to be helpful in building a controversial and focused argument. Arguments developed out of seemingly small details or minor characters can be significant. If you are fascinated by the recurrence of certain words, images, or figures of speech, or find a minor character interesting, do not dismiss these topics because they seem slight. Some of the best arguments are built upon thoughtful analysis of small details (though you must of course develop a claim about the significance of those details!). Such arguments usually have the advantage of being extremely focused and can be comfortably treated in a short paper. The most controversial, focused argument will fail if you cannot support it in the body of your essay. So keep the body of the paper in mind as you develop your thesis. Can you support the thesis sufficiently with evidence from the text? Will it allow you to discuss several passages in the text? Is it an idea that can develop over the course of the paper, so as not to seem repetitious or monotonous? Will it lead toward a satisfying conclusion? Try to envision the final product that will result from the thesis. Sometimes it is helpful to outline a paper in order to test the feasibility of a particular argument before you commit to it.