One More Thesis Statement Example (From My Own Essay)

After talking with some students from the MW 9:10 class, I realized the thesis statement post from before could use further explanation.

How about another example?

Weeks ago, this example of a paper written as a student at UC Santa Barbara was sent to students in order to show how quotes are integrated into other sentences and weaved in and out of paragraphs.



It just happens to be my only digital file of an old paper from school, as something happened when switching laptops and years of work became deleted.

While the entire paper contains some mistakes, the professor gave an A- for this one. Her accomplishments are quite impressive, so I believe her opinion.

Thesis Statement

With Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Miller’s Tale” involving a constant reality beneath all the playing that goes on, Milner’s vision of the poet-infant “finding the familiar in the unfamiliar” sheds light on the mixtures of fantasy and reality in the two tales. Her vision shows the necessary relationship where reality needs to have a presence in order for fantasy to exist. 

*The main point might sound strange for those without knowledge of The Canterbury Tales (or even for those who read the stories).

The main point/argument?

Milner’s vision of the poet-infant “finding the familiar in the unfamiliar” sheds light on the mixtures of fantasy and reality in the two tales.

*The above statement is not something anyone thinks about as common knowledge when reading The Canterbury Tales. The average reader will not immediately know the statement as true, which means it works as an arguable statement.

How?

Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Miller’s Tale” (involve) a constant reality beneath all the playing

*How is this arguable point happening?

Why is this important to study?

Her vision shows the necessary relationship where reality needs to have a presence in order for fantasy to exist. 

*Would anyone beyond the professor really read the essay beyond the first page? How interesting is this topic?

If I could go back in time, the vast overuse of "was" in the above essay would be ironed out, as well as some contractions, but overall it still reads well today.