Thesis Statements

Questions to ask yourself about your thesis statement:

1.       Is it in the right place?

2.       Is it in the form of a question?  (Hint:  It should not be a question, nor should it be more than one sentence.)

3.       Does it give the direction of your paper?

4.       Is it narrow enough?  Is it focused?  Is it clear?

5.       Can you deal with the subject matter in the assigned number of pages? Do you have enough information, enough supporting evidence?

6.       Is it too broad?  Is there too much to say to deal with it effectively, given the assigned number of pages?

7.       Is it too obvious?  Will your reader say, “duh”?

8.       Is it debatable?  Could reasonable people disagree about it?

9.       Is it an over-arching statement, rather than a laundry list?

10.   If it is a literary analysis paper, does is reference the title of the work you are discussing, as well as the author?

11.   Is it directly linked to that piece of literature?

12.   Have you crafted your thesis statement so that it flows beautifully without extraneous words and phrases?  Is it pretty?  Have you used your best academic language?  Is it a well-crafted sentence?  Is it polished?

Topic Suggestions for HF Paper

IDEAS AND TOPICS FOR YOUR HUCK FINN LITERARY ANALYSIS PAPER




You must still provide your own well-crafted thesis statement.





1. The overall American critical reaction to the publishing of The Adventures of Huck Finn in 1885 was summed up in one word: "trash". Louisa May Alcott (author of Little Women and Little Men) said, "If Mr. Clemens cannot think of anything better to tell our pure-minded lads and lassies, he had better stop writing for them." The Public Library Committee of Concord, Massachusetts excluded the book as "a dangerous moral influence on the young." Defend or refute the position that the novel is indeed "trash" with evidence from the text to support your claim.

2. Discuss historical revisionism and whether Huck Finn should be part of a high school curriculum. You may include 2011's revised edition of the book, which replaced the word "nigger" for "slave."

3. One critic says that the novel shows the conflict between our national faith in democracy and our inheritance of prejudice. He also says it shows the conflict between our love for freedom and our love for conformity.

4. A persona is an alternate name and personality uses for many different reasons. Discuss the many personas used in the novel.

5. Huckleberry Finn has been called the "Great American Novel." However, it is one of the most frequently banned book in the United States. Discuss why this masterpiece is banned mostly in Christian academies and in some institutions that are predominantly African-American.

6. This novel is a satire on human weaknesses. What human traits does he satirize? Give examples for each. What is the power of satire?

7. What does Twain admire in a man and of what is he contemptuous?

8. Select five characters that Twain does not admire in Huck Finn. Give the specific traits that each possesses that makes him or her not an admirable person. Select five characters that Twain does admire. Give the specific traits that each possesses that makes him or her admirable.

9. Discuss the role of religion in the novel.

10. Think about the characters in the novel who are middle to upper class in comparison to the lower class folks. What was Mark Twain saying about "social classes" in the novel?



11. How is does the river act as a spine for this book? What else could it symbolize?

12. Ernest Hemingway said, "All of American Literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
13. Is Huck the American Hero?



14. The names that an author gives his/her characters is often more significant than one might initially understand. Is this the case with Mark Twain?

15. What is Twain saying about America in this novel? What is he saying about Europe?

16. How is humor used? What can satire do? How do some of the dark themes compare with the humorous parts?

17. Respect for rule of law/ conscience

18. Honesty

19. Lonesomeness

20. Man in the Natural World

21. Foolishness and folly

22. Superstition

23. What role do drugs and alcohol play in the book?

24. What constitutes a family in Huck Finn?

25. Huck is young. America is young. What is Twain saying about youth and growing up/growing old?

26. Innocence vs experience

27. Jim as Huck’s true father

28. What is Twain saying about religion?

29. Freedom

30. Friendship

31. Compare Jim and Pap.

32. Why is the setting of this book important?

33. Think of a single scene in the book that stands out to you and relate it to the book as a whole.

34. Think of a single citation in the book that stands out to you and relate it to the book as a whole.

35. Think of a recurring motif or symbol in the book and relate it to the book as a whole.

36. Discuss Twain’s use of dialect.

37. William Dean Howells said that Twain was the Lincoln of our literature. How so?

38. Huck is the most honest of American heroes.