Use present tense for action. See the literary present tense item in the Writing about Literature section of this module. Find a strong verb that goes with the main point rather than says or states.

Sample Thesis Statement

As you most likely experienced in English 1010: Composition I, a thesis is your main point. It is why you are writing the paper. For a poetry paper, we usually focus on a major theme or point in the work.

A simple way to compose a poetry thesis statement is to name the work and then show what the author’s main point seems to be.
Short works like poems are quoted.
Use present tense for action. See the literary present tense item in the Writing about Literature section of this module.
Try to find a strong verb that goes with the main point rather than says or states.
We will use C. S. Lewis’ poem “As the Ruin Falls” as an example: In “As the Ruin Falls,” C. S. Lewis expresses how words are not enough to show genuine love.

See the poem in the previous module item.

Once you have your thesis, then you can begin to draft your paper.

Paper Content

As noted earlier in the format section, most of our papers will start with basic information at the top left of the page including your name, section professor, course and section, and date.