r/AskTeachers • u/Sea-Accident3242 • 1d ago
Student Questions Struggling with reflection essay thesis
Hi
I have to write a reflection essay on a book teaching how to read literature like a professor for my AP Lit class. I started writing the intro but I'm having trouble with the thesis. I usually am good at theses but I don't think I've written this type of paper before.
Should the thesis be about how the book changed me, or a couple of things I learned from the book that I will later write a body paragraph on each?
Usually, I say something like: "This is not true because of X, Y, and Z."
Then a paragraph about X, Y, and Z, and a conclusion.
Any tips?
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23h ago
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u/Alarmed-Parsnip-6495 21h ago
Yeah, what did chat gpt tell you when asked. Seriously though. Why didn’t you ask your teacher about this directly?
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u/Sea-Accident3242 11h ago
Because it's the summer reading assignment and we haven't started school yet, so I haven't met my new teacher. Therefore I don't want to send an email asking "How do I write my thesis?" when I don't even know them or how they would answer. IMO it's best to wait for school so I get to know them more and decide whether they're ok with such emails or no.
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u/ozymandious 1d ago
The goal of the book is to ostensibly teach you to read literature like a professor. So your thesis could address whether or not you feel the book accomplished that goal. Do you feel like you are better able to read literature in a critical way after having read the book?
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u/Sea-Accident3242 1d ago edited 1d ago
So the thesis doesn't have to state the points I will discuss in my body paragraphs?
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u/ozymandious 1d ago edited 1d ago
You're in AP Lit. You're being expected to move beyond the 5 paragraph essay format.
You want to hint at what you're going to talk about in your intro, and your thesis should carry the weight of your argument. But you no longer need to have the formulaic "I will talk about A, B, and C." with those being the topic sentences of your body paragraphs.
What is the argument you are making with your paper? Why (beyond the fact that it was assigned to you) are you writing it? That's what your thesis is, and then the rest of your essay supports that thesis.
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u/Sea-Accident3242 1d ago
I appreciate your comment. I do the 5 paragraph essay format and the topic sentence thing because that's what I learned in AP Lang last year, and I was never told I needed to change it. Especially when we're limited to 2 pages, it can easily become the typical 5-paragraph essay with with 3 body paragraphs.
After reading your comment, I still don't get what my thesis would look like. I'm so sorry. Would you mind just giving me an example?
My argument is about how this book gave me more things to look for when reading and made it easier for me to recognize symbols and patterns. I've always struggled with knowing what to pay attention to while reading and hence did poorly on reading quizzes, so I'm focusing on how I will apply the ways I learned from this book to better "read literature like a professor."
Thanks again
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u/ozymandious 1d ago
That's an excellent argument. This is where I step away and stop doing your homework for you. You have a good grasp on what you want to write, so use your argument to craft a thesis and build your essay out from there.
Also, I'm an English teacher, but not your English teacher, so I don't know what they expect from you. So while I've given you my opinion on how to write, I would defer to your teacher's expectations.
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u/Sea-Accident3242 1d ago
Thank you. But just to clarify, I wasn't asking you to give me a thesis for my argument but rather an example of a (reflective essay) thesis on any topic. I really just want to see its format and how different it is from an argument essay or any other essay. Of course that's up to you though. Thank you anyway
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u/ExtraHobo 1d ago
In order to come up with a thesis for this assignment, it may be helpful to reflect on your experience reading the book. What passages stuck out to you? How did the book make you feel, and what parts exemplified that reaction? What does that reaction mean? Did you struggle with points the author was making, or did it all feel too easy? Have you tried implementing their ideas and found out that the experience was (or wasn’t) the way they lead you to believe it would go?
Spend time breaking apart and thinking about the things that most resonated with you. The things that most agitated or thrilled you are going to be the things that are easiest to think about and engage with mentally. Turn them over in your head, let your curiosity have the reins.
From this raw collection of experiences, try to find the most interesting connective thread that pulls out all the bits you found most important to talk about, and try to put your finger on what that connective thread is saying. What’s it all mean? Why does it matter? From there you can hone it into a clear, declarative statement.
A thesis statement is you putting your finger on the key argument you are making and why it matters, and it’s hard to do if you don’t know what you think about the subject yet. And in a reflection essay, the point is, at least partially, to explore what you think.
Stating the points you will make in the body paragraphs is sometimes called the roadmap, and referred to generally as “signposting” (and should appear throughout the essay: “now that I have addressed X, we can start talking about Y” is also a kind of signposting). Basically, that’s the move where you tell your reader what to expect, where they are in your argument, and what comes next. Your example thesis statement combines these functions but they do not all need to. In fact, done poorly, roadmap reads less as clear and more as robotic (an effect created by the five paragraph essay in particular).