29. Embed Your Thesis Within Your Plan

29. Embed your thesis within your plan of attack:

Thesis: a sentence or series of sentences with a subject and an opinion. It should be stated close to the end of the introductory paragraph, and can be written in the same sentence as the plan of attack. A thesis cannot be self-evident and must express an opinion or interpretation that must be proven by textual evidence and analysis of this textual evidence in the essay.

Plan of Attack (P.O.A.) or Roadmap: a sentence that tells the reader how the essay will set out to prove or develop your thesis. It occurs in the introductory paragraph and can be written in the same sentence as the thesis.

It is usually a three-pronged attack because each topic (prong) will introduce the topic of a paragraph in a five-paragraph essay. In this type of essay there are three body paragraphs and the plan of attack introduces the topic of each paragraph.

Thesis example:

“The speaker in Robert Frost’s poem “Design” questions the intention of the creator and concludes that the world is a manifestation of the creator’s evil plan.”

-This is a viable thesis that is not self-evident and that will have to be proven through close textual analysis of the poem in the body paragraphs of the essay.

Example of a thesis with an embedded plan of attack:

“Wilderness needs to be preserved because of its recreational, spiritual, and intrinsic value.”

-the thesis is “wilderness needs to be preserved”

-the embedded (and parallel) plan of attack indicates that three body paragraphs will explore the recreational, spiritual, and intrinsic values of wilderness and how they contribute to the compelling need to preserve wilderness.

Example of a poetry analysis paper plan of attack embedded in the same sentence as the thesis:

“By exploring the violent imagery of the spider and the moth, the multiple, depressing questions evoked by these images, and the multiple, dark connotations in Robert Frost’s poem “Design”, the speaker’s disillusionment with the evil intentions of the creator will be developed.”

-Commentary: From this Plan of Attack (P.O.A)., we know the three body paragraphs will address violent imagery, depressing questions, and dark connotations, respectively.

-Notice how the P.O.A. avoids using the first person “I.”

-Also, notice that the plan of attack does not employ the ‘forced’ syntax of: “This essay will first...”

-A complex sentence with the three pronged plan of attack in the introductory phrase or clause and thesis stated in the independent clause is an excellent way to combine the thesis and plan of attack seamlessly.

THESIS WITH EMBEDDED PLAN OF ATTACK STARTERS:

-By reviewing the passages on ________________, _________________, and _______________, this paper will develop _____________________.

-By exploring the ______,___________, and ____________ in (author’s full name)’s (text name), ____________________________________.

-_______________________________________________ will be proven by exploring the passages when_________,__________, and

___________________.