Mary Had a Little Lamb Thesis

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Introductions and Thesis Statements A brief example, adapted from Mr. Weil’s Ph.D. dissertation: Little Girls and their Livestock: A literary analysis of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (© 2000) “Mary had a little lamb Its fleece was white as snow And everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go It followed her to school one day It was against the rules It made the children laugh and play To see a lamb at school.” (1) In the famous nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” we are introduced to a sweet young schoolgirl and her beloved pet, a little white lamb. (2) Over the course of the rhyme, we learn a great deal about the bond that exists between Mary and her four-legged friend. (3) The two are inseparable, traveling everywhere together. (4) Even if it upsets the normal social order, they are willing to face the consequences. (5) In the end, the poem makes clear that the bonds of friendship overcome all obstacles, including society’s rules, the ridicule of others, or the prejudices that separate various species. How I developed my introduction: In the introduction, you should build toward your thesis. Each sentence should move us closer to the claim you’ll support in the rest of your essay. You may start with general statements, but you should narrow it down until you reach the thesis. In the above example, it works like this: (1) I begin with a general statement about the work, introducing the two main characters. (notice that I don’t spend a lot of time on this; I just give the basics in a sentence). (2 & 3) The next two sentences establish more clearly the relationship between Mary and the lamb – it calls attention to their
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