Article: The thesis statement is the main idea of your paper. You want to cover your basic argument to let your readers know what you plan to argue. For a literary analysis, you should connect the main idea or theme of the work to a specific way the author shows it. For example, you might write, "In 1984, Orwell's use of imagery to establish a bleak and dreary world is key to bringing home his theme that totalitarianism is something to be avoided at all costs." How you organize your essay is up to you. One typical method is to go through the book in order, providing your evidence starting at the beginning of the book and moving towards the end.  Alternatively, it may make sense to you to begin with a historical introduction to the work to provide context. Another method is to present your most important part of the argument first and work down from there. Write down a Roman numeral for each main idea you want to cover in your essay, as well as your introduction and conclusion. Next to the Roman numeral, jot down that main idea in a shortened form. For instance, you might write:  I. Introduction II. Provide background information and historical context for 1984  III. Introduce the author's main theme IV. Establish how imagery helps create the theme V. Conclusion Under each Roman numeral, use letters and then Arabic numerals to go into more detail about what you want to cover in each section. You can be very specific or just cover the basics. However, the more specific you are, the easier it will be to write your essay. Your detailed outline might look something like this:  I. Introduction  A. Introduce work, including author, title, and date B. Thesis: In 1984, Orwell's use of imagery to establish a bleak and dreary world is key to bringing home his theme that totalitarianism is something to be avoided at all costs.   II. Provide background information and historical context for 1984  A. Discuss World War II B. Bring up Orwell's experiences in Spain  1. Experiences of fascism influenced work 2. Feared totalitarianism on the right and left   C. Coined phrase "cold war"   III. Introduce the author's main theme A. Warning against totalitarianism  1. Party in complete control 2. No privacy, even for thoughts 3. Orwell thought this was the logical conclusion of a complete totalitarianism    IV. Establish how imagery helps create the theme  A. Book begins with bleak, colorless imagery, sets up tone B. Description of urban decay creates a feeling of the world falling apart B. Contrasting imagery when Winston has experiences with Julia, re-establishes purpose of main imagery   V. Conclusion

What is a summary?
Write a thesis statement. Organize your argument from start to finish. Set up your main ideas or paragraphs. Add the main points you want to cover in each paragraph.