thesis statement for kindred

Themes and Analysis

By octavia e. butler.

There are several important themes imbedded in ‘Kindred’ by Octavia E. Butler, and these themes prove vital and are real life applicable for all readers as they cover aspects such as family and kinship, violent trauma, education and freedom.

About the Book

Written by Victor Onuorah

Degree in Journalism from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Generally, ‘ Kindred ’ is centered on family and interracial relationships with a backdrop of intermittent time travel here and there. The book serves as a good therapy for uniting all races – particularly black and white. Let’s take a sneak peek into some of the best ones in the book.

Kindred Themes

Family and kinship.

Family and kinship is easily the most prominent theme in ‘ Kindred ’ by Octavia E. Butler – and this also shows in the naming of the book. Strong bonds of kinship are responsible for the important events that take place, and it starts with Dana and Rufus, both of whom share the same blood. Rufus is able to send some kind of SOS to the future to Dana, creating a portal for her to come and save him and preserve her own future existence.

Violent Trauma

‘ Kindred ’ reeks of uncertainties and a violent turn of events from page to page. The slavers are ever so brutal and mean to their slaves and would often whip, abuse, forcefully instruct, and even maim their slaves. As readers would notice, Alice’s legal husband Isaac has his ear mutilated before being taken away from her.

Also, there’s a general atmosphere of chaos and tumult often involving slaves and their owners in all the neighborhoods of 1800s Maryland. Lastly, a violent struggle with Rufus on her last trip causes Dana to permanently lose her left arm.

Education and Freedom

Education is a frontal theme in ‘ Kindred ‘ and even serves as the first step for slaves to gain their freedom. Dana’s education is very vital in ensuring that she has it easy in Rufus’ timeline, often serving as his teacher. She also secretly teaches Nigel, a Black slave, in the hopes that someday he will buy his freedom with it.

Key Moments in Kindred

• At the hospital, Dana wakes to find that her left arm has been amputated, and her husband Kelvin is being questioned by the police – who are ready to put him in jail.
• She fights through the pain to recall how she got here, and it all started a year ago, in June 1976, when she and Kelvin had just moved to their new apartment. While they unpack, she blacks out, finding herself by the river in the early 1800s, where she sees a boy drowning.
• She saves him and finds he’s called Rufus Weylin, but when the boy’s father arrives, pointing a riffle at Dana, she is afraid and returns to her 1976 timeline at her apartment. Kelvin is perplexed seeing her also with mud on her feet. Dana explained where she went, but her husband had a hard time believing her.
• A few hours later, Dana feels unwell again and finds herself in a bedroom with a burning curtain and Rufus seated and staring. She douses the fire and vehemently questions the boy, wanting to know how this is happening to her.
• Rufus tells Dana they’re in the year 1815 Maryland often uses terms like ‘nigger’ or ‘Black woman’ on her. Dana recalls that her great-grandmother’s name is Hagar, the daughter of Alice Greenwood and Rufus Weylin – the boy who’s somehow summoning her to his timeline.
• She decides to locate Alice but is caught by a guard whom she knocks out to prevent being rapped, and as she’s terrified for what would happen next, she wakes up to the present day in her bedroom.
• Kelvin nurses her wounds, but after a while, she feels weak and then travels (this time with Kelvin) to a field to find two boys, Rufus with a broken leg – apparently fallen from a tree, and Nigel, a slave boy who serves as a helper to Rufus.
• Dana helps get Rufus home and is made to look after him by Tom, Rufus’ father, while Kelvin pretends as Dana’s master. Kelvin help educates Rufus, and Dana secretly does the same for Nigel but is caught by Tom – who whips her till she nearly faints and returns to her timeline (without Kelvin).
• At her apartment, Dana nurses her wounds alone and misses Kelvin. Eight days have passed, and suddenly she feels sick again and returns to the 1800s (five years later in this timeline) – where she finds Rufus nearly being killed with a beating from Isaac, Alice’s husband, for rapping Alice.
• Dana begs to save Rufus and carries him home afterward. Alice and Isaac escape but are caught days later, as Rufus bought Alice from her captors, leaving Isaac to be sold to far away Mississippi.
• Dana writes several letters trying to find Kelvin, but Rufus wouldn’t let her leave and instead persuades her to convince Alice to be his concubine. Alice plays along to avoid physical torture.
• One day, Dana escapes in search of Kelvin but is caught by Rufus and Tom, his father. She is beaten heavily and taken back. Later, Tom sends Dana’s letters, and Kelvin shows up at the Weylin house. When the couple tries to escape, Rufus intersects them with a gun and threatens to kill them both. Dana is scared, so she jumps back to the present day, taking Kelvin with her.
• Hours later, Dana is wary and goes back to find (and treat) Rufus, who is sick and unconscious. It’s been six years since Rufus and Alice have been seeing and now have a son Joe, but he has yet to give birth to Hagar; Dana can’t wait for this to happen so can finally be free from Rufus.
• Tom dies from a heart attack as Rufus recovers, but the blame goes to Dana as Rufus punishes her – making her do hard labor in the field for not being able to save his father. He later has mercy on her, making her the head of administration for the Weylin estate, and also assigns her to care for his mother, Margaret, who’s now hooked on laudanum.
• By now, Rufus has increased romantic interest in Dana and even views her as a second wife. Alice gives birth to Hagar and attempts to run away but is later caught. Rufus sells a slave to talk to Dana, but Dana is angered by this that she slits her wrist to escape to her timeline.
• In her own timeline, Dana stays with Kelvin for two weeks as they talk about Rufus. Dana resolves she might have to kill Rufus if he tries to take advantage of her.
• Suddenly, Dana gets dizzy and jumps into the past, this time finding a despondent Rufus. It turns out he is that way because Alice had killed herself after Rufus told her he had sold Joe and Hagar. Dana comforts him, asking him to accept and take responsibility for his children.
• Feeling whimsical one day, Rufus tries to make love to Dana against her consent, but Dana buries a knife in his chest. As Rufus lies dying, Dana is afraid and starts to feel dizzy, and as she jumps to the present day, she loses her left arm after it gets stuck between the walls of Rufus’ timeline.
• Dana wakes in the hospital, and following her discharge, she and Kelvin trace the Weylin family and what remained of it. They read in the papers that Rufus died in a fire accident (but Dana knows Nigel must have covered up her crime). They also find that Carrie married Nigel, and both couples adopted Joe and Hagar and relocated to Baltimore, where they were raised properly.

Style and Tone

In ‘ Kindred ’, Butler utilizes her lead character, Dana, to tell the story in the first-person perspective – thus enabling readers to have a mono-view of the whole story. Dana subjectively tells the story for everyone and decides for the reader who to perceive or feel about all the other characters. The tone is somber and melancholic, and the diction is simple and minimalistic.

Figurative Languages

Butler utilizes several figurative languages in ‘ Kindred ’, with metaphors being especially seen throughout the book. Aside from metaphorical expressions being the most obvious, there’s also a mixture of other interesting figurative languages such as irony, simile, allusions et cetera.

Analysis of Symbols in Kindred

In ‘ Kindred ’, maps represent the motif of liberty and freedom. It’s almost a given that any slave who is in possession of one has the tool to free themselves – because they will have in their hands the routes to escape from.

The whip and cane are used on the Black slaves as well as on horses and other animals, and this goes on and on throughout the book ‘ Kindred ’. As a tool used by only the white men, it symbolizes their control, power, and authority over everything – including other races.

Kelvin is the husband of the protagonist Dana, but his character also could stand as a symbol of how the ideal human and white man should be. After he follows Dana to the past, he spends a whole five years of stay educating and freeing as many slaves as he can. Kelvin represents unity, selflessness, and love.

What single theme proliferates Butler’s ‘ Kindred ’?

Violence is gleaned throughout‘ Kindred ,’ and readers get to notice lots of canning and whipping and forcing and coercion. Kingship and family are other frontal themes in the book.

What figurative expression is mostly found in ‘ Kindred ’?

Metaphorical expressions appear to be Butler’s go-to figurative language, and she uses them so well they bring the book to life.

How does Dana lose her left arm in ‘ Kindred ’?

On her last time trip, and while she tries to return home to her timeline, Dana has her left arm clasped against the walls where the dying Rufus lay.

About Victor Onuorah

Victor is as much a prolific writer as he is an avid reader. With a degree in Journalism, he goes around scouring literary storehouses and archives; picking up, dusting the dirt off, and leaving clean even the most crooked pieces of literature all with the skill of analysis.

Cite This Page

Onuorah, Victor " Kindred Themes and Analysis 📖 " Book Analysis , https://bookanalysis.com/octavia-e-butler/kindred/themes-analysis/ . Accessed 1 April 2024.

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Teachers' Guide: Kindred

• Pre-reading
• The Prologue & The River
• The Fall 1-4
• The Fall 5-8
• The Fight 1-10
• The Fight 11-16
• The Rope & The Epilogue
• Final Writing Assessment Options

Supplemental Texts, Resources & Assessments

Pre-reading:.

Octavia Butler's novel Kindred is a tremendously engaging text for students; the narrative structure and ethical dilemmas make a close reading of the novel, through multiple critical lenses, very accessible to students. In order to build on traditional Formalist and Reader Response textual analysis,¹ students can be encouraged to examine Kindred for its postmodern structural experimentation; to consider the novel's contribution to the slave narrative genre (even though the work is fiction)²; or to examine the text through the lens of Postcolonial Theory. ¹ There are several excellent text books for introducing literary theory into the high school classroom: see the supplemental texts list. ² Robert Crossley's critical essay, included in the study guide on page 265, is an excellent resource for students, which discusses the novel as part of the slave narrative genre.

Day 1: Suggested pre-reading homework journal:*

Part 1: Incorporating ideas from the section "Theme, Model, and Vision," explain the difference between theme and message. How is fiction realistic? What does it mean to use a reading "lens" or "filter" according to your homework reading? Part 2: Incorporating ideas from the section "A Dark Vision of Literature," explain what happened to our happy ending. How is the human condition represented in literature? Define Modernism and identify writers (whom you have read) that "fit" into this definition—be sure to explain your reasoning.

• What kinds of experiments have writers of fiction in the 20th century carried out? Why?
• What is the value of literary experiment?
• The answers to the above conceptual questions are not simple, but considering these larger concepts about the postmodern literary period will support class discussions throughout the reading and analysis of the novel; for example, how this late 20th century novel contributes to the slave narrative genre and engages its readers in a critical conversation about race, justice, humanity, and history.

*Sections of this essay would also be a very good pre-reading selection.

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.3 Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

Day 2: Kindred , "The Prologue" & "The River"

• What is the purpose of Butler's literary experiment?
• Why is she writing a first-person slave narrative in the late 20th century? What "lens" is she using?
• What does she want her 21st century readers to think about and consider?  If she only wanted us to think about the atrocities of slavery, then there would be no need to have her protagonist travel back and forth through time.

Prologue: The purpose of a prologue is to provide necessary backstory for the novel which cannot be told in any other way. Often, it serves to provide a general background or to set the stage for the drama to come. En Medias Res: In medias res is Latin for "into the middle of things." It usually describes a narrative that begins, not at the beginning of a story, but somewhere in the middle—usually at some crucial point in the action. Given the above literary terms and their definitions answer the following questions: What is the purpose of this prologue, be specific? What effect does the use of en medias res have on the audience, as the story begins?

• how you think the character is feeling
• the qualities or personality traits the character is displaying that make her/him deal with the given situation in a particular way
• the circumstances that are affecting her or his actions
• what seems to be motivating this character
• how the character reacts to other characters and the key conflicts in the scene

"Before me was a wide tranquil river, and near the middle of that river was a child splashing, screaming…"(13). Try to capture what you think is going on in Dana's mind based on how Butler has characterized her thus far. Subtext what she could be thinking and feeling that Butler has not given us? If you're stuck go through the list above regarding what should come through in your subtexting.

"'What the devil's going on here?' A man's voice, angry and demanding"(14). Who is this man? What is he doing here? What do you think the man is feeling? Thinking? How will he deal with the given situation? How might he react to the other characters in the scene?

"He spun around to face me. 'What the hell…how did you get over there?' he whispered" (14). What could be going on in Kevin's mind and what might he be feeling? How would he deal with the given situation?  How would the circumstances affect his actions? What might motivate his actions/decisions? How would he react to Dana in the scene?

"'Oh, no…' I shook my head slowly. 'All that couldn't have happened in just seconds.' He said nothing" (16). Now, choose to write from either Dana or Kevin's perspective in this situation. This occurrence is unbelievable what is the character, you are writing as, feeling? Thinking? What does s/he believe happened? Does s/he believe the other person's story? Why or why not? Be sure your writing is grounded in what Butler has provided us with thus far in the narrative: context, plot, characterization. Circle One : Dana or Kevin

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. MA.3.A. Demonstrate understanding of the concept of point of view by writing short narratives, poems, essays, speeches, or reflections from one's own or a particular character's point of view (e.g., the hero, anti–hero, a minor character). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Day 3: Kindred , "Fire" (computer lab time)

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.9 Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington's Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech, King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"), including how they address related themes and concepts. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of World Literature.

Day 4: Kindred , "The Fall" 1-4

• The book calls Kevin and Dana "kindred" spirits (57); how is the way they see the world similar? How does this connect to the title of the work?
• How is the following quote ironic and why is it significant to the plot's development? "' People don't learn everything about the times that came before them,' I said. 'Why should they?' "(63).
• Foreshadowing is used extensively in these sections; how will "The Fall" end? What are the clues (you may paraphrase, but include page numbers)? Continue to analyze the narrative structure; what is the effect of the structure on the characters, and thus the readers.
• How does Sarah's situation represent one of the many paradoxes that exists in slavery?(76)
• How is the following quote ironic, as well as an example of the key difference between Kevin and Dana in 1819? " I hate to think of you playing the part of a slave at all "(79).

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

Day 5: Kindred , "The Fall" 5-8

• What is the theme of "The Fall" (look back at your pre-reading journal)? Theme is what controls all the expressive choices a writer makes in a story—what to put in, what to leave out, how to decide on the angle of vision, narrative structure, tone. The theme itself responds to the writer's vision of life; this vision is based on the writer's "filter" for reality (social group, class, race, sex society, etc.). The filter acts as a schema or "lens" through which the writer sees and writes about the world.(Clayton)
• What lens is Butler asking the reader to look through in the following passage? "'You might be able to go through this whole experience as an observer,' I said. 'I can understand that because most of the time, I'm still an observer. It's protection. It's nineteen seventy-six shielding and cushioning eighteen nineteen for me. But now and then, like with the kids' game, I can't maintain the distance. I'm drawn all the way into eighteen nineteen, and I don't know what to do. I ought to be doing something though. I know that'…'Just started to teach Nigel to read and write,' I said. 'Nothing more subversive than that'"(101).
• Which events make Dana's reality more "real" for the reader?

Find a quote …It can be a statement that you have already thought a bit about or something new, but you need to choose a quote that you feel in some way speaks to this section of the book and its purpose.  Perhaps it takes up an interesting issue or dilemma that has followed a character throughout the book thus far, be sure to use supporting evidence. Answer a question …There are pressing ethical questions that are raised in Kindred ; choose one that has not yet been answered.  Fully analyze and explore a question that has been on your mind about the book.  Be sure to support your analysis and exploration with evidence from the book. Take up an issue …This book is overflowing with issues that overwhelmingly affect the reader historically, culturally, and socially.  Discuss an issue that interests you as it relates to this section of the book, again support your analysis and exploration with evidence from the book.

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.4 .Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of World Literature.

Day 6: Kindred , "The Fight" 1-10

• What are Kevin and Dana's families' reactions to their decision to get married?
• Why does Dana's Aunt accept her desire to marry Kevin?
• How has 1819 permanently left its mark on Dana?
• What realization does Dana have when she regains consciousness on her bathroom floor?
• Explain why Dana is so disoriented—"It was real"(115), "Nothing was real"(116)
• What is Dana's ethical dilemma as she is drawn back to Rufus this time?
• Who is Isaac and why is he fighting with Rufus?
• How much time has passed and where is Kevin?
• What will happen to Alice now that she and Isaac are runaways?
• What are the key differences between what Rufus wants in 1825 and what Dana and Kevin have in 1976?
• How does Rufus try to justify attempting to rape Alice?
• Rufus has leverage to control Dana now and he's not afraid to use it, what is it?
• Why is the marriage ceremony between Nigel and Carrie significant?
• Dana says that Tom Weylin "wasn’t a monster…[he was] just an ordinary man who sometimes did the monstrous things his society said were legal and proper"(134).
• Why does Dana make this distinction? What bigger statement about society is Butler making?
• What happened to Luke? What does this incident teach Dana?
• Why does Weylin essentially own Dana at this point? Explain.
• How can the conversation Dana and Rufus have about history be part of Butler's purpose? "No it isn’t," I said. "That book wasn’t even written until a century after slavery was abolished." "Then why the hell are they still complaining about it?"(140-141).
• Why is Rufus "blackmailing" Dana? Is this manipulation apparent in his personality earlier in the book?
• How do you feel about Dana's attitude toward Sarah's "acceptance" of begin a slave (145)?
• How is Rufus’ purchase of Alice another paradox of slavery?
• Dana has deluded herself into thinking she has some sort of control over Rufus, when does she realize that she has none? Explain.
• Who was the father of some of Sarah's children? How does this impact Dana's earlier judgments and attitude toward Sarah?
• What is Rufus "buying" from Nigel (155)?
• When Dana has to explain to Alice that she is now a slave there are several role reversals, what are they? Explain.

Day 7: Kindred , "The Fight" 11-16

• Read through the thought questions to get started.
• Think about similar experiences these women have had.
• Think about what freedom means to both of them, but keep in mind that their knowledge of freedom is very different.
• Think about the similarities and differences in their relationships with other characters in the novel.
• Why is Rufus' statement "But I'm not going to give up what I can have"(163), so important?  What does it show you about him in general?
• Rufus threatens Dana with an ultimatum regarding Alice, what is it?
• What is Dana's moral dilemma?
• Psychologically and philosophically why wouldn't Dana go to Rufus?
• Why won't Alice run again? What are her other options?
• What finally makes Dana decide to run?
• Dana has an important realization when she says, "I crept away from the Weylin house, moving through the darkness with even less confidence than I had felt when I fled to Alice's house months before. Years before. I hadn't known quite as well then what there was to fear…"(171).
• Who betrays Dana and why?
• After Dana is captured she is unable to go home, why?
• Again, Butler seems to reverse Dana and Alice's roles; she makes them seem so similar, how does she do this?
• Why does Dana compare her failed attempt to runaway to Harriet Tubman (177)? What does she realize?
• Even Liza seems to think Dana and Alice are interchangeable, hurt one to hurt the other, why is this important?
• Why does Tom Weylin write to Kevin?
• Explain the difference between what Dana "gives" Rufus and what Alice "gives" Rufus (180).
• How does Dana describe Rufus' view of her?
• Explain the following quote "Slavery was a long slow process of dulling"(183).
• How old is Kevin?
• How does Alice show her strength when Kevin comes? a. Why doesn't she acknowledge Dana’s "good-bye"?
• How does Rufus' reaction to Dana and Kevin leaving bring us back to another moment in the book? Why would Butler do this?
• At this point who is the bigger monster, Rufus or Tom Weylin?
• Dana and Alice have seemed to become the same woman to Rufus, how and why?

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Day 8: Kindred , "The Storm"

Activity: Enlarging the Lens Step 1: For this assignment, each student selects 3 short passages from "The Storm" and lists them by page number in their journal. After each page number ask the students to summarize what happens in the section, include key events, actions and details. Step 2: Now, choose one of the three sections and complete the following enlarging the lens journal. Explain why this is an important part of the story. Respond personally to this passage. Select several words or phrases in the passage and explain which emotions the words evoke; then continue to explain your personal reactions and/or associations to the material? Reflect more broadly, on the cultural connotations the words/phrases may carry, as well as on what this passage tells us about people or the world in general? Make broad, general connections here (hint, hint, Butler's purpose?). Create a symbol or image in pencil, pen, marker, whatever, which shows the meaning you have assigned to the page. Then explain why you chose the symbol/image you did.

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of World Literature.

Day 9: Kindred , "The Rope" and "The Epilogue"

• Who does Kevin get to bandage Dana's wounds a. Why won't suicide work to bring her home again?
• How long has it been in 1976? a. How long has it been in 1831?
• Kevin wants Dana to let Rufus die, why can't she?
• Why is the following quote important?: "You know someday, you're going to have to stop dragging that thing around with you and come back to life"(244).
• How is the following quote part of Butler's purpose?: "'I'm not a horse or a sack of wheat. If I have to seem to be property, if I have to accept limits on my freedom for Rufus's sake, then he also has to accept limits—on his behavior toward me. He has to leave me control of my own life to make living look better to me than killing and dying'… 'If your black ancestors had felt that way, you wouldn't be here'"(246).
• Why did Alice commit suicide? a. Why did Rufus "trick" Alice? Think Critically! b. What does Dana demand from him?
• Look up catharsis . When does the process of writing become cathartic for Dana? a. How could this moment also be part of Butler's purpose?
• What does Rufus want Dana to do now that Alice is gone?
• How does Alice's death make Dana's situation more dangerous? a. How does Rufus reveal the way he sees Alice and Dana?
• What is the one weapon Dana has that Alice didn't?
• What does the Epilogue leaving your thinking about?

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Day 10: Final writing assessment options for Kindred

Step 1: In the final journal have students reflect on Achebe's quote and the role of the writer in society. Step 2: Summative expository writing prompt: explain how the purpose of Butler's novel fits into Achebe description of the writer's role.

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of World Literature.

Step 1: Have students journal about an ancestor or relative they would "go back" and meet if they could. Step 2: Homework: What facts can you discover about this ancestor or relative that you could build a story around? If the person is still alive can you get in contact with her or him to learn some details? If the person is deceased do you have other relatives you can talk to in order to get the information you need? Ask questions that are curious. Sometimes people don't believe that they have lived through or seen anything "important." This is part of your challenge. Step 3: The next task is to tell a family story from that person's first-person narrative voice. This assignment may seem difficult at first because of the person's historical or physical distance from the writer; however, fiction is often based on fact. This could be a story that was told to you long ago or one that is told to you solely for this project. The topic of this story ought to have something to do with your family history. Here, strive to capture the storyteller's voice . Often this is what is lost over time, and this is one of the most important aspects of the story. Think about why first person family narratives are both engaging and important? Butler is allowing her fictional character to tell a first-person slave narrative, which is a first-person family narrative.

• Create a voice that is seemingly from the time period (yes, you must go back in time) and the narrator's actions/statements/ thoughts must be reasonable and convincing (this voice should not sound like YOU) .
• Fully describe the story's setting/time period , and the story should be organized (conflict, complication, climax, resolution) and well-told (that means clearly understood by your audience).
• Fully develop the narrator and character(s) ; the actions/ thoughts/statements of the narrator and character(s) must be reasonably accounted for; create a good sense of who the narrator and character(s) are.
• The story should make sense and there should be little confusion as to why you are choosing this part of your family history to tell .

CCSS.ELA-W.9-10.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. MA.3.A. Demonstrate understanding of the concept of point of view by writing short narratives, poems, essays, speeches, or reflections from one's own or a particular character's point of view (e.g., the hero, anti-hero, a minor character).

Appleman, Deborah. Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents . 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 2009. Print. Butler, Octavia E. Kindred . Boston: Beacon, 2004. Print. Gillespie, Tim. Doing Literary Criticism: Helping Students Engage with Challenging Texts . Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2010. Print. Hooks, Bell. Black Looks: Race and Representation . Boston, MA: South End, 1992. Print. "Introduction: On Fiction." Introduction. The Heath Introduction to Fiction . Ed. John Jacob. Clayton. 5th ed. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1996. 27-32. Print. Schade Eckert, Lisa. How Does It Mean? Engaging Reluctant Readers Through Literary Theory . Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006. Print.

Day 3: The Fire - Discovering Artifacts Certificate of Freedom of Harriet Bolling, Petersburg, Virginia, 1851. "Free Blacks in the Antebellum Period." African American Odyssey. The Library of Congress, 21 Mar. 2008. Web. 21 July 2013. ‹ memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/aopart2.html ›.

Patrol Regulations for the Town of Tarborough "Patrol Regulations for the Town of Tarborough." Documenting the American South. University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2004. Web. 21 July 2013. ‹ http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/tarboro/tarboro.html ›.

Slave pass for Benjamin McDaniel to travel from Montpellier to New Market, Shenandoah County, Virginia, June 1, 1843. "Slave Pass for Benjamin McDaniel." NYPL Digital. New York Public Library, 25 Mar. 2011. Web. 21 July 2013. ‹ http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1 ›.

Mount Harmon Plantation originated as a land grant of 350 acres to Godfrey Harmon by Caecilium Calvert the second Lord Baltimore, in 1651. It prospered as a tobacco plantation during the 17th and 18th centuries, growing and exporting tobacco to the British Isles. "National Scenic Byways Program: Mount Harmon Plantation at World's End." #64015: Mount Harmon Plantation at World's End. National Deparment of Transportation: Federal Highway Administration, n.d. Web. 21 July 2013. ‹ http://library.byways.org/assets/64015 ›.

"Bible Pages." Barnett Family Genealogy. WordPress.com, 2008. Web. 21 July 2013. ‹ http://vycurry.wordpress.com/bible-pages/ ›.

"The State of Maryland, from the Best Authorities by Samuel Lewis. W. Barker Sculp. Engraved for Carey's American Edition of Guthrie's Geography Improved." David Rumsey Map Collections: Cartography Associates. Cartography Associates, 2010. Web. 21 July 2013. ‹ http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~129~10016:The-State-of-Maryland,-from-the-bes ›.

Family History Project I will tell you something about stories… They aren't just for entertainment, Don't be fooled. —Leslie Marmon Silko My history is bound up in their history and the generations and the generations that follow should know where they came from to know better who they are. —Jewish Immigrant, Minnie Miller This project invites you to learn the stories of your own family—immediate and extended. This is one way that our history becomes real, full of shape and voice. The idea is to more fully realize how our history is about the people who lived it versus events that get written down in history books. There is a partnership that is often overlooked.

Place your family history on poster board or paper—we will hang these in the class for all of us to read. I encourage you to go back as far as you can on all sides of your family (it makes the project more interesting for you and our class). Create an historical timeline that "holds" the 1st person family narrative. It is important that the timeline designates the important people and events in your family history. Think about important locations and "artifacts" for your family. The bible in the book Kindred is a good example of an artifact that the character Dana remembers which contains the names of her ancestors: Alice Greenwood Weylin and Rufus Weylin. Take time to ask family members questions— Why is this important to our family? When was this? What else was going on in the world, society, our family when this happened? Who else knows about these events and might have more information? Include your 1st person family history narrative written in the storyteller's voice. The event it is about must be part of your timeline. Include 2-4 photographs of (or copies of—even in black and white) the people you choose to focus on, or people who are in some way connected to what you want to share (create captions for these photos to tie them into your project).

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Answered By: Amanda Roper Last Updated: Sep 03, 2020     Views: 2331

This is a great topic and you have a lot to work with here. To begin, I'm going into our American Literature guide and typing Octavia Butler AND Kindred in the Search Brenau Discovery box. There are several results, one result on the first page, The Freedom to Remember: Narrative, Slavery, and Gender in contemporary Black Women's Fiction seems like a great fit for this topic.

For articles I go back to the American Literature LibGuide and click on the yellow articles tab at the top. I'm going to choose a database that will have appropriate resources; let's try Academic Search Complete, Once you click on Academic Search Complete, you'll be asked to login with your Brenau username and password.

I'm going to start out by doing a general search on Kindred and Octavia Butler. In the search bar I type Kindred AND Octavia Butler. This yields 37 results. On the left hand side of the screen is a bar that allows us to limit the search. I clicked on full-text and academic journal. This takes us down to 18 articles, which is a very manageable number!

When I scan the titles I notice that many of the articles discuss time-travel, race, and gender. When you say "lack of education of others," I assume that means racism and prejudice and those topics are discussed as well. Race and gender are both very big topics to address in a research paper. I'd recommend searching for a way to make that thesis statement slightly more specific. For example, if you were to write about Dana's relation to her own body that could embrace race, gender, and the prejudice of others in a more focused way. The article cited below may be useful to you and it is in the results list:

Bast, Florian. "No.": The Narrative Theorizing of Embodied Agency in Octavia Butler's "Kindred." Extrapolation. vol. 53, no. 2, Aug. 2012, pp. 151-181. EBSCO host , doi:10.3828/extr.2012.8.

This article ties together your idea that 1970's Dana has a difficult time adjusting to the 1800's Antebellum South:

Yaszek, Lisa. "A Grim Fantasy": Remaking American History in Octavia Butler's Kindred." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society , vol. 28, no. 4, Summer2003, p. 1053. EBSCO host ,  https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&authtype=ip,shib&db=a9h&AN=10447972&site=ehost-live&custid=bre1 .

Both of those articles are in the search results list using the search terms I used.

The book and two articles should get you started on uncovering some great sources for your paper. Let me know if you'd like more information!

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Related Questions

by Octavia E. Butler

Kindred themes, the deleterious effects of slavery.

Slavery is an absolutely brutalizing system that affects whites and blacks alike. White slaveowners, as well as whites who wish they were slaveowners, have complete and arbitrary power. All good sentiments, rationality, and human sympathy are easily squelched. They are able to do practically anything they want to slaves or even free blacks, as slavery is defined by race. Slaves are beaten, raped, and tortured. They are punished for all offenses great, small, or even nonexistent. Their children can be sold, their marriages are invalid, and they have no rights or recourse to action. They work backbreaking, soulless tasks for their masters and have no autonomy. The slaves in this novel are clearly human beings, capable of pain, emotion, sorrow, and regret; however, they are treated like beasts. Slavery is demeaning and demoralizing in an inestimable way.

Dana appears to be more of an introvert when we meet her in the 20th century, and even when she travels back to the 19th century she initially seems to be aloof, desirous of keeping her distance from the other slaves and considering herself more of a spectator. As time goes on, though, she is further enmeshed in the community of slaves at the Weylin plantation and comes to see that they have formed a new definition of family. Slaves have no guarantees of remaining with their spouses or children, but they can form bonds with each other that provide sustenance and solace. Dana comes to acknowledge this, and opens herself up to this family.

The suffering of slave mothers is almost unfathomable. Women do not get to engage with the societally determined definition of motherhood as the apotheosis of womanhood because they are not considered to have power over their children. Like Sarah , they can see them sold away to other plantations for something as insignificant as new furniture. Alice kills herself because Rufus "jokes" with her that he has sold her children. Slave mothers must also watch as their children not only grow aware of their status as slaves, but also endure watching them be beaten, raped, insulted, worked like animals, and maybe even killed.

Past, Present, and History

When Dana begins her journeys she privileges the present and thinks an awareness of the historical past will allow her to be a distanced spectator and successfully navigate its treacherous terrain. As time goes on, though, she realizes that is almost wholly unprepared to be in the past and that she has to adjust her mannerisms, words, behavior, expectations, and more. Past and present will be interwoven and Dana will even lose part of her body to the past; the past marks the present indelibly and should not be looked on with nostalgia or superiority.

Home and Family

Both Dana and Kevin are surprised how they come to consider the Weylin plantation home, and how their own home in 1976 Altadena feels less like home after their journeys. Critic Ashraf H.A. Rushdy writes that Butler sees home as "more than a place" and as a "liminal site.” He sees that, for Dana, home is a place between Kevin and Rufus, present and past; for Kevin, it is where he communicates with Dana; for Rufus, it is ownership of property. Home is not to be found in writing, which Dana and Kevin initially think it might be–it is found in memory, in linking past and present and considering a new understanding of family and kindred.

While race is certainly the defining boundary of ‘slave’ and ‘free’, gender also plays a role in power dynamics in both the 19th and 20th centuries. White women like Margaret are second-class citizens and have nothing to do but be wives and mothers; their husbands have a public presence and can do what they want. Black women are doubly victimized: 20th century women like Dana still suffer from the patriarchy, while 19th century women can be indiscriminately raped and deprived of their role as mother and wife. Their rights are nonexistent by dint of their skin color and gender.

Power in this novel is defined in many ways. Tom and Rufus have power because they are white men and own property, not because they are educated, kind, or honorable. Black men and women do not have any official power in the 19th century (and are often oppressed in 1976 as well). Every relation is a power struggle in this novel, with characters doing their best to come out on top. Dana and Rufus in particular vie for power, with Dana occasionally besting him in subtle ways. She can even be said to win out in the end, as she kills Rufus and retains her sense of self. Other characters exercise power in more nebulous ways, from suicide to altering food to running away to refusing to love; the novel reveals that, while there are clear power hierarchies, there are also subtle and meaningful ways to resist.

Kindred Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Kindred is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Why is Isaac fighting with Rufus?

Isaac is fighting with Rufus because Rufus was trying to seduce Alice.

How does she influence him and his attitude toward slavery?

Dana really has no influence on Rufus' attitude towards slavery. Though she meets him when he is a mere child, he still grows up to be a man who abuses and oppresses his slave, and rapes the women.

How long has it been in 1976?

The time span between the past and the present is approximately 150 years.

Study Guide for Kindred

Kindred is a novel by Octavia Butler. The Kindred study guide contains a biography of Octavia E. Butler, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Kindred
• Kindred Summary
• Character List

Essays for Kindred

Kindred is a book by Octavia Butler. Kindred literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Kindred.

• Chronotopic Shaping and Reshaping in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine and Octavia E. Butler's Kindred
• The Concept of "Home"
• Cultural Trauma Narratives' Use of Supernatural Elements
• The Many Forms of Home
• Individuals that Transcend Time: Non-linear and Fantastical Narratives of Kindred and The Rag Doll Plagues

Lesson Plan for Kindred

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Kindred
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Kindred Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Kindred

• Introduction
• Main themes

Octavia E. Butler

Everything you need for every book you read..

Family and Home

Starting with the book’s very title, family and kinship are some of the most important considerations to the characters and plot of Kindred . The family bond between Rufus and Dana is the driving force of the story, as Dana travels back in time to save Rufus each time he is trouble, because she has to keep Rufus alive so that he can bear the child that will continue Dana’s family line. Yet family is…

Interracial Relationships

Butler depicts the complicated dynamics and power struggles of many different types of interracial relationships, in the romantic relationship between Dana and Kevin , the master-slave relationship between Rufus and Alice , and the complex familial relationship between Dana and Rufus. In Dana and Kevin’s marriage, Butler shows the possibility of an interracial relationship that is built on true connection based on shared personality and experiences, as the couple each struggle to become writers, rather…

History and Trauma

Much of the novel focuses on the many ways that American slaves faced incredible emotional and physical pain throughout the history of the American slave states. Butler, led by a desire to remind Civil Rights activists not to blame slaves for accepting their abuse by offering a reminder of the extent of the trauma that slaves faced, bears visceral witness to the terrible things that slaves daily survived. Rather than using the enslaved characters as…

Freedom and Privilege

As Dana moves between time periods, she (and her husband Kevin ) also move between various states of freedom and privilege. Dana, a modern African American woman, has to deal with the total loss of her freedom in order to keep herself alive on the estate of her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin , in the oppressive Antebellum South. In contrast, Kevin must learn to resist the increased privilege he gains as a white male in…

Choice and Power

As Butler delves into the everyday lives of Antebellum slaves in a neo-slave narrative, she also points out the places where slaves take back agency and power in their lives despite the oppressive system that attempts to rob them of their choice and humanity. At points, it seems as though slaves are choosing to stay oppressed. The Weylins’ cook, Sarah , flatly refuses to think of running away to the North, a choice that Dana …

“Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler Literature Analysis Essay (Book Review)

The issue of racial inequality and prejudices has been one of the most bothering and important problems of the modern world for centuries. It has touched millions of destinies of people with different backgrounds and of various races and cultures. Over time most of the prejudices and judgments towards the people of color have been eliminated, yet this issue still remains a question of high importance today.

The novel called “Kindred” written by Octavia E. Butler in 1979 touches the problem of racial discrimination and brings out its most awful sides. The author of the novel intended to show the contrast between the past of the relationships between the races and their modern status. Octavia E. Butler’s skilful writing is focused on the horrible history of slavery on the territory of the United States, it shows the scary experiences that African-Americans bad been put through daily in the past through the eyes of an African-American woman living in the 70’s.

The contemporary readers of “Kindred” get to see much more perspective of this issue than the ones of 1979 because some significant changes happened in the world’s and the American society in aspects related to the attitude towards races and backgrounds of people since that time.

Octavia E. Butler grew up during the frustrating times of racial discrimination in a racially-mixed society in Pasadena, California. She first showed her interest towards science-fiction writing at the age of twelve years. “Kindred” is based on a fictional story, yet the novel cannot be called science-fiction as it lacks scientific explanations of the reasons of the mysterious events happening to the main characters that are necessary in science-fiction.

Octavia E. Butler employs the elements of fiction in order to create a conflict that would not be possible under normal circumstances. The main character of the novel, named Dana, is being pulled to the past and visits the beginning of 1900s. She gets to observe and participate in the life of slaves and their owners and discovers that some of the people she interacts with, both slaves and slave owners, are her ancestors. “Kindred” leaves its readers with the most striking and shocking experience of witnessing the painful and merciless realities of slavery. The author spent a lot of effort researching the history of that time in order to make her descriptions very precise and detailed so that they have the strongest effect on the reader.

The time travel leaves the main characters physically and emotionally injured. Dana states that “there isn’t any safe way to almost kill yourself” (Butler, 1). The dramatic events happening to Dana and her white husband Kevin serve artistic and educational purposes for the readers of “Kindred”. Surprisingly, the characters are not trying to change or influence the past, like the main heroes of many other time travel novels do (Walton, par. 4).

Putting her characters through sufferings and tortures Octavia E. Butler vividly demonstrates the contrast between the two epochs. While in the Antebellum South African-Americans are treated as property of white people, insulted, abused and hurt daily, in the 1970s the two races can marry each other and pursue various careers, but there are still strong prejudices against the inter-racial unions and Kevin’s family does not approve of his choice of a spouse.

The contemporary readers live in times with more tolerance, more freedom and better understanding and appreciation of racial equality, this is why they get to see that the modern society is still going through its stages of development and to notice its progress. To my mind, as the time passes the novel “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler does not lose its value and importance, but obtains new perspectives and levels.

Works Cited

Butler, Octavia E. Kindred . London: Hachette, 2014. Print.

Walton, Jo. Time Travel and Slavery: Octavia Butler’s Kindred . 2009. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2024, February 20). “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler Literature Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-e-butler-literature-analysis/

"“Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler Literature Analysis." IvyPanda , 20 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-e-butler-literature-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '“Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler Literature Analysis'. 20 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "“Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler Literature Analysis." February 20, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-e-butler-literature-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "“Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler Literature Analysis." February 20, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-e-butler-literature-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "“Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler Literature Analysis." February 20, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-e-butler-literature-analysis/.

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• Study Guide

Octavia Butler

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The Corrupting Influence of Power 

Rufus is the prime embodiment of this theme. When we first meet Rufus, he is a young boy. While his race and gender alone give him some measure of authority, his youth renders him relatively powerless, and at this stage in his life, Rufus is a humane, compassionate soul. Despite being bombarded by the message that his skin makes him superior to all African-American people, Rufus’s instinctive moral sense tells him that Alice and Nigel are worthy of his respect and friendship. Yet Rufus’s good instincts prove no match for the power he is given. When he comes into his inheritance and becomes a slave owner, Rufus begins to believe that he has a right to control the lives of others, mete out punishments, and have all of his demands satisfied. A small tyrant, he turns on his friends and elders, abusing Alice and treating Nigel as a subordinate. Like his son Rufus, Tom Weylin succumbs to the corrupting influence of his authority. We never see Weylin as a child, so we don’t know whether his instincts are as sound as his son’s. However, we do see him devolve from a routinely brutal master who uses violence to keep order into a capricious despot who whips slaves for tiny offenses such as talking back to him. With power comes the desire for more power and the conviction that one deserves all the power one accrues. Rufus and Weylin—and men like Jake Edwards and the doctor—don’t consider the possibility that they are benefiting from the wrongheaded conventions of an unjust society. Rather, they convince themselves that they are deserving of the power that falls into their laps.

The Bondage of Familial Love

In Butler’s novel, family ties keep slaves in one place, which makes familial love a tool of those who seek to oppress. The slaves know that if they displease the Weylins in any way, the Weylins might retaliate by selling them away from their families. This is what happens to Sam, who is sold away from his family for the crime of speaking to Dana. The Weylins also encourage family ties as a way to bind the slaves more closely to the plantation. They don’t trust Nigel until he marries Carrie and begins a family. By settling down, Nigel weds himself to the plantation and his life there. He loves his wife and children and wants to support them, so he is less likely to run away, rebel, or plan subversive actions. Sarah, too, is held hostage by her love for Carrie. Weylin knows he could get a good price for Carrie, but she is more valuable to him on the plantation. Not only does Carrie work hard, but she also inspires Sarah to work hard; as long as she has Carrie to protect, Sarah will stay on the plantation and follow Weylin’s orders. Alice is bound to the plantation—and to life—solely by her children. Once Rufus tells her he has sold her children, she has no family to hold her, and she promptly escapes by taking her own life. Family ties account, in part, for Dana’s loyalty to Rufus. Although Rufus mistreats her cruelly, Dana cannot help continuing to save his life. She feels a familial bond to him, and moreover, because he is her ancestor, she must save him to safeguard her own life. Family connections are one of the few sources of joy in the lives of the slaves Butler depicts. At the same time, though, family ties are what force the slaves to remain on the plantation, which is the source of their torment.

Read more about the power of familial bonds in Toni Morrison’s Beloved .

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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

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Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?)

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.

Steps in Constructing a Thesis

First, analyze your primary sources.  Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)

Once you have a working thesis, write it down.  There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.  A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

Anticipate the counterarguments.  Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

Some Caveats and Some Examples

A thesis is never a question.  Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.

A thesis is never a list.  "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational.  An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim.  "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible.  Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."

Copyright 1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University