How to write a contention that holds
Take a position, keep it, and still acknowledge complexity.
A contention is the one sentence your entire essay has to serve. If it’s vague, every paragraph after it drifts. If it’s a plot summary in disguise, there’s nothing left to argue.
Take an actual position
Not “this text is about guilt” — that’s a topic. Say something a reasonable person could disagree with: what does the text argue about guilt?
Say it in one sentence
Name the text and, if useful, the author. One clean claim — not a list of everything the essay will cover.
Make it arguable
Test it: could someone push back? If the answer is “no, obviously,” it’s a fact, not a contention. Sharpen it until it takes a risk.
Keep every paragraph loyal to it
Each body paragraph should prove a different part of the same claim — never a new, unrelated point that quietly abandons the contention.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| This essay will explore guilt in Macbeth. | In Macbeth, guilt is less a punishment than a symptom — it exposes a conscience the protagonist has already betrayed. |
| Jane Eyre is about a woman finding independence. | Brontë insists that love and independence cannot coexist until they are equal — Jane must gain both money and family before marriage is safe. |
| The text shows that power can be good or bad. | The novel argues that power corrupts most quickly when it is exercised without witnesses. |
Quick test
Read your contention aloud without the text’s title. If it still sounds like a specific, debatable claim, not a category like “love” or “identity,” it’s doing its job.
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