In their book Essential Essays, Brian Green and Sarah Norton discuss essay writing techniques using examples that include "The Incomplete Angler."

"The Incomplete Angler" appears in chapter 15, "Narration," where the authors state that "all good narrative papers follow a basic pattern." Norton and Green state that narrative papers should begin with an introduction that outlines the themes and characters and then continue to tell the story in chronological order. The final paragraph should then conclude the story and reiterate its overall point.

Norton and Green call the introductory paragraph in this pattern the "thesis." Their example of a thesis statement from "The Incomplete Angler" is as follows:

While visiting a kind and well-meaning friend in Sarnia, I revealed myself to be an avid, if not very good, sports fisherman. My friend confessed that he found fishing slightly less enthralling than watching algae grow in his swimming pool, but he had a pal who was a fishing fanatic. A phone call later, I was to be the special guest of "Ol' Jack" on an all-day fishing expedition to the Thames River the very next day. It has taken me four years to recover sufficiently from this adventure to tell you about it.

In the authors' view, this passage contains what is needed in a thesis statement of this kind. It clearly states the story's main characters, location, time frame, and subject: the main characters include the narrator, who is a keen but average fisherman, and Jack, who appears to be something of a professional; the location is the Thames River in Ontario, Canada; the time frame is four years prior to the narrator's present; and the subject of the story is a fishing expedition. Additionally, the narrator alludes to what the story will contain by implying it was extremely traumatizing in some way; "It has taken me four years to recover sufficiently from this adventure."

What is the thesis statement in the first paragraph of "The Incomplete Angler"?

In "The Incomplete Angler," by Herbert Tompkins, we can clearly identify a thesis statement within the opening paragraph. A thesis statement is the author's expression and summary of the key point they intend to make in their work, and in Tompkins's work here, although the thesis is not stated outright, it is certainly implied from the outset.

Tompkins describes how, as a child and at the advice of a Master Izaak Walton, he decided to take up angling. There is a strong association drawn between angling and quietness: the keen angler must be quiet if he seeks to achieve his goal. "Perseverance" is also very important. Tompkins is keen to express that, at first, although he was quiet and he did display this virtue of perseverance, he was not successful. However, after a short time, he caught his first fish, a "three ounce dace," and was so delighted by it that he has never been so pleased with any other fish he has caught since.

There are a couple of morals, then, to this story:

1. Perseverance will eventually pay dividends;

2. The first time we are rewarded for perseverance, it will feel incredible enough to warrant helping us continue in our quest (even if that first reward is rather small).

So, we could argue that the thesis statement is something like the following: perseverance is difficult at first, but it will eventually be rewarded, and even the smallest reward for true diligence and perseverance will feel like a great reward indeed.

In the book Essential Essays, in the story "The Incomplete Angler" by Brian Green, what is the thesis statement in the first paragraph?

In chapter 15 of Essential Essays, "Narration," the authors explain how to write a good narrative paper. They state that the opening paragraph of the narrative should act as a thesis, describing the overall theme and points of the story. From there the student should write the story's events in chronological order. They should conclude with a paragraph that reiterates the point of the story.

They write a narrative of the short story "The Incomplete Angler" as their first example. The introduction, or thesis as they call it, is as follows:

While visiting a kind and well-meaning friend in Sarnia, I revealed myself to be an avid, if not very good sports fisherman. My friend confessed that he found fishing slightly less enthralling than watching algae grow his swimming pool, but he had a pal who was a fishing fanatic. A phone call later, I was to be the special guest of 'Ol' Jack' on an all-day fishing expedition to the Thames River the very next day. It has take me four years to recover sufficiently from this adventure to tell you about it.

The statement fulfils all the main aims of the introductory paragraph as outlined by the authors on page 134. It introduces the scene and the major characters. In this case the characters are the narrator, Ol'Jack and the narrator's friend and the scene or scenes are Sarnia and the fishing expedition to the Thames River.