I am comparing She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb and The Lovely Bonesby Alice Sebold and need help with my thesis statement. My theme is of Loss and...

This is a
very broad question (and essay topic), so the first place to start is by narrowing down your
ideas.  Instead of writing a thesis statement for you, I usually help
students get started on forming a thesis for any essay, by posing relevant brainstorming points
and open-ended questions.  Then, I encourage students to continue brainstorming and questioning
until a clear idea presents itself with a line of reasoning that is proven by details in the
text(s).  In the two novels presented above, the themes of loss and grief are portrayed in both,
but in very different ways.

Some ideas for your consideration include the two
narrators and their similarities and differences.  Both are young females who are raped at young
ages, however, this is probably where the similarities stop (as onetells her story from the
afterlife). The fact that each novel is told from the victim's point of view, however, is
another point of comparison that is worth noting.

Also, consider that each
novel portrays very different kinds of loss for each set of characters.  Lovely
Bones focuses on how the loss of a loved one affects surviving family members. 
Undone shows multiple losses in one individual, though death might be the
very least of these.  While Sebold's characters are all dealing with the same loss, the
Undone Dolores experiences loss of innocence, protection, self-worth, a
loved one, and ultimately, herself.

Grief, in both novels (as in real life)
is a biproduct of loss.  Both novels present the five stages of grieving, though again, they are
more obvious in than She's Come Undone.  My
suggestion here is to consider whether you really want to focus this essay on both grief
and loss, as you likely have enough information in one or the other
to write a complete essay.

Given the points above, some questions to consider
(that will help lead you to a thesis statement) include:

1. How does
   each novel's character(s) deal with the idea of grief and/or loss similarly and
   differently?
2. How does each narrator present the
   idea(s) of grief and/or loss?  Through what tone? 


3. What lesson or message is
   the narrator trying to send about the theme(s) of grief and/or loss?