Vladimir Nabokov's "Good Readers and Good Writers" - Thesis

I had to skim through the “Good Readers and Good Writers” essay a few times after reading it to finally find the thesis.  After finding it, I realized that it was an implicit thesis, because it was not stated near the beginning like one would expect. An implicit thesis does not appear near the beginning of the essay because it does not want the argument to be known until later on, so that you read through and decipher the meaning of the essay beforehand. Nabokov’s argument was, “In reading, one should notice and fondle details.” (Nabokov 1). After reading that, I began to understand what the essay was trying to say. Throughout the essay, Nabokov pointed out how, to be a good reader, we must take time to read through the things we are reading multiple times and take time to notice the details. If we do that, then we can fully understand what the author intended for the readers to notice. That way, we will enjoy or just understand the essay more. Usually, authors of essays like this would put the thesis near the beginning. I am more used to the thesis being at the end of the first paragraph. I do like that he was different, by putting the thesis a little later on in the first page. It made the essay a lot more interesting.

Nabokov Vladimir. “Good Readers and Good Writers.” Lectures on Literature. 1948. 4