Where do you put the thesis statement for an outline on The Tell-Tale Heart?

The thesis statement of any analytically essay on any short-story (The Tell-Tale Heart included) should appear in the first paragraph. Now great flexibility is granted to writers on all the rules of writing (to encourage creativity) and the exactly placement of the thesis statement is one such. In fact, some writers have pushed the structural rules of the essay and found exotic places to put their thesis statements. Usually though the 'proper place' for it is the first paragraph.

In the first paragraph you can have three components: the introduction, the thesis realm and the thesis statement.

The introduction is mostly just fancy writing to get the essay started, it doesn't have to be about anything really. eg. 'There was a time in this fair land when the rail-road did not run. When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun. Long before the white man and long before the rail. When the green dark forest was to silent to be real.'

The Thesis Realm states the general area of interest that the essay will be concerned with. eg. 'The alien races in the Star Trek Universe are mostly humanoid in structure and chemistry with only certain facial features altered. Indeed most of them are even capable of inter-breeding.'

The Thesis Statement is an assertion that you intend to prove in the body of the essay. eg. 'In this essay therefore, using evidence gathered by John Hart and others, I shall assuredly prove, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that clams do indeed have legs.'

Usually the structure of the first paragraph is Introduction, Thesis Realm, Thesis statement, however all three of these are capable of being rearranged into any order the writer prefers.

eg. 'The protagonist of the Tell-Tale Heart suffers from Mercury poisoning, yes indeed he does! (Thesis Statement). Using documented medical information on the research into heavy metal poisonings, mercury in particular, and by comparing it to the details found in the story by Edgar Allan Poe (The Tell-Tale Heart), I mean to prove the above assertion. (Thesis Realm). So sit back and get ready for a wild ride! (Introduction)'