Answer: C. the introductory paragraph
Explanation: A thesis is a theory or an idea that the author expresses as a statement and then discussed it using logical arguments. When structuring an argument the thesis is the most important element because it expresses our point of view about the subject, and also represents the statement that must be refuted or approved, so, it must be in the introductory paragraph because it is the base of the following arguments we are going to write.
"She and her friends will go shopping at the mall"
nouns and pronouns in the subjective case are italicized. A noun in the subjective case is often the subject of a verb. For example: "The tree fell on my car", "the tree" is in the nominative case because it's the subject of the verb "fell".
It is about Gordon korman using the item as the next future item in the case of the continuing investigation. The protagonist says the character of the secretary is the only territory of the England in the northwest. Therefore the protagonist is saying that Gordon is using the future time telling as the next best item. Good luck :)