Thesis statement: The Death of Ivan Ilych presents a strong example of realism. Topic: Realism in the death of Ivan IIych. Textual Evidence: Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible. Explanation: Thesis statement basically gives the scope, main idea or purpose of the essay.
I’m going to go with gradual. Gradual means not big, but not too small either. It can be fixed though.