Thesis and Intro. ENGL 146 Dr A. Mitchell

Transcription

1 Thesis and Intro ENGL 146 Dr A. Mitchell

2 Developing a Thesis What is a thesis? It is the main idea, or point that the rest of the paper explores and supports (AWE, p. 82); it tells the reader what the essay will be about, and what case you, the author, will be making (MYC, p.42) Not a description but a debatable proposition Do not state the obvious. You should think of this as posing a question you want to answer about puzzling details, historical references, contradictions, ambiguous usage, etc.

3 Conceive the essay as a debate or high-pitched dialogue. Have an interested and informed reader in mind as your audience of the essay. Note the difference between the essay topic (e.g., Examine the role of revenge in Hamlet ) and a focused argument (e.g., Hamlet s inconsistent acts of revenge undermine audience sympathy for him ). Constructing an argument demands that you transform and focusing your critical interests into a hypothesis (debatable issue)

4 Developing a Thesis Take control of the topic. Make the essay your own: define the terms of the question that you will address; challenge the terms of the essay question if need be. Formulate a thesis statement for the introductory paragraph, defining the position you are taking It may take several attempts to definite your position, and you will need to refine the poison as you draft the essay (check that your thesis matches the interpretations in subsequent paragraphs)

5 Topic: [On the handout I have given you topics and thesis statements which you must into categories as modelled in Academic Writing Essentials, p. 83] obvious: too broad: Topics and Thesis Statements 1. Topic: Making a decision in Joyce s Eveline James Joyce s Eveline suggests that important life decisions are not always rational choices. Other factors including raw emotional sensations, social norms, and habitual beliefs influence her. Decisions are what people throughout history make in the process of becoming who they want to be. Eveline has trouble making a decision. Eveline s decision to remain in Dublin, I will demonstrate, is no decision at all: she is instead subject to raw emotions, internalized social norms, and habitual beliefs which together coalesce at the end of the story to produce a sense of paralysis. vague: good: Human decision-making is never completely rational because they are subject to many factors. 2. Topic: The unreliable narrator in Le Guin s Omelas. The unreliable narrator in LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas helps maintain narrative tension in the story. The narrator is unreliable in LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas. The unreliable narrator is a feature of American fiction since 1900, as suggested by LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas. The unreliable narrator in LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas helps maintain narrative tension in a story that lacks exciting plot events, and by shifting attention to the telling of the story, compels readers to question the narrator s sanity. The unreliable narrator is effective in getting the point across. 3. Topic: The role of children in Le Guin s Omelas Suffering children are used by the author to generate an emotional charge in literature. In Le Guin s story, the cost of a happy society is a single suffering child who embodies the logic of the scapegoat. better: Innocence is held to be one of the qualities of children. An innocent child suffers in the story. In Le Guin s story, the cost of a happy society is a single suffering child who embodies the logic of the scapegoat, and consequently represents not children per se but any precious thing that is sacrificed for the greater good.

6 Topic: Making a decision in Joyce s Eveline. obvious: Eveline has trouble making a decision. too broad: Human decision-making is never completely rational because choices are subject to many factors. vague: Decisions are what people throughout history make in the process of becoming who they want to be. good: James Joyce s Eveline suggests that important life decisions are not always rational choices. Other factors including raw emotional sensations, social norms, and habitual beliefs influence her. better: Eveline s decision to remain in Dublin, I will demonstrate, is no decision at all: she is instead subject to raw emotions, internalized social norms, and habitual beliefs which together coalesce at the end of the story to produce a sense of paralysis.

7 Topic: The unreliable narrator in Le Guin s Omelas. obvious: The narrator is unreliable in LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas. too broad: The unreliable narrator is a feature of American fiction since 1900, as suggested by LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas. vague: The unreliable narrator is effective in getting the point across. good: The unreliable narrator in LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas helps maintain narrative tension in the story. better: The unreliable narrator in LeGuin s The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas helps maintain narrative tension in a story that lacks exciting plot events, and by shifting attention to the telling of the story, compels readers to question the narrator s sanity.

8 Topic: The role of children in Le Guin s Omelas obvious: An innocent child suffers in the story. too broad: Suffering children are used by the author to generate an emotional charge in literature. vague: Innocence is held to be one of the qualities of children. good: In Le Guin s story, the cost of a happy society is a single suffering child who embodies the logic of the scapegoat. better: In Le Guin s story, the cost of a happy society is a single suffering child who embodies the logic of the scapegoat, and consequently represents not children per se but any precious thing that is sacrificed for the greater good.

9 Topic: The significance of death in Atwood s Happy Endings. obvious: too broad: vague: good: better:

10 Topic: Marriage in Atwood s Happy Endings obvious: too broad: vague: good: better: