Please follow all of these links:
coming up with your own topic and devising thesis.. . useful for *everyone*
FACS 1900b Interdisciplinary
research paper/critical work
Thesis tips
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Please follow all of these links: coming up with your own topic and devising thesis.. . useful for *everyone*
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Youl need a thesis statement. Quite often, students are assumed to have a great deal of experience writing essays -- to know what a thesis statement is and the difference between a good one and a bad one. Too often, though, students don't figure out exactly what is expected of them until they're ready to graduate. In order to save you from that particular irony, here is an excerpt from a style guide I hope you find useful:
Excerpted from Joanne Buckley's Fit to Print - The Canadian Student's Guide to Essay Writing Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1995, p. 6-11.
"Writing is just having a sheet of paper, a pen, and not a shadow of an
idea of what you're going to say." Francoise Sagan
Usually when you begin to write an essay, you will have in mind a broad area of concentration or a fundamental topic that you mean to explore. To write a successful essay, you must find the focal point of your discussion -- the centre of your thought, from which the points you make may radiate outward. This focal point is the thesis statement. Topics are only the starting point for your thinking. They tell you only the general area of investigation. Whether you are given a topic by the instructor or you find your own, the topic must be narrowed down to serve as the focus of your paper. Like the bull's eye in the middle of a dartboard, the thesis statement is the centre that holds your argument together. An essay succeeds because the point to be made is directly on target, and the significance of the point is firmly established.
Discovering a Topic
If your instructor has not suggested areas for exploration, you will have
to create your own, usually subject to his or her approval. This process need
not be drudgery; it gives you the opportunity to explore your own interest in
the subject. The following are some suggestions for finding a general topic
or area of interest:
1. Skim the index and table of contents of any book mentioned in class as a
useful source.
2. Skim through class notes and text for ideas that catch your imagination.
3. Ask questions about the meaning and value of the subject.
4. Look at class assignments and essay questions and ask yourself what their
point is. Why are these questions particularly fitting to the subject area you
are dealing with?
5. Listen to yourself. What issues and matters of concern come up in your conversations
outside of class?
6. Allow yourself the chance to express your real puzzlement about something
you have read. If you don't understand something crucial in your area of study,
make finding out more about it one of the goals of your investigation.
Always write down ideas as you go along.
Shopping for a Thesis Statement
Often, you will be given a general topic and be instructed to narrow it down. Remember, though, a topic is only a general idea in need of development. Suppose you were asked in an Administrative Studies dies course to write an essay of 2500-3000 words about productivity growth in Japan. Obviously, this is a broad subject that could yield several promising thesis statements. By itself, however, it is just a phrase and makes no meaningful statement. Keep this example in mind as you read through the following tips on developing a specific thesis statement.
Consider the writing situation
When you develop a topic, keep these determining factors in mind:
1. your interests, strengths, and weaknesses
2. the reader's expectations
3. the restrictions of the assignment
Use whatever you have at your disposal
1. supplemental bibliographies, websites you may have been given
2. advice from the instructor
3. material from the course itself
4. your native wit
5. library materials -- books, journals, and audio-visual materials
Ask questions about the general topic
Your first question with regard to our sample topic might be "What about it?"
Your sources, both in class and out, may have revealed to you that feminist
performance art is more popular than painting. Your next question might be "Why?"
Suggesting a cause-and-effect development, or even "How?" suggesting an argument
based on classification (the breakdown of ideas into categories) or on process
(the orderly presentation of steps).
Consider your topic in conjunction with something else.
Try joining your topic to these conjunctions: "and," "or," "but," "so " These
linking words should give you some idea of what might be productively attached
to your topic to yield interesting results. "And," for example, might help you
think of things that can be compared (or contrasted) with your subject: Japanese
productivity and Canadian productivity, for instance. "Or" might lead you to
consider a controversy about the causes of Japanese productivity: advanced technology
or employee motivation, for example. "But" might allow you to refute the position
of a particular authority on the subject, or to prove that the rate of productivity
growth in Japan's case is more a result of the stage of its industrial development
than of superior technology or administration.
Consider key words that form part of the topic
Ask yourself about the nuances of the question or topic for discussion: is there
ambiguity or potential for development in the wording of the question? When
setting questions instructors usually have only a sketchy idea in mind; try
to see in the topic as much as or more than they have. In our sample general
topic, one word to which this tactic might apply is "productivity". To develop
your topic, you might investigate what particular areas are most productive,
to find a clue for your response you might also want to explore exactly what
is meant by "growth." Does it mean increased profits, expansion in number of
products, or development of new products?
Consult your own taste
Your taste in topics should be consulted before you settle on anything. About
the only serious mistake you can make is to choose a topic simply because it
looks easier than the others. A challenge is often the best choice since it
allows you to ponder the topic rather than assuming, probably incorrectly, that
the main point is clear or the answer obvious.
Try on the topic before you decide
Always play with the topic before you work on it. Play with ideas by scratching
them down haphazardly on a sheet of paper without regard (for now) to problems
of order or clarity. This kind of unstructured thinking will open up the possibilities
of the question or the topic for you in a way that no amount of compartmentalizing
can.
Brainstorm by writing ideas down
1. Try clustering ideas together according to their associations for you.
2: Try drawing diagrams, connecting various ideas.
3. Check the meanings of words in the topic, and perhaps even their etymologies,
for clues to the direction you should take.
A Working Thesis vs a Polished Thesis Statement
If you follow the guidelines above, you should be able to arrive at a narrow
focus for your paper. But even a thesis statement should be subject to revision.
Because writers often mistakenly assume it is normally part of the introduction
to a paper, that it should be written first. In fact, your real thesis statement
may emerge only after you have made several false starts.
Since you have to start somewhere, begin with a working thesis. It will allow you to consider material from a tentative point of view. If you find that the evidence begins to contradict it, or you no longer consider it the centre of your discussion, redefine your statement to suit the new circumstances. The thesis statement that appears in your finished introduction will be the best description of what you are trying to prove and of how you propose to do it.
For example, your thesis statement on the subject of Japanese productivity growth might look like this: The enormous increase recorded in productivity growth in Japan in the past ten years is largely the result of new theories of employee relations that have been developed in Japanese industry.
Look before you leap
Once you have formulated a contention, that is, some idea of what your approach
to the topic is going to be, you must formulate a thesis statement, along with
some sense of the essay's ultimate direction. You may want to visit the library
to take note of what relevant books and journal articles are available on your
specific subject, and of whether they support or contradict your working thesis.
To write a good thesis statement, you need to remember that a strong thesis is a contention that forms the basis of your argument. It is what you are trying to show the reader. A good thesis statement takes into account the purpose of the writing and its audience, but it does more than that. For instance, your purpose might be to define for a beginner the perfect golf swing. Although this idea shows promise, it is not a thesis statement. To transform it, you need to make a claim. Look at this statement:
A perfect golf swing demands a proper grip, delicate balance, and excellent timing.
It is a strong thesis statement because it makes a claim that the rest of the essay, presumably, will go on to support.
Suppose, now, that your topic is "learning a foreign language " Your purpose is to tell your reader what you consider the best way to learn a language. You must not, however, leave the topic too vague. Instead, you might compose a thesis statement like the following:
The best way to learn a foreign language is through active practice and immersion among native speakers.
This thesis is stronger than, say, one that argues that learning a foreign language is difficult because this one is contentious: some might, after all, disagree and claim that study and reading are more important than practice and immersion. It is your job to make your case convincingly.
What to Look for in a Thesis Statement
Personal conviction
No writing of any power is ever possible without commitment to the subject.
No motivation is ever as pressing as the need to say something on a subject
that matters urgently to you. Your first task is to find an approach to the
topic capable of moving you to care and to work and to write. If you can find
such an approach, the process of writing -- the reading, the thinking, even
the reworking of your thoughts -- will be carried along by the desire to know
and not only by the need to complete the assignment
Pertinence
An essay should not be a trivial pursuit. It should matter to you and to its
reader. As you shape your thesis statement, keep the value of your subject in
mind. When selecting a point of view, allow yourself to think about its broader
implications, even if there is no place to include all of these in the essay
itself. You don't have to tell readers how relevant your topic is, but you should
believe it, and you should be able to show that you do. Ensuring that your perspective
is new and making your point of view matter to your reader are fundamental requirements.
Proportion
The thesis statement indicates what size the essay will be in its finished form.
A well-measured thesis statement is snug, not loose, in its fit. If it does
not fit properly, the arguments that follow may sag. To ensure a good fit between
thesis statement and essay, ask questions. Ask yourself if there is room in
a 1500-word essay to discuss all the implications of unemployment in Canada.
If not, then trim the thesis statement to fit: e.g., unemployment among students
seeking part-time jobs in Canadian cities.
Precision
As in a legal contract, the essay is the delivery of promises made in its thesis
statement. And, as with all such contracts, the issues to be dealt with must
be clarified at the outset. Make sure before you develop your thesis statement
that you have made clear to your readers both what your essay will do and what
it will not do. Feel free to announce (without apologies) in or near the thesis
statement what the limits of your treatment of the subject are.
Point
Not only should your thesis statement have a point to make, it must point in
a particular direction. A useful addition to the thesis statement itself is
the "route map." The route map informs readers of the highlights of the journey
they are about to make. For instance, in a sociology essay comparing the changing
attitudes toward women in advertisements from the 1940s to the 1990s, as reflected
in two issues of the same magazine, you can briefly outline the steps in your
discussion:
Three major changes can be noted in the presentation of female figures: women, shown less often in domestic situations; women are more often featured as authority figures; and women are more often shown in active, rather than passive, roles.
Such a statement contains the direction of the entire essay in miniature and points toward toward the arguments to follow.
Now that you have a thesis statement...
Use your thesis statement as the springboard for the outline. Keep it in mind
as you develop your thought. With your thesis statement on paper, you are now
ready to set the tone for the readers you have in mind.
Exercises:
1. Develop a focus for the following topics, using some of the techniques listed above. Each is meant to be the subject of a 1500 word essay in the discipline suggested.
a. women and art
b. the 1950s and popular culture
c. the emergence of interdisciplinary art forms
d. postcolonial art practices
e. art-making as a process
etc.