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Defining and really getting at the thesis and the thesis statement
By Lawrence | March 13, 2008
Before you read this, you should have a strong blueprint in place for your papers thesis, evidence and presentation.
We know what a thesis is: the idea your paper purports to prove. The thesis statement is actually quite different; it is a literal (literally here, meaning, well, literally, based upon words) representation of the idea of your paper, born actually in your magical mind.
Like the big bang, the thesis is a momentary perception, a flash of insight in which the entire panoramic beauty of the paper, the tangled relationships between the ideas, is fully and completely apprehended in all its splendor.
When you ‘get it.’
You actually ‘get’ your paper in an instant, and no guide or piece of advice can ever substitute for that moment or do it in your place. If you choose to enlist the services of goodtermpaper, somebody else will carefully research your assignment and then ‘get’ your thesis for you. They will capture a unique idea from the universal currents. They might read up on Plato in the afternoon, jotting down idea for an outline. But it may be over dinner, or the next morning, that the flash of insight occurs. The flash is really a reward for hard work and careful consideration- some ‘portion’ of your being, your mental focus, must be invested in the problem.
The universe will only tell you a solution if you are paying attention! And in the case of Einstein, Newton, Rembrandt, and the like, the universe really does insist that you be paying a great, serious, awful big amount of attention to it. But how else to appreciate its beauty? Newton was so attuned that he ‘got’ the inverse relationship between gravitational bodies. He just ‘realized’ that every rock, gas giant and nuclear furnace in the sky is exerting an attractive force on every other.
Of course, Newton’s real work then commenced- plotting the trajectories and positions of these bodies! But it was that moment of insight that unfurled a lifetime blueprint of work and commitment for Isaac. Newton didn’t know why gravity existed, he only said, ‘I have described it. We cannot ever pretend that we actually understand why it is that two seemingly inert bodies possess this tremendous innate force. That’s just the way it is baby!’
So that is what a thesis is.
It is pretty obvious, also, what evidence is. That is the anecdotes, stories, statistics, quotes, history and interpretations that all, in some way, add to your growing and compelling case that you are right about your topic (or left, if you like). Although they come in varied forms, they maintain a thematic coherence by being related to each other. As your paper’s author, it is your job to ’set’ the thematic coherance and all relationship aspects between a group of elements. These elements may appear loose, disjointed on a mere surface examination, however- they are the elements that you chose for your paper, so they better have something to do with each other! 
You are the codemaster for your project. Think of it like a safe, as in, to keep valuables. Then, in turn, think of a safe as a filter, because that is really what it is, isn’t it? A safe ‘filters’ out access from those individuals who know the code on the lock. If they know the code, and can physically maneuver the mechanism, then they get to access. If they don’t, then they don’t. A safe is a very strong filter and attempts to break its code, like for instance with crowbars etc, will probably meet with failure if it is a good, strong American safe made out of real good metal. If it’s a good safe like that, then the molecules themselves will form a virtually impenetrable code that hammers et al will not be able to overcome. Molecules interlock, attract and repel one another in a code that is almost beyond comprehension. I think it is called organic chemistry and while my Dad and sister excelled and are excelling at that, my knowledge of the field stops at tinker toys. But that is why we have droves of experts at goodtermpaper.
Now, a nuclear explosion could easily break the code even on stainless steel, and the explosion would be granted access. Let’s just say that God holds the codes to all things, so the less safes you construct again Her/Him/It/They/Yoda, the better.
So in your paper, you are basically the god. But are a god venturing out into unfamiliar terrain, where information will attack you, appeal to you, seduce you, betray you and leave you for dead (well, maybe that’s a tad extreme, but you could get an F). That is because the information itself is sentient, alive, and strongly related to other pieces of information in its environment. Today, Hilary Rodham and Barack Obama stories contest, wrestle with, hunt and stalk one another on the seething digital saranghetti. It is every term paper god or sound byte for itself, as river access (real, substantial, truth telling, grounded and informative journalism) is at a dear, vanishing premium.
Now it is not really all that bad. Your teacher is aware of the environmental perils that await your god like expansion into knowledge, and everyone in your class is competing in the same plane.
And just to be clear, you are competing. Depending on your professor’s pedigree, length of tenure, temperament and ‘office political climate’ of his or her department, your teacher will grade the students along a predetermined scale. Now to be sure, the actual quality of the class in general will be taken into account, but past history and the above factors will have created some grading habits in your prof’s mind. They are human too, as you probably have realized by now (unless you subscribe to the killer robot theory).
So you are competing with your classmates, each of your trying to pull unique, substantial and creative interpretations of information out of pretty much the same resources, and sometimes for the exact same assignment. If you have a term paper or some freedom to choose- that is better in some ways, worse in others.
As you do this, you should strike a balance. An introduction is a good place for a story, compelling anecdote, bleak fact- depending on your assignment. An environment paper? Bleak fact is perfect. Paper on Mary Lou Retton? Definitely story. Politicans and government? Some juicy, telling anecdote (although bleak fact also comes to mind…inspiring, transcendent truth…?nah) These things all have strong emotional connotations for readers. However, you are conducting an orchestra, and you don’t want to linger on the sad, enraging or even upbeat notes forever. You want a change of pace, like a slider and a fastball (I am playing fast and loose with the blog, but you should never, ever mix this many metaphors in a term paper.)
Usually, an emotional or controversial introduction is best served by deploying your hardest, best evidence immediately following your thesis. A term paper is a fight for your teacher’s attention- they are bored, tired, and reading at least some papers from kids who don’t know a lick about how to write- so hit hard and fast with the best you’ve got.
As always, your paragraphs should follow the PIE format- present your idea, illustrate with evidence, and explain how it all relates.
After your hard evidence paragraph, the next paragraph could be more evidence to back up your thesis. It could also be exposition, where you expound upon your topic. To do this, your evidence paragraph will need a good concluding sentence as a lead in to your expoundatory topic sentence. This is extremely important and is probably the number one underrated, specific reason for why papers get marked down to Bs or Cs. No transition game. The same thing that dooms basketball and hockey teams- passes through the neutral zone. They can’t get broken up, they have to connect, just like your transition sentences- those sentences at the beginning and ends of your paragraphs.
Honestly, I can’t stress this enough. You can say almost anything- well, you have so much more leeway for creativity, speculation, if your transitions are airtight. This is a psychological and comfort issue with your professor. If your paper flows smoothly among its ideas, there is far less traction for the Red Pen of Death to grab onto. Grammar mistakes are part of this too- your paper should be free of them, and run a grammar AND spell check on a word processing program that has one (Open office doesn’t, for some damned reason). If you are free from mistakes, and you transition well, your paper will have a distinct voice that gets an uninterrupted reception in your teacher’s mind. She won’t be stopping very much to correct, to think to herself sternly what should be there, if you were a good writer. Everything good WILL be there, if you transition.
Topics: Term Papers and Essays |
August 16th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!