FORMULATING A THESIS

A topic is not a thesis. I assign a topic; you develop a thesis from it. The topic is designed to be general, to allow each student to develop his or her own ideas and understanding of the text into his or her own point of view on the topic (but you must support it with evidence from the poem). One way to know if you have a strong thesis is to ask yourself, "Could anyone disagree?" If not (or if the disagreement could only be slight or weak), you probably have little or no thesis.

You will realize from this that a paper about a literary work (whether it contains research or not) is very different from a report. A report might be about the way women were treated in ancient Greece. It would contain a lot of information, but it would have no point--except, of course, to summarize other people's work on women in ancient Greece. Reports are uncreative. They do not tax your brain--only your ability to shuffle paper and present information correctly. They are a pain to do but not very useful for gauging a student's insight into a subject or work of literature.

For example:

topic: Telemachus as a hero (or simply: Telemachus)

report: (You tell me all about Telemachus. In other words, you retell the story--as if I hadn't already read it.)

possible theses:

Telemachus is a Greek hero in the making. [obvious, and therefore weak! Would/could anyone disagree?]
Homer presents Telemachus as a nearly perfect, young Greek hero, but he also shows us a very human young man. [show us both and contrast them]
The two conflicting forces in Telemachus, his new maturity warring with his immaturity, force the reader to evaluate Homer's idea of what constitues a true hero. [the paper will explain and demonstrate this]
Although Telemachus is presented as a young hero in the making, Homer makes it clear that he will never be as great a hero as his father. [because he has no Trojan war to fight? a time of peace is promised? he will always live in his father's shadow? the age of heroes is past? You decide on the evidence and present it (you may disagree with this altogether--I think I do)] etc., etc., etc.

A thesis (stated in a complete sentence, or possibly two) is what your paper is really about. In other words, there are as many theses to be constructed on the basis of any subject as there are students to construct them. Some will be stronger than others (some of my suggestions for theses probably seem contradictory). You may agree or disagree with any of them, but a thesis must contain an idea/position/attitude that is yours. That is the point.

N.B.: A thesis cannot be either a question or a fact.

Consider the following weak theses:

For the most part, bravery is one of the key roles that Beowulf and Sir Gawain play. (Is bravery a role? Who would disagree?)
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, there are many similarities between the hunting scenes and the bedroom scenes. (Who would disagree? What is the point or idea behind this paper? What takes it beyond simple description? See How to write a comparison paper.)
The characters of Beowulf and Sir Gawain are similar because both are brave heroes, but they are distinctly different because they were socialized into two different time periods and cultures. They exemplify the qualities found in their respective time periods. (I do not mind that this thesis is stated in two sentences. The first, however, is hardly debatable, and the second seems to be true almost by definition.)
Without imagery the story would be dull and boring. Imagery is what takes you to places when you read. (Way too general--and unprovable.)
Sir Gawain is a brave and honorable knight who throughout the poem is always trying to live up to his reputation as the greatest knight of the Round Table and as nephew of the great King Arthur. (Could you disagree?)
Gawain's culture believed in a guilt system where he can confess his sins and be completely absolved of them; on the other hand, in Beowulf's honor-based system, once someone loses his honor he can never regain it. (A fact, so nothing to discuss.)
It seems quite clear that the poet intended Sir Gawain to be a shining example of what a medieval knight should be. (If it is that clear, why write a paper about it? How could anyone disagree?)
(N.B.: A thesis may never begin "The purpose of this paper is . . ." or "In this paper I intend to . . .")

It is entirely cricket to decide on or to change your thesis after you have written a draft of your paper. If you have problems composing a thesis, see me. (Once again, a paper without a thesis is a report. Reports are often required in high school, but rarely in college.)

NOTE: A thesis generally (in 99% of papers) belongs at the end of your introduction, and each and every paragraph in your paper should carry out the idea in your thesis.

A word to the wise: the narrower (more specific, more focussed) your thesis is, the more likely it is that you will write a good, sound, meaningful paper. Choosing the largest possible subject = writing the most superficial essay. If your thesis does not force you to get into the poem up to your armpits, i.e., force you to quote specific passages and explain them, you are in trouble.

And another: if you find yourself retelling the story in your essay, something is wrong with your thesis--or you are not sticking to it. If you find yourself stuck in the storytelling mode, try reorganizing your paper so that you do not deal with your ideas in the order the story goes. By forcing yourself to begin with something that happens in the middle and then taking examples from the early part of the work, you will break up the "pull" the story has on you.

The writing center is open long hours to help anyone with preparing papers. They will help in initial organization and conceptualization, in organizing your ideas, in formulating an introduction or thesis, in reading drafts, in trouble-shooting already-written papers. Just walk in (Bakeless 206, run by Dr. Riley).

If you have questions about anything on this page, ASK.

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