The Ancient Monster, THESIS
Contributed by Janette Siu on 18 September 2008 at 23:21The bad signs start when the prof announces that he's assigning a paper today. He passes out the instructions, which cover an entire page in a font so tiny, you need a microscope to read it. But at the bottom is the worst: in large, bold, underlined, and italicized font, it says, "Make sure you have a clearly stated THESIS."
That dreadful, sinking feeling attacks. The Formal Paper strikes again. How are you going to avoid being a casualty of the battle between man and language?
A good thesis is the key to a good paper. So Step 1 in this less-than-12-step program is figuring out how to catch one of those elusive "good theses."
If you Google "define: thesis," you'll end up with a lot of fancy, confusing explanations for what a thesis is (as well as some stray definitions about a movie, a band, a font, and a group of smart Germans). In reality, though, a thesis is much simpler than the textbook writers would like you to believe. A thesis is simply a sentence with a SUBJECT and an OPINION.
Well, that's easy. My thesis will be, "Black and white cows look better than brown and white ones." Granted, this has a subject (black and white cows) and an opinion (they look better than brown and white ones). However, this thesis doesn't qualify as a good thesis because the opinion is not "defensible." I would not be able to find data to back up my statement, because the opinion I stated was my personal preference, and not based on any logical reasoning.
So, I'll change my thesis. It will now be, "Cows are very useful animals." Once again, I have a subject (cows) and an opinion (they're useful). However, this thesis still doesn't qualify as a good thesis, because this one is not "arguable." It would be difficult to find someone who would disagree with the statement that cows are useful, since the uses of cows (they produce milk and meat) are widely known and accepted.
So I need to try something else. My new thesis will be, "Cows model a lifestyle that humans should adopt." My subject is still there (cows) and my opinion (humans should copy cows' lifestyle). I can check if it's arguable: do most people believe that humans should live like cows? No, I would have to work to convince most people that this is true, so it passes the test of being arguable. Next, I can check if it's defensible: can I find information that logically supports my opinion? Yes, I could discuss aspects of a cow's lifestyle and cite scientific studies that demonstrate positive results for similar habits in humans. Therefore, my thesis is also defensible. This thesis has passed all my tests! Does that mean it's a good thesis?
The last thing to check is very subjective, but important nonetheless. Does the topic of the thesis interest me? Do I think it would intrigue someone else and make them want to read my paper? Personally, I'm fascinated by the human benefits of bovine living, and I think someone else would be curious enough about the topic to read what I have to say. So... I have a good thesis for my paper!
Notice that the winning thesis was not particularly long, nor did it contain especially long words. There's no need to make a thesis any more elaborate than it has to be; in fact, it's better if it's simple! The easier it is for the reader to figure out what you're saying, the more they'll enjoy reading your paper. (And you want the professor to enjoy reading your paper, because then he'll be more likely to give you a good grade.)
So the next time you get that assignment sheet demanding a clear thesis, be not afraid. When you come up with a thesis that passes the tests of being arguable, defensible, and interesting, you'll know you have a good one, which will guide your paper to success!