As you may know, the Hist 2401E Research Essay is due the week of March 17th. While this may seem rather far away, it would be a good idea to start thinking about the assignment as soon as possible. To help may sure everyone thrives on this assignment, I am giving you small assignment ahead of time.
Assignment – Produce a thesis statement and a list of two secondary sources and one primary source that will be used in your research essay.
Due Date - February 27th
Additional Notes - Please bring a printed copy of your thesis and sources to our tutorial on Thursday (February 27th). I will return them to you with thoughts and suggestions the following week.
Having a well-defined and compelling thesis statement is the key to producing a well-written essay. Think of a thesis statement as a goal or a mission statement for your essay. Having a well-defined goal will not only make your writing clearer, but it will also make your research and writing go more smoothly.
What’s the difference between a good and a bad thesis statement? A good thesis statement outlines your main idea or argument in one or two sentences – it is direct, clear, and to the point.
For example, if I were writing a paper on St Augustine’s Confessions, this might be an appropriate thesis statement (the italicized section is the thesis statement):
Good: The Confessions shows St Augustine’s spiritual evolution from pagan, to Manichaean, to Catholic orthodox. His personal spiritual journey reflects the complexity of early Christianity – this paper will argue that Christianity in the time of Augustine was far from monolithic, it was a complex array of competing claims to doctrinal orthodoxy.
A poor thesis statement doesn’t make a clear point. It is vague and forces the reader to speculate about the author’s intention.
Bad: The Confessions of St Augustine is an important book for Christians. It follows the spiritual path of the Church father St Augustine from boyhood to manhood. The book discusses a number of important religious issues, and therefore is very important to the Christian Church. It also shows important aspects of Christian history.
It’s easy to forget that an idea that makes perfect sense in your own head, might not be entirely clear on paper. When crafting a clear thesis statement try to view your work from the reader’s perspective. Ask yourself, would this make sense to a stranger?
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or to see me in my office hours. I have complete faith in the brilliance of each and every one of you.
- Ryan Hunt
@Ryan__Hunt
