{"id":433843,"date":"2018-04-12T04:04:38","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T04:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essaypaper.org\/writing-a-thesis-paper-on-becoming-a-deacon\/"},"modified":"2018-10-24T09:00:46","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T09:00:46","slug":"writing-a-thesis-paper-on-becoming-a-deacon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/writing-a-thesis-paper-on-becoming-a-deacon\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing a thesis paper on becoming a deacon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\t \"Order\n\t\t<\/div>\n
\"Writing<\/div>\n

Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You\u2019ll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, \u201cThis essay is going to try to convince me of something. I\u2019m not convinced yet, but I\u2019m interested to see how I might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. \u201cReasons for the fall of communism\u201d is a topic. \u201cCommunism collapsed in Eastern Europe\u201d is a fact known by educated people. \u201cThe fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe\u201d is an opinion. (Superlatives like \u201cthe best\u201d almost always lead to trouble. It\u2019s impossible to weigh every \u201cthing\u201d that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn\u2019t that be \u201cthe best thing\u201d?)<\/p>\n

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should \u201ctelegraph\u201d how you plan to argue\u2014that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.<\/p>\n

Steps in Constructing a Thesis<\/p>\n

First, analyze your primary sources. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and\/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author\u2019s argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation\u2014that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem\u2014which is not a thesis.)<\/p>\n

\"Low<\/div>\n
\"Writing<\/div>\n

Once you have a working thesis, write it down. There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you\u2019ll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.<\/p>\n

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction. A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.<\/p>\n

Anticipate the counterarguments. Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you\u2019ll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn\u2019t, then it\u2019s not an argument\u2014it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)<\/p>\n

\"Writing<\/div>\n

Michael Dukakis lost the 1988 presidential election because he failed to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention.<\/p>\n

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a \u201csoft-on-crime\u201d image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you\u2019ll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.<\/p>\n

While Dukakis\u2019 \u201csoft-on-crime\u201d image hurt his chances in the 1988 election, his failure to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention bore a greater responsibility for his defeat.<\/p>\n

Some Caveats and Some Examples<\/p>\n

A thesis is never a question. Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question (\u201cWhy did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?\u201d) is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.<\/p>\n

A thesis is never a list. \u201cFor political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe\u201d does a good job of \u201ctelegraphing\u201d the reader what to expect in the essay\u2014a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn\u2019t advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.<\/p>\n

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational. An ineffective thesis would be, \u201cCommunism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil.\u201d This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.<\/p>\n

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim. \u201cWhile cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline\u201d is an effective thesis sentence that \u201ctelegraphs,\u201d so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, \u201cPerhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim.\u201d<\/p>\n

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible. Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, \u201cCommunism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite\u2019s inability to address the economic concerns of the people\u201d is more powerful than \u201cCommunism collapsed due to societal discontent.\u201d<\/p>\n

1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University<\/p>\n