Thesis Statement

06Jan 2022 by

500-750 word

For the next several weeks you will be working through the necessary steps to write your research paper. The steps in the research process are: 

Pick a text, read it, and understand it
Make an argument about it
Third, find your resources to clarify/support your argument about the text. 
Last, write your paper. 

Your argument should focus on one of the texts from your book. It can be something weve discussed or not.

You may choose to extend one of your shorter essays, or you may have begun an idea in an earlier assignment and use this assignment to clarify and make it more detailed.
You can write about a piece of literature we havent discussed.
You could write about the novel youre presenting on or a film you want to engage with.

Some ideas/examples include: 

Choose a play and analyze any element or elements of the play. For example, you might choose to analyze the use of irony and symbolism in Susan Glaspells short play Trifles.
Write about heroes or heroines in any play in your text – one we have read for class, or one we have not.
Select a character or theme from “A Doll”s House” that you are interested in investigating further. Compare and contrast the portrayal of that character or issue in Ibsens original with its contemporary (2017) significance.
Select a theme from Barn Burning that you are interested in investigating further. Ffor instance, fathers and sons, masculinity, the interplay of race and class. Or, select a favorite character from the story and analyze the ways in which Faulkners portrayal of that character (across the span of the story) helps to reveal key issues and themes.
Maybe you noticed something about The Shining. You may want to make the argument that The Shining disrupts traditional gender roles and suggests that equity is horrific.
Examples from It Follows can be: 

It Follows uses STD fears to demonstrate the consequences of dating anonymity.
The dreamlike quality of It Follows reinforces the instability of postmodern life.