Finding a Good Thesis

Transcription

1 Chapter 13 Finding a Good Thesis You Always Need a Main Point, and You Usually Need a Thesis How do I find a good thesis? Let s review: A thesis is an argument that uses evidence to prove a point. A research paper is an essay that uses research to prove a point. All the writing you do in college must make a point, and most of that writing will require a formal statement of a thesis: an argument that uses evidence to prove a point, with the thesis functioning as a project s main point. Granted, some projects you write in college won t require a formal thesis statement. For example, a résumé makes its point that an employer should hire you because you re qualified without formally stating the Property of Kendall Hunt Publishing K10924_Edgerton_CH13.indd /15/11 2:03 PM

2 Finding a Good Thesis 267 So where do I start? Look for that connection with a topic emotional, intellectual, creative, or biographical. Maybe your grandparents survived the Great Depression. Or you re a history major or have read a book about Franklin D. Roosevelt. Whatever, The Great Depression and the Movies is a rich topic, ripe with subtopics, since many movies in the 1930s reacted to economic hardships, just as Hollywood turned out a number of movies through the 1940s and 1950s shaped by World War II. Women and the Movies is another rich topic, also ripe with subtopics, from women directors to a decade-by-decade examination of stereotypical sex symbols. And if you turn to Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and the Movies because you want to learn more about, say, the work of African-Americans in the film industry, it won t be difficult to narrow the topic. How do I narrow a topic? You divide it into subtopics until you reach one that fits your project. What makes a good fit? A good topic fits the number of pages you have to write. Remember these two principles: A big topic = more questions to ask about it = a long project A small topic = fewer questions to ask about it = a short project For example, the following small topic (your wish for a new roommate) raises just one main or thesis question (Why do I want a new roommate?) and one pre-question (What does obnoxious mean?): I need a new roommate because my current roommate is obnoxious. Thus you need no more than a page or two to answer both questions. But consider this big topic: Global corporations threaten the welfare of the world s poor because they put an disproportionate balance of wealth into the hands of the rich.

3 268 The Less-Is-More Handbook: A Guide to College Writing You can reduce it to one main question, the thesis question, Why do global corporations threaten the welfare of the world s poor? but the topic still triggers a number of pre-questions (What is a global corporation? What defines poor? What defines disproportionate? What defines wealth and rich?). These pre-questions will require many paragraphs to answer. In other words, even if you narrow a topic to a thesis question, you must make sure that it doesn t trigger too many pre-questions that you have to deal with before you can answer the thesis question. So in terms of a good fit, what s the difference between a big topic and a small topic? It s the number of questions you can ask about it. That number determines how well the topic fits the project. After I begin to narrow a topic, when do I stop? Narrow the topic until you end up with just one main question to ask about it. I don t understand what you mean by main question. Won t I always be able to ask questions about a topic? In its shortest form, the main question is your thesis question. After narrowing your topic to get rid of questions, it is the one remaining question the main question. Don t confuse the main question with prequestions or subtopic questions. Please! No jargon. Now I m really confused. Main question? Thesis question? Pre-question? Subtopic question? The main question is your thesis question; it s the question you answer in the thesis. A pre-question is a question triggered by words in the thesis; you must answer it before you can answer the thesis question. A subtopic question is a question you ask of subtopics of your main topic; you ask it to develop the Body.

4 Putting the Research Paper Together 279 part of the revision process. (See the discussion of the reverse outline, Chapter 8 Revision.) Using Sources: When? How Many? When should I use my sources? Use a source each time you argue a point. Remember, sources include both primary and secondary. You may, for example, make a claim about a line in a poem. At that point, you should quote from the poem (a primary source), and, if it seems apt, quote from a critical article (a secondary source) about the poem. For a five-page paper, how many sources per page? Tricky problem: On the one hand, a research paper can t be a cut-andpaste string of quotations. If each page has more quotation than you, you re in trouble. On the other hand, a research paper needs research just the lone paraphrase or quotation won t work. In general, limit your sources to one or two per paragraph. Keep summaries, paraphrases, and especially quotations short: no more than two or three sentences. If you have to go to a hefty indented quotation, then do it. But your readers won t be pleased by a paper that uses paragraph-long quotations on every page. Keep your interpretation, not the sources, in the spotlight. Using Sources: How to Introduce Them How do I introduce summaries, paraphrases and especially quotations into the paper? The rule here is Never just drop in a source; set it up with a transition. Method? Write a transition from your last sentence to the quotation.

5 280 The Less-Is-More Handbook: A Guide to College Writing Dropped-in quotation AVOID: Movies have long shocked audiences for a variety of reasons, most of which involve breaking taboos. Significantly, films that exist outside of the multiplex mainstream often traffic in representations of such taboo breaking (Cline and Weiner xvii). Revision with a transition to set up the quotation USE: Movies have long shocked audiences for a variety of reasons, most of which involve breaking societal taboos. Some movies shock by accident; others do it on purpose. Lacking Hollywood production values, low-budget movies use shock to sell tickets. As Cline and Weiner point out in From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Significantly, films that exist outside of the multiplex mainstream often traffic in representations of such taboo breaking (xvii). TRANSITION TIP Note that the previous transition has two jobs: 1. To support the research paper s claim that some movies use shock to sell tickets. 2. To set up an important implication in the quoted passage: that low-budget, non-hollywood movies break taboos to make up for mainstream production values that sell tickets in the multiplex. Dropped-in summary AVOID: Movies have long shocked audiences for a variety of reasons, most of which involve breaking societal taboos. Some movies made outside Hollywood have a role: to shock viewers by challenging social norms. Some non-hollywood movies that initially shock, like 1954's notorious Salt of the Earth (directed by Herbert Biberman), may appear tame to a later audience (Cline and Weiner xvii). Revision with a transition to set up the summary USE: Movies have long shocked audiences for a variety of reasons, most of which involve breaking societal taboos. According to Cline and

6 282 The Less-Is-More Handbook: A Guide to College Writing TRANSITION TIP Put a source attribution for a summary, paragraph, or quotation in one of three places: 1. Before: As Cline and Weiner point out in From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Significantly, films that exist outside of the multiplex mainstream often traffic in representations of such taboo breaking (xvii). 2. In the middle. Significantly, films that exist outside of the multiplex mainstream, as Cline and Weiner point out in From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, often traffic in representations of such taboo breaking (xvii). 3. At the end: Significantly, films that exist outside of the multiplex mainstream often traffic in representations of such taboo breaking, as Cline and Weiner point out in From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse (xvii). TRANSITION TIP To integrate a source with a sentence, use brackets to: 1. Change verbs for consistency. Cline and Weiner contend that the general response toward Salt of the Earth among certain powerful individuals and factions [makes] it tempting to say that it is, perhaps, the most controversial film ever made (xvii). [Makes replaces make in the original.] 2. Insert capital letters. [T]he reactions it provoked among certain powerful individuals and factions make it tempting to say that it is, perhaps, the most controversial film ever made (Cline and Weiner xvii). [The capital T replaces a lower-case t in the original.] 3. Insert explanatory words. As Cline and Weiner assert, [Salt of the Earth] provoked [a negative response] among certain powerful individuals and factions (xvii). [The inserted title replaces it in the original; the second insertion completes the meaning.] Property of Kendall Hunt Publishing K10924_Edgerton_CH14.indd /15/11 2:07 PM

7 Putting the Research Paper Together 283 When do I use those periods... ellipsis? Ellipses? Ellipsis is the singular; ellipses, the plural. Use three spaced periods to show a deletion that comes from the middle of a sentence. Use a period plus three spaced periods to show a deletion at the end of a sentence. Original If societies are defined by the limits they place on personal behavior, then acts of transgression are necessary to identify just where those limits lie. Significantly, films that exist outside of the multiplex mainstream often traffic in representations of such taboo breaking. Although the vast majority of transgressive content centers on the usual suspects of sex and violence, films can also illustrate certain restricted concepts that, retroactively, seem perfectly acceptable to the majority of people in a society. Herbert Biberman s 1954 film Salt of the Earth is an example. Despite the fact that its basic claims that people regardless of race are equal, that women have rights, and that people are entitled to decent working conditions are hardly the stuff of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the film was released, the reactions it provoked among certain powerful individuals and factions make it tempting to say that it is, perhaps, the most controversial film ever made. (Cline and Weiner xvii) Quoted passage with sentence deleted, or middle of sentence deleted, and end of sentence deleted According to Cline and Weiner, Although the vast majority of transgressive content centers on the usual suspects of sex and violence, films can also illustrate certain restricted concepts.... Despite the fact that its basic claims... are hardly the stuff of Sodom and Gomorrah... the reactions [Salt of the Earth] it provoked among certain powerful individuals and factions make it... perhaps, the most controversial film ever... (xvii).

8 284 The Less-Is-More Handbook: A Guide to College Writing ELLIPSES TIP 1. Four periods follow concepts because a sentence is completed. (With four periods, no space comes between the word preceding the deletion and the first period.) 2. Three periods follow claims, Gomorrah, and it to show deletions from the middle of the sentence. (Put a space on either side of three periods.) 3. Three periods follow ever to show a deletion from the end of the sentence. A fourth period follows the parenthetical citation. Quoted passage with middle of sentence deleted to middle of another sentence According to Cline and Weiner, societies are defined by the limits they place on personal behavior,... films that exist outside of the multiplex mainstream often traffic in representations of such taboo breaking. They go to claim that it may be the most controversial film ever made (xxvii). ELLIPSES TIP 1. Don t capitalize s in societies to show that the beginning of the sentence has been deleted. 2. Because of the lower-cased s, don t use ellipses, which would redundantly show the deletion. EXCEPTION: Use ellipses to signal a deletion when it begins with a proper noun requiring a capital: As Cline and Weiner point out,.... Salt of the Earth is an example of a film unfairly characterized as transgressive (xvii). 3. If a deletion from one sentence into another follows a punctuation mark (behavior,...) keep that mark. 4. Don t use ellipses for a quoted word or phrase ( the most controversial film ) inserted into a sentence: Cline and Weiner claim Salt of the Earth may be "the most controversial film" in the history of American cinema. Property of Kendall Hunt Publishing K10924_Edgerton_CH14.indd /15/11 2:10 PM

9 Putting the Research Paper Together 287 How else can I set up a source within the paper? Use a source signal phrase that identifies the source s expertise, title, position, etc. To establish historical context, give the date of the source. According to Jane Smith, Professor of Journalism... As Smith argues... As long-time political observer Paul Frederick discusses... Film historians Cline and Weiner (2010) make the case for... In 2003, novelist Jonathan Franzen claimed that... In their essay, Cline and Weiner (2010) propose that... In the words of Iraqi expert Myra Thompson... Thompson (1998) notes that... Thompson additionally notes that... To quote Thompson... Twain s narrator declares that... Having the Right Number of Pages How long (how many pages) do I have to write? Two questions determine the number of pages you have to write: 1 2 How many pages did the professor assign? How many questions can you ask about the topic? If the professor assigns a two-page essay, you ll probably have three or four points to make. For example, with the thesis I need a new roommate because my current roommate is obnoxious, the thesis question asks one question that produces three points. A fourth point comes with answering a pre-question before you can answer the thesis question: What does obnoxious mean? Structuring the Typical College Research Paper But you ll need a bigger canvas for a bigger thesis like While The Bronze Buckaroo of 1939 features an all-black cast and promotes positive portrayals through its lead characters, it nevertheless does not avoid racial stereotyping because of its casting, minstrel-show humor, and costume-color symbolism.

10 Putting the Research Paper Together 289 The Body then examines each topic given as because evidence in the thesis: Topic 1 Analysis of stereotyping in the casting.(5points= 5paragraphs=1½pages) Topic 2 Analysis of the movie s minstrel-show humor. (10points=10paragraphs=4pages) Topic 3 Analysis of costume-color symbolism.(1point= 1paragraph=½page) CONCLUSION 1 ¼ pages The paper concludes with a revision of the thesis and a Hook to the Bigger Picture: Despite the positive race portrayals in sepia movies (1 point), many like The Bronze Buckaroo were nevertheless directed, written, produced, and distributed by white men (1 point) and found it difficult to avoid stereotypical racism of the day (1 point). (3 points = 3paragraphs=1¼pages) WRITING TIP Yes, this approach is mechanical. Yes, not every thesis will neatly break into two to four points per page. But this approach, as mechanical as it may be, will usually produce a balanced and well-developed essay. Ignore the mechanical approach and risk a low grade. Using the Right Format What format should I follow? Most papers in the humanities follow the formatting of the Modern Language Association in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (2009). Papers in psychology, sociology, economics, nursing, social work, criminology, and business use the formatting of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010). History uses the formatting of The Chicago Manual of Style (2010) and Kate Turabian s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (2007).

11 290 The Less-Is-More Handbook: A Guide to College Writing Life sciences, physical sciences and mathematics follow formatting set out by the Council of Science Editors in Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2006). What s the difference? A lot. We ll go step by-step through MLA and APA formatting: How to format the paper: mechanics (margins, spacing, page numbering, title, etc.); tables and figures; first and title page; page order; the optional Notes section. What about formatting all the other stuff? Parenthetical citations and the bibliography? After we do MLA and APA formatting of the paper and then look at two sample papers, one in MLA and one in APA we ll go to the rest that you have to know. All that s in Chapter 15 MLA and APA Citations. How to format citations in the text: parenthetical citations and endnotes (footnotes) How to format the bibliography: Works Cited (MLA) and References (APA) Before you begin, what s the difference between notes, endnotes, and footnotes? Notes refers to either optional endnotes (placed at the end of the paper) or optional footnotes (placed at the bottom of the page or at the end of the paper). Notes are numbered citations placed in Arabic superscript after a word or phrase; they refer the reader to the page foot or end of the paper, where you elaborate on material that falls outside the text, like an explanation or comment on a source. If you list the notes at the end in either MLA or APA format, call them Notes (without the italics). How to Format the Paper Mechanics Paper Use white, 20-lb. bond Single-sided or double-sided Type on only one side unless your instructor specifies otherwise.

12 Putting the Research Paper Together 293 First and Title Page; Abstract MLA: 1 No title page required; text begins on page one. 2 No abstract required unless specified by instructor. 3 One-half inch from top right, flush right, type running head; normal capitalization plus page number (Henderson 1). 4 One inch from top left, flush left margin, type Your name Double-space to instructor s name Double-space to course name and number Double-space to date 5 Double-space and center title. Don t completely capitalize it, italicize or put quotation marks around it, or put a period after it. Depending on the genre, do italicize or put quotation marks around a title within your title: An Analysis of Fire and Ice in Jane Eyre Take the Right Train: Hemingway s Hills Like White Elephants 6 If there is a subtitle, double-space and center. 7 Double-space and indent one-half inch to begin text. APA: 1 Title page required. One-half inch from top left, flush left, type running head all in capitals One-half inch from top right, flush right, type page 1 Center title (first letter of key words capitalized) in top half of page Don t completely capitalize it, italicize or put quotation marks around it, or put a period after it. Depending on the genre, do italicize or put quotation marks around a title within your title: An Analysis of Newton s Opticks Double-space to your name and center Double-space to the name of your college or university and center

13 Putting the Research Paper Together 295 (Optional) Notes Endnotes and Footnotes In MLA, if optional endnotes are used, put a superscript number in the text at the appropriate place and put Notes on a separate page at the end of text before Works Cited. If optional footnotes are used, put them at the foot of the page below the superscript. Double-space from running head and center Notes. Double-space. First line begins with indented number for first note followed by text. Each succeeding line of a note is flush left. At least three spellings of the actor s name complicate research. 1 Notes 1. In sources, Herb Jeffries is also spelled Herbert Jeffrey and Herb Jeffreys. This paper will use Herb Jeffries since that is the name used in his movie credits. 2. Jeffries recorded with a number of big bands. See Miller 24. APA calls optional notes footnotes ; these follow References on a separate page. Double-space from running head and center Footnotes. Doublespace. First line begins with indented superscript number for first note followed by text. Each succeeding line of a note is flush left. Footnotes 1 In sources, Herb Jeffries is also spelled Herbert Jeffrey and Herb Jeffreys. This paper will use Herb Jeffries since that is the name used in his movie credits. 2 Jeffries recorded with a number of big bands. See Miller, 2010, p. 24.

14 Putting the Research Paper Together 325 LeGALIzAtIOn Of CAnnAbIs 15 Mehra, R., Moore, b. A., Crothers, K., tetrault, J., & fiellin, D. A. (2006). the association between marijuana smoking and lung cancer. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(13), Miron, J. A. (2005, June). The budgetary implications of marijuana prohibition. Retrieved from Harvard University at costs.org/mironreport.html Russo, e. (ed.). (2001). Cannabis therapeutics in HIV/AIDS. Philadelphia, PA: Haworth Press. APA uses Retrieved from plus URL if no DOI stated on Websource. Do not follow the URL or DOI with a period. tzilos, G. K., Cintron, C. b., Wood, J. b., simpson, n.s., Young, A. D., Pope, H. G., & Yurgeluntodd, D. A. (2005). Lack of hippocampal volume change in long-term heavy cannabis users. The American Journal on Addictions, 14(1), doi: / U.s. Drug enforcement Administration. (2011). Cannabis. Retrieved from dea/concern/cannabis.html Group author. van den brink, W. (2008). Decriminalization of cannabis. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 21, doi: /YCO.0b013e3282f57e04