Archive for ‘Thesis’

To begin thinking in terms of your thesis, which is required for Step 5, please post a comment to this blog post that indicates the primary literary text(s) you are working on and includes a tentative/working/draft thesis for your research essay. Remember, your thesis must address how your literary text addresses some aspect of cultural identity.

Other resources for developing a thesis follow below:

• Harvard Writing Center
• UNC Writing Center
• St. Cloud State Writing Center

Consider the following guidance when working on Step 1 of the Research Essay Project:

Many different factors can work independently or in combination to construct a person’s or primary text’s understanding of cultural identity, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Religion
• Socioeconomic status or class
• Education
• Occupation
• Political ideology
• Sexual orientation
• Geographic location
• Nationality
• Language

The cultural identities noted above can be explored in a number of ways as well, including how cultural identity affects understandings of various issues, such as:

• Law and public policy
• Environmental and technological issues
• Community involvement and service
• Access to employment, education, and healthcare
• Economics and global resources
• Immigration, assimilation, and separation
• Ecumenism and sectarianism

The Research Question

In addition to the examples and guidance on the assignment sheet for Step 1, please read the section from your Sequence textbook on generating research questions (261-64). Additional guidance on research questions can be found on the following links:

• Developing a Research Question
• Narrowing a Research Question

When developing a research question, the key is specificity. Narrowing the focus is, generally, the best approach.

To practice thinking and writing about the idea of a research question, which is required for the research paper, please choose to focus on either “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie or “My Faith in Nonviolence” by Mohandas Gandhi and respond as a group to the following items about your selected text and post your response in a comment to this blog post:

1. Which text are you responding to and who is in your group?
2. An issue is more specific and more focused than a topic. Given the topic of exploring cultural identity, what specific issue(s) can you identify regarding cultural identity in this text?
3. What specific evidence (language, details, ideas) from the text creates this issue?
4. A research question, I would argue, is even more specific than an issue. Try to frame your response to item #2 above as a question that could generate further research.

Below is a photo of Sherman Alexie:

Alexie photo by Larry D. Moore – (CC) Larry D. Moore.

For Wednesday, please print a copy of Roland Barthes’s very short (3-page) essay “The Death of the Author” from the Link below and read the essay before class. I encourage you to annotate your copy of the text—underline key lines or phrases, write notes in the margin, and be able to articulate the thesis of the essay.

The Death of the Author

Also, please be prepared in class on Wednesday to discuss the topic you selected for on the viewing guide for the movie Doubt.

As a group, please write a response to the items below on “Parker’s Back” as a comment to this blog post.

1. What are some specific issues (questions) this story raises about relationships?
2. Write a possible thesis (position) claim about the story’s purpose regarding human relationship.
3. Exactly how does the story text accomplish its argument or purpose you identified in #2 above.
4. Include the names of your group members.

If not already addressed in your responses to the items above, try responding to the following questions: More »

In groups of 2-3, please discuss the following items and have one member of your group post a response to these items as a comment to this blog post:

• Articulate what you think is the thesis of Melendi’s essay, “All of Heaven for Love.”
• Offer your own tentative thesis about the short story “Die Grosse Liebe” (one that is different from Melendi’s thesis). Remember, a thesis must be debatable (a claim that people can disagree with). Try to offer a thesis about how “Die Grosse Liebe” accomplishes its rhetorical purpose.
• List the names of the people in your group, so they can receive credit for today’s in-class assignment.