{"id":531,"date":"2016-06-30T19:12:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T19:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level3-english\/?post_type=chapter&p=531"},"modified":"2023-09-01T18:00:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T18:00:49","slug":"text-the-three-story-thesis","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-englishcomposition1-2\/chapter\/text-the-three-story-thesis\/","title":{"raw":"Characteristics of a Strong Thesis","rendered":"Characteristics of a Strong Thesis"},"content":{"raw":"

What makes a\u00a0strong thesis in a college essay? <\/span><\/p>\r\n\"\"\r\n

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  1. A\u00a0strong thesis is non-obvious<\/strong>. High school teachers needed to make sure that you and all your classmates mastered the basic form of the academic essay. Thus, they\u00a0<\/span>were mostly concerned that you had a clear and consistent thesis, even if it was something obvious\u00a0such as\u00a0\u201csustainability is important.\u201d A thesis statement like that has a wide-enough scope to incorporate several supporting points and concurring evidence, enabling the writer to demonstrate his or her mastery of a basic essay format. \u00a0College instructors, though, fully expect you to produce something more developed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  2. A\u00a0strong thesis is arguable<\/strong>. In everyday life, \u201carguable\u201d is often used as a synonym for \u201cdoubtful.\u201d For a thesis, though, \u201carguable\u201d means that it\u2019s worth arguing: it\u2019s something with which a reasonable person might disagree. This arguability criterion dovetails with the non-obvious one: it shows that the author has deeply explored a problem and arrived at an argument that legitimately needs 3, 5, 10, or 20 pages to explain and justify. In that way, a good thesis sets an ambitious agenda for an essay. A thesis\u00a0such as\u00a0\u201csustainability is important\u201d isn\u2019t at all difficult to argue for, and the reader would have little intrinsic motivation to read the rest of the paper. However, an arguable thesis\u00a0such as\u00a0\u201csustainability policies will inevitably fail if they do not incorporate social justice,\u201d brings up some healthy skepticism. Thus, the arguable thesis makes the reader want to keep reading.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. A\u00a0strong thesis is well specified<\/strong>. Some student writers fear that they\u2019re being too obvious if they specify their thesis early in the essay; they think that a purposefully vague thesis might be more intriguing to the reader. However, consider movie trailers: they always include the most exciting and poignant moments from the film to attract an audience. In academic essays, too, a well specified thesis indicates that the author has thought rigorously about an issue and done thorough research, which makes the reader want to keep reading. Don\u2019t just say that a particular policy is effective or fair; say what makes it is so. If you want to argue that a particular claim is dubious or incomplete, say why in your thesis.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. A\u00a0strong thesis is supportable<\/strong>. The angle in your thesis should be able to be supported with examples, details, facts, observations, and other types of evidence, including research as appropriate.<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. A\u00a0strong thesis includes implications<\/strong>. Suppose your assignment is to write\u00a0an essay\u00a0about some aspect of the history of linen production and trade, a topic that may seem exceedingly arcane. And suppose you have constructed a well supported and creative argument that linen was so widely traded in the ancient Mediterranean that it actually served as a kind of currency.[footnote]For more see Fabio Lopez-Lazaro \u201cLinen.\u201d In Encyclopedia of World Trade from Ancient Times to the Present<\/a>. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2005.[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>That\u2019s a strong, insightful, arguable, well specified thesis. But which of these thesis statements do you find more engaging?<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n
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    Version A:<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Linen served as a form of currency in the ancient Mediterranean world, connecting rival empires through circuits of trade. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Version B: <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    Linen served as a form of currency in the ancient Mediterranean world, connecting rival empires through circuits of trade. The economic role of linen raises important questions about how shifting environmental conditions can influence economic relationships and, by extension, political conflicts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nStrong thesis sentences have angles that are arguable, well-specified, and supportable. Not all topics and angles lend themselves to implications. However, if you\u2019ve chosen a topic and created an angle that allows you to put your claims into a broader context, that additional context and its implications can create additional interest in an essay.\r\n

    H<\/span>ow do you produce a good, strong thesis? And how do you know when you\u2019ve gotten there? <\/span>Many instructors and writers <\/span>find useful a metaphor based on this passage by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.[footnote]Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast Table<\/em> (New York: Houghton & Mifflin, 1892)[\/footnote]:<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

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    There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors who have no aim beyond their facts are one-story men. Two-story men compare, reason, generalize using the labor of fact collectors as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict\u2014their best illumination comes from above the skylight. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

    \"LookingOne-story theses state inarguable facts. Two-story theses bring in an arguable (interpretive or analytical) point. Three-story theses nest that point within its larger, compelling implications.[footnote]The metaphor is extraordinarily useful even though the passage is annoying. Beyond the sexist language of the time, it displays\u00a0condescension toward \u201cfact-collectors\u201d which reflects a general modernist tendency to elevate the abstract and denigrate the concrete. In reality, data-collection is a creative and demanding craft, arguably more important than theorizing.[\/footnote]<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The biggest benefit of the three-story metaphor is that it describes a process for building a thesis. To build the first story, you first have to get familiar with the complex, relevant facts surrounding the problem or question. You have to be able to describe the situation thoroughly and accurately. Then, with that first story built, you can layer on the second story by formulating the insightful, arguable point that animates the analysis. That\u2019s often the most effortful part: brainstorming, elaborating and comparing alternative ideas, finalizing your point. With that specified, you can frame\u00a0the third story by articulating why the point you make matters beyond its particular topic or case. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    <\/b>For example, imagine you have been assigned an essay\u00a0about the impact of online learning in higher education. You would first construct an account of the origins and multiple forms of online learning and assess research findings about its use and effectiveness. If you\u2019ve done that well, you\u2019ll probably come up with a well considered opinion that wouldn\u2019t be obvious to readers who haven\u2019t looked at the issue in depth. Maybe you\u2019ll want to argue that online\u00a0<\/span>learning is a threat to the academic community. Or perhaps you\u2019ll want to make the case that online learning opens up pathways to college degrees that traditional campus-based learning does not. In the course of developing your central, argumentative point, you\u2019ll come to recognize its larger context; in this example, you may claim that online learning can serve to better integrate higher education with the rest of society, as online learners bring their educational and career experiences together. <\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

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    Example 1<\/h3>\r\n

    To outline this example: <\/span><\/p>\r\n\"\"\r\n