{"id":136,"date":"2017-04-07T00:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-07T00:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fmcc-english1\/?post_type=chapter&p=136"},"modified":"2017-07-23T22:33:14","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T22:33:14","slug":"the-three-story-thesis","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fmcc-english1\/chapter\/the-three-story-thesis\/","title":{"raw":"The Three-Story Thesis","rendered":"The Three-Story Thesis"},"content":{"raw":"

You have no doubt been drilled on the need for a thesis statement and its proper location at the end of the introduction. And you also know that all of the key points of the paper should clearly support the central driving thesis. Indeed, the whole model of the five-paragraph theme hinges on a clearly stated and consistent thesis. However, some students are surprised\u2014and dismayed\u2014when some of their early college papers are criticized for not having a good thesis. Their professor might even claim that the paper doesn\u2019t have a thesis when, in the author\u2019s view it clearly does. So, what makes a good thesis in college? <\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

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  1. A good 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 like \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 the five-paragraph form. Good enough! When they can, high school teachers nudge students to develop arguments that are less obvious and more engaging. College instructors, though, fully expect you to produce something more developed.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  2. A good 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 a paper. A thesis like \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 like \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 good thesis is well specified<\/strong>. Some student writers fear that they\u2019re giving away the game if they specify their thesis up front; 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 papers, 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 good thesis includes implications<\/strong>. Suppose your assignment is to write a paper about 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\n

    Putting your claims in their broader context makes them more interesting to your reader and more impressive to your professors who, after all, assign topics that they think have enduring significance. Finding that significance for yourself makes the most of both your paper and your learning. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    How 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 up the 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 a paper about 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