Resources for Writers:The Thesis
The thesis in college-level writing
Most papers you write in college will require a thesis becausethe purpose of college level writing is not simply to report on what youhave read, but to interpret it and begin to add your own contribution tothe field of knowledge. For some students this can be a little intimidatingat first, but ultimately it is rewarding to know that you are writing papersin order to add to our overall knowledge rather than simply to reportthat you've done your homework! A thesis is not simply "an opinion,"though. It is an informed opinion.
 What isa thesis anyway? | Whatis a Thesis Enthymeme? |
| How doesa thesis differ from a topic? | Why ShouldI make one? |
| How DoI Develop a Thesis? | How do Imake one? |
| Peer Editingfor the Perfect Thesis | Now what? |
What is a thesis anyway?
Basically, a thesis is an assertion that a paper or argument is designedto prove/support. At the research stage, a thesis is the reasonableassumption (based on what is already known) that an experiment or observationwill seek to prove or disprove. To avoid confusion, composition teacherstend to call this the working thesis. The final thesis is the conclusionthat is reached at the end of the research: a reasonable interpretationof the available evidence. A thesis is not a statement of fact.A thesis is not an assertion that no reasonable person would accept basedon the evidence at hand. Nor is a thesis something that most reasonablepeople would conclude based on the evidence at hand. A thesis isan interpretation that explains the data but that could be reasonably disputedby others who have also studied the data.
The topic of your paper is the subject you are exploring. Yourtopic might be "Wicca." You might introduce your topic by saying"I am exploring Wicca in this paper." But that isn't a thesis.Nor is "This paper will explore Wicca, an increasingly popular religion."Even though some might debate Wicca's increasing popularity and othersmight argue that it isn't a religion, the previous statement isn't a thesis,it is a promise (about what the paper will do). A thesis on the topicmight be "Although some refuse to acknowledge that Wicca is a religion,it is one because it meets what we generally accept to be the major characteristicsof a religion." The thesis does not need to be written out as onesentence, but by the time readers have reached the end of the introduction,they should be able to write out the thesis in pretty much the same wayas the author did [see reviewing papers for thesis].The introduction to the paper described here should list the characteristicsthat the writer believes characterize a religion, and the paper would addresseach one to show how the writer came to the conclusion that Wicca is areligion.
How does one develop athesis?
In order to write an effective thesis, a writer must consider severalfeatures of what we call the rhetorical situation. According to JohnT. Gage, the rhetorical situation consists of the following:
1) a question at issueGage argues that (1) and (4) are determined by the audience, and (2) and(3) are determined by the writer ("A General Theory of the Enthymeme" 168-69).Notice that in the description below these features are written in thisorder rather than in the order listed above:
2) a stance
3) a strategy
4) assumptions
- (1) THE QUESTION: The question is thething that has driven the research, whether it is a point of disagreementbetween two groups (like the Wicca argument above, which began "Why mightone believe that Wicca is a religion?") or something that several peoplemight like to understand ("why is Wicca growing in popularity?").The audience determines what are appropriate questions ("Should I joina coven?" is not an appropriate question for a college-level research paper,for example), so authors must have a good sense of the expectations oftheir audience before they begin developing questions.
- Once you have a good sense ofthe material relating to your topic (perhaps as a result of writing a backgroundsynthesis or an annotatedbibliography), make a list of questions that one might ask about thatmaterial. Select one or two, and reread your research material tryingto find an answer. Don't pick questions that lead to yes/no answers("do Wiccan's worship specific gods or goddesses?") or statements of fact("what are the names of the major god and goddesses in Wicca?").Instead, select questions that will encourage interpretation ("why mightone believe that Wicca is a religion?" or "why is Wicca growing in popularity?").
- (4) ASSUMPTIONS: Just as they mustunderstand what constitutes an appropriate question according to theiraudience, authors must also understand their audiences' assumptions aboutother things related to the topic and the larger society in which theylive. Arguments draw on the shared assumptions of the author andhis or her audience for their success (in the Wicca case, for example,audience and author must assume that it is possible for there to be morethan one religion, that discussing what constitutes a religion is a worthwhileexpenditure of time, and that the nature of things can be determined bylooking at their parts). When the author and the audience share assumptions,the author can depend on a certain logical framework as he or she developsthe paper. Students who are learning to write for academic audiencesneed to spend some time learning what assumptions they can assume theirreaders share, and they need to bear this in mind as they develop a thesisand a strategy for writing the paper.
- (2) STANCE: The author determines a stanceon the topic based on the answers he or she found to the question (in theexample being given here, the stance is "Wicca is a religion"). Thisstance then becomes the thesis. As you are thinking about your materialand continuing your research always ask "what question am I trying to answerhere?" If you keep your research question in mind you will read witha view to answering it. If you develop a thesis too soon, you willread only to prove what you already believe. That isn't research(re-search); it is looking for proof.
- (3) STRATEGY: The author develops astrategy to support the thesis, in the form of the layout of the paperand the evidence that will be used in it. However, in doing so, theauthor must always keep (1) and (4) in mind, or the paper runs the riskof failing to achieve its goal of both informing and persuading.
An enthymeme is a form of syllogism known as a truncated syllogism.Syllogisms are used in logic in structures like "(a) virtues are praiseworthy;(b) kindness is a virtue; (c) therefore, kindness is
praiseworthy." As long as (a) and (b) are true, then (c) mustbe true as well. This kind of certainty might be reassuring, butit doesn't help you write a thesis-driven paper because there is nothingto dispute. A truncated syllogism is a syllogism in which one of the premises(a) or (b) is implied ("kindness is a virtue; therefore kindness is praiseworthy,"for example, assumes that virtues are praiseworthy, but doesn't say so).But enthymemes are much more than just logical structures. Indeed,rhetorician John Gage argues that we should think of syllogisms as justa kind of enthymeme, and perceive enthymemes to be at the heart of rhetoric.
The value of using enthymemes as you think about writing papers is thatthey help you to explore all the parts of the rhetorical situation beforeyou start writing. In order to make a thesis enthymeme, you mustthink about your question, your thesis, your audience, and your assumptions.Once you have considered all of these things you are well on the way towriting a good paper.
An enthymeme has four parts:
1) An implied question (this is your basic research question,but it is implied
because you don't write it out in thepaper)
2) An Assertion (i.e.: a thesis)
3) A "because" clause (like the strategy discussed before,a list of the reasons
you will cite to support your thesis)
4) An implied premise (i.e.: an assumption thatreaders will share with the writer)
You make one by writing out what your implied question, assertion, "because"clause, and implied premise are. For example,
1) An implied question: Why do some people thinkthat Wicca is a religion?
2) An Assertion: Wicca is a religion
3) A "because" clause: Wicca meets the definitionof "religion" offered by other
major religions that I have studied because itis a group of people who join together
to serve or worship a god or supernatural force,it has shared practices and
observances relating to this deity, it demandsa commitment to its deities from those
who follow it, etc.
4) An implied premise: Religion can be definedas a group of people who
join together to serve, etc., etc. (I assumethat the audience will share
my definition of religion, especially if I showthem that others share it too)
Once you have made a thesis enthymeme, you are ready to develop an outlineof some sort (formal or not) based on the items listed in your "'because'clause." [Check out "NotYour Usual Outline" for a discussion of this.]
Peer Editing for the PerfectThesis_________________________________________________________________________
I am indebted in this discussion to the argument proposed by John T.Gage in "A General Theory of the Enthymeme" (Teaching Advanced Composition,ed. Katherine H. Adams and John L. Adams, Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook,1991. 161-178).
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