4) FORMULATING A GUIDING THESIS: Establish a working hypothesis or thesis regarding their topic.
Having determined that there are enough sources for you to write you envisioned paper on your chosen topic, and secured my permission, you need to formulate your thesis, as you research. You want your paper to argue something. You dont want a paper on Catherine of Sienna that merely outlines the events of her life, you want a paper that argues something about her: e.g. that she pioneered an influential model of lay female sanctity that would influence women internationally for centuries, or that she contributed to the prestige of the papacy, or that she shouldnt be considered a saint because her extreme fasting should be seen as a slow-motion suicide (considered to be a sin by Catholics in her own time and, indeed, until quite recently).
Whats the difference between a topic and a thesis? The difference between a topic and a thesis is that a subject merely sets out the topic which you are proposing to focus on, while your thesis reveals your take on the subject. A subject is, essentially, neutral. You cant be for or against a subject. Your thesis, on the other hand, is your organizing theory or hypothesis, which you arrive at on the basis of your previous knowledge or preliminary research. You can be for or against a thesis. Indeed, much of the driving force for scholarly writing comes from either supplementing or challenging other scholars theses. Any given, neutral, subject can generate numerous theses, some of them contradictory.
Heres an example of how a single topic which can generate multiple theses:
Topic: The role of the Emperor Constantine in early Christianity
Thesis #1: – Constantines conversion to Christianity was pivotal because it moved a diffuse, de-centered charismatic movement to (eventually) an institutionalized and state-backed religion, in the process completing changing its ethos
Thesis #2: – The thoroughness of Constantines conversion to Christianity has been greatly exaggerated. Despite his embrace of the faith, many elements of Constantines thought and behavior remained recognizably polytheistic
Thesis #3: – Ultimately, it was Constantines embrace of Jesus as a figure whose supernatural power enabled Constantine to win battles that began to change the faith from one of martyrdom to one of persecution of other religious traditions
5) WRITE AN ORGANIZED, FORMAL ESSAY:
It is strongly recommended that, in addition to making sure that they have a strong thesis and adequate research, that students compose an outline of their paper to make sure that it is well-constructed, and to guide them through the writing process. Composing an outline also has the additional advantage of making your paper seem much more manageable, because you can see that each section you are envisioning will have to be quite concise.
As you compose your outline, think to yourself: What is my guiding idea for this paper? How do I want to organize or structure my thoughts and my research? What ideas do I want to express, and in what order? Please make sure that you state your thesis and outline your essay structure in your introduction, and write in clear, understandable prose.
Some tips to keep in mind as you write, polish, and submit your essay:
1) Please make sure you do a formal introduction and a formal conclusion.
2) Please ensure that, with each major change of topic, you start a new paragraph.
3) Make sure that you are showing, through your references, where your facts are coming from.
4) Ensure that you cite all quotes.
5) Please dont over-quote as a way to avoid writing. Remember, your writing is the cookie dough and the quotes are the chocolate chips, not the other way around.
6) Take pride in your work, carefully reading, re-reading, proofreading AND spellchecking. DO NOT turn in sloppy work, as it will distract the reader from even the most fascinating argument.
7) Please provide a cover page, a bibliography, and eight pages of double-spaced text.
8) Please number your pages.
9) It is OK to use any citation style, but please provide page numbers in your citations, whatever your style (this includes in-text citation).
10) Keep an electronic copy of your work, just in case there is a problem.
11) Spell-check AND proof-read your essay.
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