Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Mmmmmmm, thesis


This one will be short and sweet. I am thinking about adding a clause in all future syllabi that reads something like:

"Under no circumstances will a thesis statement in the form of 'X and Y are similar yet different' be considered acceptable."

12 comments:

  1. Well of course not, because a thesis has to be something you could argue with.

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  2. Every since the dawn of human society, literature has reflected many different ideas and themes, which can be seen from the comparison of two authors and the writing in their texts.

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  3. Communication has existed since the beginning of time and is all around us.

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  4. BTW, does anyone else get uncomfortable saying the word "theses" in class?

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  5. @Lex: I usually say "thesisises" just to make the students giggle.

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  6. I think that the author is right, and I will show several examples of this.

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  7. I am going to write about death in the works of Percey Byshhe Shelly.

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  8. The poet uses many examples of literary techniques to get his message across and make it flow.

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  9. Both articles tell about the way the sailors were captured and killed by the pirates.

    Sigh.

    To cover your behind, you may want to define "not acceptable." I've found that some students think, ahem, opine, that "unacceptable" merely means they cannot earn an A or B.

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  10. The purpose of this essay is to explain the three reasons why I think the death penalty/abortion/gun control should be legal/illegal.

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  11. Thesis statement? Your students can write a thesis statement?

    Even the crapfesty examples you've all provided would be an excellent place for me to start with my flakes!

    But then I'd just get evals that said I was smug and expected too much when I corrected them and tried to teach them how to improve their writing.

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  12. Oh, dear! Yes, the non-comparison... I love the ones that inadvertently turn into a review of how well the student understood the essay:

    The author did a really good job of making his piece readable and understandable for me...

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