The dreaded ” So What?” Question
Many of you are noticing those famous words on your thesis sheets… “So what?”. This is the question that I must ask when evaluating whether you thesis takes a stand or sets out to prove something. Here are examples of some of the directions that I have seen today which prompted me to ask the question:
… to further the plot… Isnt’ the plot going to ‘further’ itself anyway?
… makes it an influential work… Is that arguable? Influentual to whom and why?
… is expressed… Can you prove the “to be” verb of “is”? Is that up for argument?
Direction is the toughest part of a thesis, but once you have a clear one, the analysis is easier. Do you have any other thoughts on what would make direction easier to write?
…
I think that it would be a lot easier to write the thesis if we had a better idea about what a good thesis look like. We got some extremely broad topics and were told to incorporate something else into it. We are supposed to reference to something outside of the story we are writing about. This is insanity and should be fixed immediately.
When I was taught to write a thesis, I just remember the 3 points that were supposed to be our 3 topics. I’ve never diverged much from that. Maybe adding more in my thesis could make it easer. In my case, I think as soon as a I get my head around the topic a little more, and start reading into it more, the direction will come easier. So far I’ve only read one article… so I’ve just got a lot to do.
To be able to futher the direction of the thesis a great deal of research is needed. Knowledge of the topic gives a better understanding and an easier attempt at deriving direction from the thesis. It just takes time and dedication to the process in order to find direction in the topic. Dedication in the sense of research and time in the sense of research and the tought process. Diversivication of direction of the thesis only can come form disipline and hard work.
The thesis is confusing for me, because in the past I have gotten more into the dirty part of the research paper so that I could make sure I fully understand what I am arguing/defending. It would seem to make sense that before you state in a clear and concise sentence what is being defended about your topic you would have to fully understand how and what your paper defends in the body paragraphs. Everytime I try something different it seems not to be the best thesis and when I try to change it to accomodate it seems to only make worse issues.
I think it is hard to find direction for a thesis when you don’t have sufficient research. Personally i think your thesis should be the last step in writing a paper. Gathering information on a certain topic, within certain guidelines and specifications, would let the writer be able to see what the main points and direction the paper was headed in making it easier to write a thesis. I think the main problem is the writer doesn’t fully understand her topic so it is hard for them to find direction right away to form a thesis. just an opinion……
If you have a good thesis, that makes the whole paper easier. We chose the topics from a broad list, but after research and writing a descriptive thesis, writing the rest is easier. Once you write a good thesis, you have a better idea of what you are looking for, thus giving you a better sense of exactly what it is that you should research. Granted, just getting the direction is hard and requires thought. You can’t look at the thesis as just another sentence to your paper, but as the backbone.
The worst part about the easiest way to find direction is reading, in my opinion. Thats the only way you will get anywhere with what you want to research about. It’s quite difficult to narrow down options when you have little knowledge of the options you wish to explore. With a wide range of knowledge on your topic and various subtopics you have a great deal more to choose from with a clear direction of what points to what etc. Honestly, I have found that reading is the best thing…but not just READING. Reading with ideas in mind and not straying too far off your original idea or you’ll get confused. So, yes, reading. Read…and read some more.
It would be far easier to write if the direction we were to aim for was better established. I am torn between an extensive research paper on a particular topic which draws upon the primary material, or an analysis of the elements of the primary material itself.
I think it gets easier to write a good thesis once you have done some research. It is hard to know where to go if you dont know what are the possible ways or how. After doing some work on finding infromation and reading it, the thesis writing process becomes easier. In the journey of writing a paper the thesis feels more like the first rest stop before a paper can really develop.
The thesis is the most impotant part of your paper because every description, point, or quote must relate back to the overall idea in the thesis. With that said, the majority of your research must be done before you write your thesis. With much research, its easy to find some direction. Once thats established in the thesis, the entire paper will run much smoother. So basically, even though it seems simple to only write one sentence as your thesis, much thought and research must be done before.