How to Nail Your Thesis

What is a Thesis?

Arguably one of the most important skills in VCE® Exam English preparation is knowing how to argue a solid thesis, instead of just writing whatever goes through your mind. Your thesis is the foundation from which your arguments and main message will be built upon. Your thesis, essentially, is the argument you present in your essay, that you will justify through textual evidence to answer the question at hand. The only real requirement of your essay introduction is to have presented a thesis, so it follows that you should have a clearly identifiable, strong thesis, which will work as the framework for your essay.

Can't I just agree or disagree with the question?

It is easy to fall into the trap of completely agreeing, or disagreeing with the question or prompt at hand. Your thesis shouldn’t be so definitive that your essay has no room to move; VCE® Exam texts have been prescribed for their complexity and for the fact that they can be approached in a multitude of ways. So, it’s safe to mostly agree, or mostly disagree with the question at hand, rather than going with a solid “yes” or “no” stance. Going too far to either side could make your argument seem reductive or puerile. In VCE® Exam English, you cannot be “right” or “wrong”, but you can be either justified or unjustified in your response, and so developing a thesis that has room to move and develop deep insight is best.

How do I develop one?

When it comes to developing your thesis, it can be hard to pinpoint a specific theme or topic that you wish to discuss when considering your text - if this is the case, then it is often best to consider a conceptual thesis. This means you create your thesis with a large scope. For instance, if your aim is to make a comment on a death described in an excerpt, then your thesis should allow you to not only do this, but also to reflect on the nature of life and death in general-not only in the context of the excerpt you are analysing. It’s about bringing the scope of the text, into the scope of the universe that surrounds it. This allows you to be more philosophical and profound with your essay, which in turn heightens the sophistication of your writing, a key aspect to scoring well.

In a text that has multiple themes, characters, ideas and motifs, a large portion of students will simply choose one of these specific aspects and create a thesis that caters to it. Although this isn’t wrong, it only allows for a one - dimensional view of the text, and does not allow for a more conceptual understanding of the larger themes of the text as it stands in literary history. Besides, conceptual theses inherently allow for a more abstract, more philosophical take on your texts, which in turn gives you more room to explore wider ranges of aspects, themes and ideas.

Your thesis should really only be one sentence.

If you explain your idea over two, or more sentences, it becomes difficult for markers to clearly identify exactly what the thesis is. Think of how you would sum up your core argument, or how you would answer the question or prompt in one sentence, and use that to develop your thesis. As well as this, your thesis should be something that you want to write about, so think about what theme or idea in your text interested you the most, and use that to catapult the creation of your thesis. Think of your thesis as the roots, and trunk of a tree, and your textual evidence in the form of sub - arguments to prove your thesis as the leaves of the tree. The thesis is the framework and foundation for your essay: once a marker has read your thesis in your introduction, they should know what your main argument is, as well as what approach you have taken in answering the question.

Essentially, your thesis should encompass the aspects of your text that you wish to discuss, and it shouldn't be too narrow in order for you to showcase your depth and breadth of understanding of the texts. The main point to consider is whether your thesis answers the question, and whether it is sophisticated in its conceptuality. By taking your time to develop a profound, conceptual thesis, you have the foundations for a solid essay, which will really pay off when it comes to VCE® Exam scores.