Thesis Worksheet

Form: CHY4U_CCA_Essay_Step4__2020-21

Due Date = Thurs. May 19, 2022

 

Samples of Worksheets

CHY4U_MsG_Thesis_Worksheet_Oct_2020

MsG_Sample_CHY4U_Step4_Thesis_Worksheet_2017-18 (Ms G’s Boko Haram sample – 2017)

Ms. G_Step4__Thesis_Conf_April_2019

Ms. G’s Yemen sample – 2019

Thesis Statements

Ms. Gluskin’s sample theses from various essays:

• YES – it will be long. One sentence with a semi-colon.
• It must have HTCs in it directly. Your choice of what to focus on – continuity & change and/or causes & consequences.
• You do not need to include all of your sub-topics.
• Format = main argument + sub-topics described (HTC patterns)

Therefore, it can be argued that despite a continuous pattern of desire for decolonization through a Kurdish homeland from the 1800s to present day, Kurdish demands have often been overpowered by the self-interest of foreign countries and the competing demands of nationalism within Turkey, Iraq and Syria; all the while, Kurdish people have experienced persecution in these countries, further galvanizing their unrequited desire for autonomy.

The Islamic fundamentalist extremism of Boko Haram is and was a symptom of Nigeria’s longstanding problems with regionalism and corruption at the expense of unity; decentralized patterns formed in colonial times under British rule repeated themselves regularly after independence and resulted in the rise of Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram in the northern areas of the country that felt huge resentment over the blatant ineffectiveness of the national government.

China’s current and and potentially destabilizing gap between rich and poor reflects both continuities and changes from its past; it is a continuity from its more recent past under the not so egalitarian Communist rule, and it is somewhat similar to the Qing dynasty, the time when those inequalities began to surface in a problematic way.

Yemen’s current horrible situation – civil war combined with a war with Saudi Arabia and its resulting humanitarian crisis – is a reflection of the combination of internal and external factors that have, over a long period of time, caused a continuing pattern of an unstable country that is caught in the crosshairs between two powerful and religiously opposed foreign powers in the region – Saudi Arabia and Iran.

 

Hints on sub-topics

You’ll need to have an idea of your sub-topics. Once you have them, highlight them in different colours (on your notes). This will help you organize yourself, sorting out what goes where.

Ms. G’s 2019 and 2020 sub-topics were chronological (plus internal/external). The sub-topics in her 2017 sample were thematic: 

Thematic structure means that your essay is not organized from farthest in the past to most recent. Your information is organized according to repeating patterns or themes. Within each theme, information may be given from multiple time periods. For example, in an essay about pandemics throughout history, a theme might be government response. That sub-topic might include examples from the Columbian exchange in the 1500s, the Spanish flu in early 20th century, and HIV in the 1980s.

In total you need 10 examples.

Next Steps After Your Thesis Worksheet

• If you are asked to revise your thesis statement, do so ASAP.
• Hopefully you have finished researching so you can start your outline.
• It will take a while to complete the outline so START!

Thanks, and good luck!