sorry for not posting very much lately… I have to write a crap research paper on Macbeth… It only has to be two pages, but for the life of me I cannot think of a thesis.
See (as Em-uh-lee well knows) I have a problem with coming up with thesis statements. I just do. Every stinking time I need to come up with one it takes me forever. I don’t mind writing the paper- I hate coming up with the thesis. We did a paper on the Elizabethan Era just a month or so ago, and what couldn’t I do? Come up with a thesis statement. I look at the text and just can’t think of anything. Everyone tells me I need to find some articles first. But how can I find an article that will be useful If I don’t even know what I am writing about?? argggg!
Unless I have a clear cut pin point topic that I know I want to talk about- I am useless at it. Like when I wrote my Uglies, Pretties, Specials research report (A Pretty Distopia… I loved that title lol, I was so proud of coming up with it!) I knew I wanted to talk about how what are society is doing now could well end up like the society in those books. I was clear cut and knew exactly what I wanted to talk about. Maybe because I could relate/understand the message, or maybe because I just loved the books.
We have a ginormous research paper coming up soon as well. We have to read three books by one author and write a research paper on that. My author that I choose is Maxine Hong Kingston (I’m reading Woman Warrior, China Men, and the Fifth Book of Peace). I havn’t even read half of my first book and I already have some ideas of what I want to write about. Maybe because I find it intersting- I don’t know.
Anyway, point is I cannot think of a thesis statement for this paper. We need to use one article as evidence along with the text. The article I found was “Tragic Action and Sexual Stereotyping in Macbeth”.. So, my thesis needs to go along with that.
I was originally going to do something with Lady Macbeth, because I thought it was unfair how everyone in the class seemed to hate her and blame her for everything (maybe I simply took offense because I was reading her part in class). I thought that wasn’t right. It was not all her fault- Macbeth had plenty to do with it himself. But, my article doesn’t have much to do with that I am NOT looking for another critical essay, after it took me so long to find that one. But the essay/article I found tends to blame Lady Macbeth for what happens, though maybe in a different and more evidencial sense (evidencial? is that a real word or did I make it up?)
So, I think now I am going to go for something like “How the feminine and masculine stereotypes affect the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth“
I hope I won’t sound like I am just spewing forth the same stuff as my essay that i am using as my evidencial support. That’s what I am mostly worried about (and getting this done of time, and citing everything right, and rewording my thesis)… I don’t want to be saying the same stuff.
Did I mention this is due Wednesday?
So… Thank god it only has to be two to three pages. That’s one good thing. I want to start working on it tonight and hopefully finish most of it then clean it up tomorrow night.
So, does anyone have any English advice for how to come up with a thesis? My current method isn’t working out too well. (or any Macbeth tips lol- for those who have read it and understand what i am talking about)
And I cannot stop watching Scrubs… dang that show is addicting! And i just keep procrastinating.
Eh-muh-lee, feel free to instruct me in the ways of English if you can (you have already tried like a bazillion times before, so I don’t know if there is much hope left)
I HATE THESIS STATEMENTS!
Well, Lady MacBeth certainly holds true to the ideal that behind every powerful man is an even more powerful woman. More than anything else, its the old adage ‘whomever rocks the cradle, rules the world’. Lady MacBeth was able to persuade her rather weak husband to do as she wanted. Now, I’m not saying MacBeth isn’t faultless in this, cause he is not.
I guess its easier for me to hate Lady MacBeth cause I’ve had so many times to deal with arrogant, misandryst feminists as well as getting badly burned (twice no less) by my own stupidity in relationships (love wasn’t necessarily blind so much as deaf, mute and stupid as well). Nothing will make you dislike arrogant members of the opposite sex than to get a dose of humiliation from one or more of them.
Despite the blatherings of many, male dominated societies are a relatively new phenomenon in terms of human evolution. Agrarian-based is probably the first requirement, as hunter-gatherer societies tend to have more females who naturally filled the roles of chieftainess and priestess
(men and boys went off to hunt and often-times got mauled by a sabre-toothed tiger, pack of wolves or the not-so-cuddly bear). Its also why polygamy became the ‘norm’ as there simply were far more women (who needed a hunter to feed her and her potential offspring) than men.
Eh, I’m rambling now.
Perhaps a different tack? Try this one:
How does Lady MacBeth represent the ideal of the powerful woman in a predominantly patriarchal society?
By: Brooklyn Red Leg on March 18, 2008
at 10:06 am
Oh, dear. I feel for you, I really do. I can’t help you with the Macbeth paper, since it’s due today, but in general I might be able to help with the paper-writing.
Disclaimer: I used this method all through school (including college) and got straight As on my papers. That said, the method itself is backwards, and my English-teacher-dad was always appalled that I got good grades for doing it this way, because it sort of defeats the purpose of the “learning process.” Whatever. I just wanted the damn A, and I wanted it with the least work necessary.
Here’s what I did:
Read the book/play/whatever.
Decide what I want to say.
Write most of the paper, EXCEPT the “thesis statement.” Refine the whole thing and connect some dots where necessary.
Reread the paper and figure out what the thesis of the damn thing is.
Write the thesis statement.
Look up articles/books that support my opinion/thesis.
Skim articles/books for good quotes that relate to my topic. (If the book has an index, start there.)
Use quotes from aforementioned articles/books in my paper. Try not to take things out of context, but do it sometimes anyway. (Hey, if it’s good enough for major publications . . . )
Turn it in and wait for the A (sometimes accompanied by written comments that made me laugh – like, “Wow, you obviously put a lot of WORK into this!” If you only knew, teacher . . . if you only knew.)
By: Marste on March 19, 2008
at 11:53 am