Hello all as we share with you our comments about thesis writing…
Whenever you start a new module for any of the English courses, the first thing to do is have a look at the rubric. Don’t know where to find it? Navigate yourself through the NESA website here: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/stage-6-learning-areas/stage-6-english
In some of our other blogs we have deconstructed each of the modules to give them meaning and understand how to apply them during the coursework.
But back now to the Rubric and its application with writing a thesis. When writing your thesis, it’s important that you state an argument, position or response. So rather than just re-stating the question, you want to push forward an answer that is an extension of the question that you’re able to then sustain throughout your response
Sometimes coming up with that argument can difficult and is what is usually the driving factor between an average mark and a band 6 mark. So, one of the ways to help prompt your thesis is turning to the rubric to see if there is any language that can be used or adopted to guide an argument or a position that you can sustain through evidence in your essay.
Let’s take an example – this is a question from Module A of the Standard Englis Paper 2022
Explain how the language used in your prescribed text changed your perceptions about identity
And now the rubric to help us answer not only the how part of the question but put something as a result of the change – that is say what has actually changed and not simply say there has been a change
Language has the power to both reflect and shape individual and collective identity. In this module, students consider how their responses to written, spoken, audio and visual texts can shape their self-perception. They also consider the impact texts have on shaping a sense of identity for individuals and/or communities. Through their responding and composing students deepen their understanding of how language can be used to affirm, ignore, reveal, challenge or disrupt prevailing assumptions and beliefs about themselves, individuals and cultural groups.
Students study one prescribed text in detail, as well as a range of textual material to explore, analyse and assess the ways in which meaning about individual and community identity, as well as cultural perspectives, is shaped in and through texts. They investigate how textual forms and conventions, as well as language structures and features, are used to communicate information, ideas, values and attitudes which inform and influence perceptions of ourselves and other people and various cultural perspectives.
Through reading, viewing and listening, students analyse, assess and critique the specific language features and form of texts. In their responding and composing students develop increasingly complex arguments and express their ideas clearly and cohesively using appropriate register, structure and modality. Students also experiment with language and form to compose imaginative texts that explore representations of identity and culture, including their own. Students draft, appraise and refine their own texts, applying the conventions of syntax, spelling and grammar appropriately and for particular effects.
Now, not all parts are going to be relevant when writing a thesis because the rubric refers to all parts of what your studies for the module but take a look at the words we highlighted in bold.
Is our change perception achieved through the way that language…
reflects and shape individual and collective identity
shape their self-perception
communicate information, ideas, values and attitudes
Something along the lines of,
- The effective use of language by composers changes my perceptions about identity through communicating new ideas and attitudes allowing for new understandings.
- Perceptions about one’s sense of identity is changed by the way that composers effectively use language to invite responders to consider their own understandings.
- Perceptions about identity are challenged through the way composers use language to shape meaning for responders.
These are basic building block thesis that can be further adapted depending on your text and the evidence you will be relying on.
Use this next time as a scaffold when you are writing a thesis to see if it helps prompt some analytical writing.
If you have any questions or would like us to read over an essay drop us a line at any time.
Chat soon