Developing Your Own Thesis Starting a Historical Analysis Paper

What is a thesis? A thesis is the main idea that you construct your paper around. The thesis generally explains why or how something happened. Your thesis will take a stand on a historical issue or problem. Your essay should attempt to convince the reader of something.

Choosing a topic First you must narrow the topic down to something that interests you: Start with topics that we have studied. – Which units of study interest you? – Examine the terms that we learned within the unit. – Which of these terms could be possible topics for your thesis?

The thesis statement ANSWERS the thesis question

Developing your thesis question: Once you have decided upon a topic of study, your thesis question must be: 1.Specific – do not have a topic that is too broad or wide. For example: Did imperialism have a positive impact? – Instead ask yourself the “when, what, where, why, how and whom” questions in order to focus your question: Did British imperialism in Kenya at the turn of the 20 th century have a positive impact on the native peoples?

Developing your thesis question: Once you have decided upon a topic of study, your thesis question must be: 2. Controversial – Make sure that the question isn’t too obvious. For example: Was Emiliano Zapata an important figure in the Mexican Revolution? – Instead ask yourself what might be argued about the topic. Was Emiliano Zapata’s focus on his local village damaging to the overall cause of the revolution?

Developing your thesis question: Once you have decided upon a topic of study, your thesis question must be: 3. Be sure that it is in the form of a question. 4. Be sure that you can locate sources about the topic. ____________________________________________________ One common problem: Don’t focus on “what if” questions: What if Africans would have industrialized first? This is impossible to prove! We can only guess.