1st story: Describes a topic;
gives the facts; makes an observation. This level of thesis makes
observations that are non-controversial (i. e. no reasonable person
would disagree with them). A person reading such a thesis immediately
thinks: "Yes, this is true."
2nd story:
interprets, gives a point of view on, and/or adds controversy to
the facts of the first story. By adding controversy, I mean it takes
a position on the facts which is not obvious, a position which
reasonable person could disagree with. A person reading a 2-story
thesis thinks: "That's an interesting point of view; now prove it to
me." By controversial, I do not
mean this thesis has to be absurd or idiosyncratic; you'll never be
able to convince your reader of that kind of argument. Rather, I
mean it takes one position out of a number of positions.
3rd story: relates
the 2-story thesis to the bigger picture, explains its
significance, sets it a new context. This is the most difficult type
of thesis to describe (and write) because it can take so many forms.
I find it helpful to think of this story "opening out" - as if
though a skylight - to a wider view. It is the answer you get when
you ask of a 2-story thesis, "so what?" The reader should say: "I
see why this argument matters." The pitfall in this type of thesis,
that you want to be careful to avoid, is that it can get too
ambitious, and try to make a bigger claim that you're able to
substantiate (e.g. "My analysis of Sonnet 18 shows that all Western
poetry is morally bankrupt and self-serving."
Examples
1st story: James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time makes extensive references to his childhood Jewish friends and the Holocaust.
2nd story: James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time
makes extensive references to his childhood Jewish friends and the
Holocaust as a means of illustrating to his audience the perils that
African-Americans face merely by living in the United States.
3rd story: James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time makes
extensive references to
his childhood Jewish friends and the Holocaust as a means of
illustrating to his audience the perils that African-Americans face
merely by living in the United States. Baldwin's focus on the Holocaust
is important because it marks a dramatic shift in the way that
African-American rhetoricians made use of the figure of the "Jews."
Previously, African-Americans had relied on the figure of the "Jews" in
order to inspire, as they too had fled slavery; however, Baldwin's new
emphasis on the Holocaust marks a more negative appraisal of the
possibilities for blacks living in the United States. [With apologies to
Eric Sundquist]
As you can see, each story
depends on the one below it. It is difficult, to say the least, to
build a three-story house without a first story. The same holds true
with a thesis: a two-story thesis needs a first story, and a
three-story thesis needs a first and second story.
