Making thesis statements... (1 Viewer)

[swagmeister]

Hey guys,

So I think I get how to make thesis statements on a generic question - you can elaborate on particular parts.

But for the Mod C question we got as homework (We do AOS last), I'm having trouble formulating thesis statements:

All people in politics are corrupt. How is this represented or refuted in your prescribed text and ONE related text?

With this one if you agree with it how would you make thesis statements? Because it say's represented or refuted and says 'all' I feel it is quite a limiting question.

Like could you do something like 'When individuals are placed into positions of power, they begin to consider how they can use the power to benefit themselves and achieve a personal agenda, hence leading to their corruption' as well as 'As politicians aim to maintain power, they become corrupted through their use of manipulation' or maybe even something like 'While not all politicians initiate corruption, those that don't stand intentionally blind to it for a period of time and are therefore corrupted themselves'


Would love some feedback on whether these are the kind of thesis statements you'd use for a question like that or whether I am not thinking along the right lines and what I could do to turn these into Band 6 thesis statements

 

[elkedag]

tutoring Mod C - Representing People and Politics at the moment, so I have a few ideas on this. Yep, you don't have to be restricted by 'all'. You can argue that your text shows that not all people it politics are corrupt. And by 'people in politics', this might refer to everyone who lives within a political system or ideology (i.e. everyone), not just politicians.

'While not all politicians initiate corruption, those that don't stand intentionally blind to it for a period of time and are therefore corrupted themselves'

^ doesn't quite make sense to me, but this sort of structure can be useful if you want to show that not all people in politics are corrupt.
And since it's mod C, you might want to talk about representation and texts (like how the composer has their own political ideologies and is corrupt in the way that they use their power as a composer to influence your attitudes towards political values). But since this is just a homework question, not sure if this is what you're after.

 

[simplyinsanity]

If you don't want to fully agree or disagree with the question, I find saying 'to a certain extent' helpful.

I like your first thesis statement. The other two should probably be reworded to make the meaning clearer.

 

[RobbieFerguson]

I feel like it's a stupid question. But I guess you could try starting with a thesis that interrogates the nature of corruption. "Corruption - when understood as the antithesis of integrity - is inextricable from a life of governance. Yet it is reductive to say that power begets corruption, and power alone. Instead, it is the requisite ethical sacrifices to achieve political power that erodes integrity. In politics, power is popularity; and so the ideological prostitution of the self becomes a necessary act of survival. Any further acts of corruption become trivial in comparison, because there is no longer a consistent self to be honest to. "