IB Docs (2) Team
Thesis statements
The written task 2 asks you to respond to a text critically, answering one of six prescribed questions. The Language A: Language and Literature guide also calls this form of assessment an 'essay'. At the heart of essay writing is the thesis statement. This is the sentence that comes at the end of the introduction paragraph. In a very concise and poignant way, thesis statements state the main idea of the essay. They do not summarize; they make claims. They do not outline the essay; they guide the reader. In fact if the reader were only to read the thesis statement, then they would know the writer's stance on an issue and the direction of the paper.
Written task 2 provides a good opportunity to introduce thesis statement writing in general. As the essay must answer a prescribed question, elements on the question must be included in the thesis statement. In other words, answer the prescribed question at the end of the introduction, and your critical response will have focus and relevance.
In this lesson you see several examples of thesis statements that are based on several texts. They contain the following features, which are recommended for thesis statement writing:
- Answer the prescribed question
- Include language from the prescribed question
- Guide the reader
- Make a claim
In the end, it helps to think of a thesis statement as a funnel through which the ideas of an essay must be compressed. Ask yourself: If everything I wanted to say had to pass through this condensed space, how would it read? Answer this, and you have your thesis statement.
Matching texts to questions
Before we write thesis statements, it is important to begin with the right ingredients. For the written task 2, much of one's success will be determined by the text(s) and question chosen. Ask yourself: is this text appropriate to the question (or vice versa)? Some texts lend themselves better to some questions than others.
In this activity you will match texts with questions. For each of the prescribed questions, state which text(s) below are most appropriate and why. Notice these texts have a theme of race and discrimination. The answers provided only touch on several possibilities.
Matching texts and questions| Prescribed question | Appropriate texts |
| 1) How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? |
Aunt Jemima ads - How might blacks and whites read these ads differently? How might people in the North and people in the South read these ads differently (USA)? Rivers of Blood - How might readers today read this differently from readers in 1968 in the UK?
|
| 2) If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ? |
Rivers of Blood - How would Enoch Powell write his speech today? |
| 3) How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? |
Man on the Left - Blacks are civil rights activists and whites are mass murderers. Rivers of Blood - Immigrants are represented as a burden to society.
Sony PSP ad - The black woman is depicted as inferior to the white woman in fashion and body language. This is done to show that the new PSP is much more superior. |
| 4) Which social groups are marginalized, excluded or silenced within the text? |
David Starkey - He talks about 'us' and 'them'. Rivers of Blood - Immigrants are silenced within the speech. They are talked about but not talked to.
Sony PSP ad - In this ad a black woman is literally silenced by a white woman. |
| 5) How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose? |
The Man on the Left - This ad seems to adhere to the conventions of a wanted poster. |
| 6) How has the text borrowed from other texts, and with what effects? |
David Starkey - His responses borrow from Enoch Powell's ideas. |
Vavrious Benetton ads
1990s
Various Aunt Jemima ads
1950s
The Man on the Left
ACLU
2005
David Starkey on Newsnight
BBC
2011
'Rivers of Blood' speech
Enoch Powell
1968
The supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils. In seeking to do so, it encounters obstacles which are deeply rooted in human nature.
One is that by the very order of things such evils are not demonstrable until they have occurred: at each stage in their onset there is room for doubt and for dispute whether they be real or imaginary. By the same token, they attract little attention in comparison with current troubles, which are both indisputable and pressing: whence the besetting temptation of all politics to concern itself with the immediate present at the expense of the future.
Above all, people are disposed to mistake predicting troubles for causing troubles and even for desiring troubles: "If only," they love to think, "if only people wouldn't talk about it, it probably wouldn't happen."
Perhaps this habit goes back to the primitive belief that the word and the thing, the name and the object, are identical.
At all events, the discussion of future grave but, with effort now, avoidable evils is the most unpopular and at the same time the most necessary occupation for the politician. Those who knowingly shirk it deserve, and not infrequently receive, the curses of those who come after.
A week or two ago I fell into conversation with a constituent, a middle-aged, quite ordinary working man employed in one of our nationalised industries.
After a sentence or two about the weather, he suddenly said: "If I had the money to go, I wouldn't stay in this country." I made some deprecatory reply to the effect that even this government wouldn't last forever; but he took no notice, and continued: "I have three children, all of them been through grammar school and two of them married now, with family. I shan't be satisfied till I have seen them all settled overseas. In this country in 15 or 20 years' time the black man will have the whip hand over the white man."
I can already hear the chorus of execration. How dare I say such a horrible thing? How dare I stir up trouble and inflame feelings by repeating such a conversation?
The answer is that I do not have the right not to do so. Here is a decent, ordinary fellow Englishman, who in broad daylight in my own town says to me, his Member of Parliament, that his country will not be worth living in for his children. […]
Sony PSP White ad
TBWA
2006
Thesis statements
After you have had a fruitful discussion on these (or other) texts and their relevance to the prescribed questions, you can start to formulate a thesis statement. Here are several examples of thesis statements that came out of discussions on the texts presened above. The list of statements is not exhaustive nor definitive.
| Prescribed question | Thesis statements |
| 1) How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? | |
| 2) If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ? |
If the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake batter were marketed in today's times, it would most certainly not exclude a black audience nor depict blacks as subservient maids. |
| 3) How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? |
David Starkey in Newsnight depicts black culture as the violent influence that instigated the riots in England in 2011. |
| 4) Which social groups are marginalized, excluded or silenced within the text? |
Enoch Powell marginalizes and silences the voice of immigrants in his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech by over generalizing, being selective in his arguments and using labels. |
| 5) How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose? |
The Benetton ads from the 1990s deviate from the conventions of print advertising by using images only, focusing on a taboo subject in order to promote racial equality, spread brand awareness and sell clothing. |
| 6) How has the text borrowed from other texts, and with what effects? |
The Man on the Left ad by the ACLU has borrowed from the tradition of wanted posters in order to show how blacks, no matter how peaceful they may be, are criminalized under current police practices in Florida. |
Teacher talk
This lesson raises questions about the role of choice when introducing written task 2. Furthermore the tradition of writing thesis statements comes from an American tradition of essay writing, which may or may not have its merits in this context in written task 2. In brief there is a lot for teachers to consider.
Choice, thesis statements and written task 2
How much freedom should students be allowed when working on their written task 2s? It helps, as a teacher, to pre-select a range of texts. Even though the six prescribed questions are very versatile, not every text is relevant to one of the questions. As you can see from this sample lesson, the six texts that were selected had some relevance to the questions. What's more, they were focused on a particular theme, which encourages comparative studies of the texts.
When pre-selecting texts, ask yourself how much 'mileage' a student can get out of a particular text and question combination. For example, the PSP ad is rather questionable, as there may not be enough substance for one to analyze in 800-1000 words. Commenting on a several ads by the same advertiser, such as the Benetton ads on race from the 1990s, however, is good practice and it is allowed as a 'text' on which students may write for their written task 2s.
Naturally, as students progress and begin to understand IB expectations, their ability to select texts on their own will improve. If you show them the kinds of texts you're interested in, then they are more likely to follow that standard. A word of warning: When given choice, many students will go for the quick and easy solution. For example many students who have worked with the six texts from this lesson all chose to write about the Benetton ads, the David Starkey interview or The Man on the Left. These texts were easily 'digestible'. Enoch Powell's speech is often misunderstood or not comprehended by students.
Funneling ideas into a thesis statement is a skill that requires practice and time. One of the most efficient ways of introducing thesis statements is by moving from mind mapping (spider diagrams) to simply writing a few model examples on the board. Students can brainstorm in groups, though research and practice has shown that if they have never seen proper examples, a brainstorm is not likely to produce much.
The tradition of writing thesis statements is, admittedly, American. Having said this, it has a growing popularity in the UK and elsewhere. Writing a thesis statement implies that one has a claim to make. In other words, the essay supports an opinion. To what extent should the critical response be a 'commentary' or a persuasive 'essay'? Although we are analyzing a text, one must support one's interpretation of the text with relevant examples and arguments. Therefore, it makes sense to include a thesis statement. Again, this is a skill that will come in handy for other forms of essay writing in a student's academic career. Funneling ideas into key words is simply good practice.
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