In my most recent video, I talk to you about how you can write a good thesis statement. Below you can find some exemplars that I have written myself, taken directly from essays. I hope that you find them useful.
The Winter’s Tale (English AS Level):
When Shakespeare directs Leontes [Aside] in Act I, Scene 2, every audience sees a visceral, sexually explicit blizzard of jealousy as he announces his suspicions of Hermione’s infidelity. To assess how important a role jealousy plays in The Winter’s Tale, one must consider Hermione’s supposed affair, Perdita’s lack of ambition and Leontes’s recognised shame as the snow begins to thaw.
When Leontes and Polixenes nostalgically recall their halcyon days as “twinned lambs that did frisk in the sun”, Shakespeare establishes a certain brotherhood between the two monarchs; however, this artificial familial love is quickly abolished when Mamillius’s winter blizzard arrives. To assess whether blood really is thicker than water, one must consider Hermione’s love for Perdita, Leontes’s condemnation of her as a “bastard”, Leontes’s attack on Polixenes and the king’s lack of concern for his son.
Euthanasia (Ethics AS Level):
Euthanasia is the act of committing “a good death” in that the patient is able to decide when, where and how they die. However, the question remains as to whether death can ever be considered good and, as a result, this issue continues to be key in our postmodern world. In 1961, the Suicide Act was passed which, whilst protecting those who attempt suicide, makes assisted suicide illegal and introduces a maximum fourteen year term in prison. The controversy of the issue was further demonstrated in early 2015 when the Assisted Dying Debate was raised in Parliament, resulting in a majority against euthanasia. Despite this result, it must also be noted that people are becoming increasingly more tolerant towards the act, with support rising by more than 34% between 1950 and 2014. These statistics suggest that euthanasia will likely be legalised in the coming years; however, I contend that this is not necessarily a positive things, considering the words of Caroline Spelman, a British MP, who notes that “the right to die quite quickly becomes the duty to die”.
A Doll’s House (English GCSE):
In the Theatre Royal in Copenhagen 1879, the curtain rises upon Ibsen’s A Doll’s House to reveal the smile of Nora. However, as the play progresses, this smile becomes fractured and distorted until questions arise to whether it was ever there at all. One must consider “cheerfulness”, Nora’s role as a mother and her conversation with Mrs Linde if they are to begin to answer the question: is happiness ever presented?
Descartes’s Perception of the Self (Philosophy AS Level):
Rene Descartes (Meditations, 1641) was a French, rationalist philosopher most famous for his argument Cogito Ergo Sum: I think therefore I am. Descartes believed that the only viable perception of the world, and thereby the self, was with reference to a priori reasoning and this I feel to be a sturdy and reliable foundation for any argument. In 2002, d’Espagnat (Quantum Unspeakables) remarked that Descartes was the first person who “dared to question our common views… those that had seemed primitive and obvious”, and the evident search for truth in Descartes’s philosophy consequently means that his perception of the self should not theoretically be flawed; however, having said this, there are contradictions in his theology which lead to a lessened reliability in his work.
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