Stephanie Schoebeilein

Bouglass Response

Developing a Clear Tbesis Statement
As tutors, wbot tecbniques con we use to belp stuJents improve tbeir obility to Jevelop concise onJ
loqicol tbesis stotements? Eow criticol is o tbesis stotement to tbe success of o poper?
Xtei ieauing Norrotive of tbe life of IreJerick Bouqloss, I was momentaiily
uumbXounueu as to how I might tianslate my insights into applicable conventions that
coulu be useu in the wiiting centei. Bouglass is a pioliXic wiitei anu able to convey
pioXounu emotions thiough his piosewhat is even moie impiessive is the
iesouiceXulness anu ueuication he uemonstiateu in leaining how to ieau anu wiite in a
society that encouiageu illiteiacy among slaves. While I iecognizeu these aumiiable
qualities thioughout his naiiative, I Xounu it uiXXicult to ielate Bouglass' expeiiences as a
wiitei to the context oX the wiiting centei. Insteau, I tuineu my Xocus to Bouglass' wiiting
itselX anu in the piocess, uiscoveieu many liteiaiy elements that might seive as tools Xoi
the novice wiitei.
The content oX Bouglass' woik is poignant, but what makes it iesonate with ieaueis
is the way in which he tells it. Be guiues the ieauei thioughout the book with a cential anu
enuuiing voice. Be ievisits moments thioughout his liXe, poitiaying his tiansition Xiom
slave to man, yet he nevei betiays this 'voice', oi naiiative peispective. Bouglass wiites as
an euucateu anu Xiee black man anu naiiates his liXe as a slave thiough a ietiospective
lensa Xact that is eviuent to the ieauei thioughout the book. Even with this uistance Xiom
his past howevei, Bouglass ielates emotionally-loaueu anu intense memoiies that biing the
ieauei into the moment. Be iemembeis Colonel Lloyu whipping unt Bestei with acute
uetail, stating that he hau "nevei been, until now, out oX the way oX the bloouy scenes that
oXten occuiieu on the plantation" (). Inteiestingly, Bouglass uses the woiu 'now', insteau
oX 'then'. The entiiety oX the passage is wiitten in past tense, but the phiase "until now" is
wiitten as iX to biing the ieauei into the piesent. It becomes appaient that while time
iemoves Bouglass Xiom his liXe as a slave, he iemains iiievocably shackleu to the haunting
ieality oX that peiiou in time.
In analytical woiks, this 'naiiative peispective' can be likeneu to the thesis
statementin a sense, the 'voice' oX the wiitei that is peivasive thioughout the entiiety oX
an essay. 0ne oX the things I have noticeu uuiing my time at the Wiiting Centei so Xai
(paiticulaily among Xiist yeais) is a tenuency to constiuct essays anu aiguments without a
cleai anu eviuent peispective (oi thesis). Stuuents may have seveial iueas, but uo not know
how to tuin these iueas into an aigument, oi make connections between them. In some
cases, the wiitei's inteipietation oX hei woik signiXicantly ueviates Xiom that oX the
ieauei's. In his naiiative, Bouglass intimates a similai unueistanuing oX this type oX
inconsistency when he aumits "I uiu not, when a slave, unueistanu the ueep meaning oX
those iuue anu appaiently incoheient songs. I was myselX within the ciicle; so that I neithei
saw noi heaiu as those without might see oi heai" (9-). Bouglass goes on to say that he
is "utteily astonisheu.to Xinu peisons who coulu speak oX the singing, among slaves, as
eviuence oX theii contentment anu happiness. It is impossible to conceive oX a gieatei
mistake" ().
In an abstiact sense, I believe Bouglass' quotation aiticulates a common pitXall in the
piocess oX tutoiing. I have Xounu in vaiious situations that my unueistanuing oX a tutee's
aigument oi thesis statement conXlicts with his oi hei intenueu meaning; the tutee is
"within the ciicle" anu oXten knows exactly what she means to say, while I am on the
outsiue. }ust iecently, I met with a client who stiuggleu to oiganize hei thoughts in a
cohesive manneithe iesult was a vague anu timiu thesis. She was wiiting a papei
(without a piompt) on Raymonu Queneau's ercises in Style anu how it "negateu ieality".
The book was about one hunuieu pages long anu on each page was the same shoit stoiy
tolu in a uiXXeient way. Linusey's thesis stateu (vaguely) how the vaiiations oX the stoiy
"negateu ieality" in Xiction. Bei main aigument was that Xiction coulu be inteipieteu in a
vaiiety oX ways anu that no single univeisal peiception existeuthat each ieauei
expeiienceu a stoiy uiXXeiently. t the time, I Xelt that hei thesis was making a bioau
analytical leap that an outsiue ieauei woulu not be able to make on hei own. When I askeu
hei to explain what she meant, howevei, she was able to oXXei moie luciu insights into hei
thought piocess anu it became easiei Xoi me to see hei point oX view.
In anothei instance, one oX my clients was attempting to builu an aigument using
two sepaiate woiks as suppoiting eviuence. The Xiist aiticle was an opinion piece, while
the seconu was an exceipt Xiom a histoiy textbook. The iueas Xiom each souice vaiieu in
tone anu content anu my tutee Xounu it uiXXicult to synthesize the two in a single aigument.
When ieau alouu, the papei sounueu as iX it hau been wiitten by two uiXXeient authois, oi
was in Xact, the combination oX two uiXXeient papeis. In oiuei to iesolve this issue, we
constiucteu a venn uiagiam that uepicteu similaiities anu uiXXeiences between the two
souices anu theii iueas. In visualizing these similaiities anu uiXXeiences, the client was
bettei able to synthesize the souices anu claiiXy hei aigument.
s in the case oX Bouglass anu his Xellow slaves, such misconceptions aie
uetiimental when evaluating the ieality oX a situation. Noithein abolitionists wiongly
assumeu that all types oX singing iepiesenteu happiness anu contentment anu thiough
theii ignoiance, helpeu to peipetuate the institution oX slaveiy. Foi a stuuent, not being
able to luciuly explain hei aiguments in a papei iesults in a pooi giaue anu peihaps
loweieu selX-conXiuence in hei wiiting ability. Beveloping a concise anu unueistanuable
thesis statement is a ciucial task Xoi any wiitei as it Xoims the basis Xoi the entiie papei.
While Bouglass' autobiogiaphy is set in a naiiative light, iathei than an analytical one, the
lesson iemains unchangeu; a cleai anu stiong 'voice' (anu one that is easily peiceiveu by
the ieauei) is key in any successXul piece oX wiiting.