Skip to main content

In what ways does a thesis statement reflect the American emphasis on individualism?

Since this question was listed under "Literature," I am going to assume that we are considering a thesis statement for a literary analysis, although I can see a basis for arguing that support for this contention can be generalized to other forms of essays.  In short, a thesis statement reflects the opinion of an individual and in the United States, it is an easy leap to say this represents American individualism. 


A thesis statement for a literary analysis is the writer's opinion on a literary text, along with the writer's support for that opinion.  Thus, a literary analysis of a particular text is one shake of the kaleidoscope, with an almost infinite number of combinations of opinion and support that other writers might write.  Each person's reading experience is truly ineffable, since each of us, while reading the very same words, brings to the reading a different mind, an individual take on a text.   


However, while I am by no means an expert on thesis statements from students who are not American, I can say I have seen quite a few, and for those that I have seen, I am aware of no difference in this matter.  Those thesis statements (and essays) I have seen from people from other countries and cultures reflect individualism as well. 


Having said that, though, I would also like to add that I can see that educational institutions in other cultures could approach literary analysis differently, perhaps with a greater focus on how the society has interpreted the text, with students being discouraged from wandering off to other interpretations. I can see a classroom in which a teacher tells the students, "This is what this book means," disallowing individualistic takes on a story. Not quite as repressively, I can see that other cultures might assign a thesis to a student, requiring him or her to support it in an essay. 


There is no question that individualism permeates American society, including within the education system, in ways good and bad.  The thesis statement, stating an individual opinion, certainly does reflect that.  But I would be reluctant to say that, as a general proposition, most other countries do not approach the writing of essays in the same or similar ways. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more