Thesis Question Assignment

  • Due: Wednesday, October 7, 2015
  • This assignment should be between 250-300 words long.
  • I prefer that this assignment be typed and double spaced.

The assignment must do two things:

1. First, give basic historical background on your topic. For example, if your topic is a battle, you would include who the two sides were, what was the battlefield and the position and size of the armies, when and where the battle took place, why they were fighting and what was the result.

2. Second, describe a question having to do with your topic and with the theme. You should discuss possible answers to the question. You do not have to have definite answer(s) now, but the final project you will. A good thesis question has more than one reasonable answer. A good question is something about which people could disagree. A “yes or no” question, or a question that has a quick factual answer, is not appropriate! You will be turning a question into a thesis statement to guide your project.

For example – Here is a thesis question on the Treaty of Verdun:

After the death of Charlemagne, his grandsons debated about what to do with his vast empire. They finally reached the diplomatic solution called The Treaty of Verdun, which split the empire into three regions. Was this treaty a success? How should we define “success”? What happened in the Empire and in Europe as a result of the Treaty? Did the three regions continue peacefully and prosper, or did the fight wars between them? What were the consequences of the treaty for the rest of Europe?

Here is an example of an entire assignment. (It has 272 words. Remember, I’d like it to be double spaced.)

Thesis Statement: The Spanish Armada

My topic is the defeat of the Spanish Armada by England in 1588. Throughout the 1500’s, Spain became a very wealthy and powerful country because of gold they acquired from the New World. Under Queen Elizabeth I, England began to challenge the power of Spain on the ocean by building its own navy.

In 1588, Catholic Spanish King Philip I sent his fleet, called an Armada, to England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Philip wanted the navy to defeat the English on the sea, and then land an army to invade the Protestant country of England. The English commander, Charles Howard, who later became the Duke of Nottingham, defeated the Spanish Armada, and the attack on England failed.

One of the critical factors in the battle was that the Spanish ships were blown off course just before the battle. The English were able to attack at just the right time, when the Spanish ships were disorganized from the storm. After the battle, the Armada limped back home to Spain, with less than half the ships with which it began the attack.

As I researched this topic, I realized that Spain’s attack on England was a reaction to England’s growing navy. England’s navy, in turn, was a reaction to Spain’s powerful armada. In my project I will explore Philip’s reasons for launching this attack. What specific threat did England pose? What was the ‘worst case scenario’ in Philip’s mind? What was Philip’s goal in launching the attack? Why would he want to conquer England itself, instead of simply destroying the threat of England’s Navy?