I need help writing a thesis!!!

My essay question is: "Discuss the relevance of pastoral novels and poetry in Don Quixote". I want to demonstrate how La Galatea, Diana and Diana Enamorada have influenced the work. I am struggling to write a thesis as i have never done one before. I have this idea for an introduction.

"As demonstrated by Alpers (1996), the pastoral is a literary mode which ‘puts the complex into the simple’. Its primary function is ‘hostility to urban life’, and through constant promotion of rustic, natural living, Miguel de Cervantes has created the masterpiece that is Don Quixote. He has drawn on many pastoral elements from other texts such as Montemayor’s Diana, Gil Polos’ La Diana Enamorada and his own, La Galatea"

Can you please give me some advice? thanks

No. Lol. Is this your thesis statement and are you going to structure your essay around this?

I think you need some help with this one: the sort of "don't be afraid to go to your professor and admit that you are having trouble" help, or the "actually read Alpers' book or Don Quixote, if you haven't" sort of help. There is a lot of muddling going on in this thesis, which is unfortunately considering how vague it is. You really have to dig a bit deeper into both Alpers' work and Don Quixote to figure out what is really going on.

It might help if you don't split your focus. If you want to compare Quixote to the three other works, focus on the similar threads in these works (and just saying that they have elements of the pastoral does not count). If you are focusing on Quixote in light of literary criticism, do that. And if Alpers' work is not wholly relevant to your essay - then get rid of him from the thesis.

As vague as the thesis is, it is quite clear in the book. The pastoral scenes, and the crap poetry around them are easily identifiable. As a stretch, you could call the whole chivalric tradition being parodied a form of Medieval Pastoral, though for traditional pastoral, it is still apparent in the book readily.

As for a thesis, just make sure you are arguing. In general, first theses tend to discuss "what is the significance of x (in this case Pastoral elements) in X book (in this case Don Quixote). So, in order to frame your thesis, you must first answer your question what is the "point" the book is trying to make with Pastoral Elements, or if not point what is the "effect". If you do not know, you cannot even begin, if you do know (meaning you've read the book, and a little background on Pastoral traditions) then you can start to try and figure out where you stand on the issue.

The approach that I was thinking of taking is:

-Take a key pastoral element
-Identify its presence in other pastoral texts
-Discuss how Cervantes' has drawn on this within Don Quixote

I was going to choose about 5 key features. Could this work?

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Originally Posted by Delta40

No. Lol. Is this your thesis statement and are you going to structure your essay around this?

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Yes. I'm trying to write one. Its rubbish, thats why I'm asking for advice!

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Originally Posted by loscuatrogatos

The approach that I was thinking of taking is:

-Take a key pastoral element
-Identify its presence in other pastoral texts
-Discuss how Cervantes' has drawn on this within Don Quixote

I was going to choose about 5 key features. Could this work?

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That is not how you write a thesis. A thesis is an argument. You need to state your argument - merely telling people what he writes, blind narration if you will, is not a thesis.

To do that, you must take a stand. discussion, if you will, is what supports your argument. Basically you need to write why those 5 key features do something, or why put forward an argument as to how they effect the text, and the significance of that. That is called a thesis.

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Originally Posted by JBI

That is not how you write a thesis. A thesis is an argument. You need to state your argument - merely telling people what he writes, blind narration if you will, is not a thesis.

To do that, you must take a stand. discussion, if you will, is what supports your argument. Basically you need to write why those 5 key features do something, or why put forward an argument as to how they effect the text, and the significance of that. That is called a thesis.

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I'm never going to manage to write this essay :(
So, I could base it upon the effects that the influences that he has drawn from other pastoral texts have on Don Quixote?

That's certainly much closer.

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Originally Posted by Charles Darnay

That's certainly much closer.

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How long should an introduction be, ideally? My essay should be 2500 words. I have a tendency to rant and perhaps include information that is somewhat irrelevant. I want to be as straight to the point as possible, without missing details etc.

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Originally Posted by loscuatrogatos

My essay question is: "Discuss the relevance of pastoral novels and poetry in Don Quixote". I want to demonstrate how La Galatea, Diana and Diana Enamorada have influenced the work. I am struggling to write a thesis as i have never done one before. I have this idea for an introduction.

"As demonstrated by Alpers (1996), the pastoral is a literary mode which ‘puts the complex into the simple’. Its primary function is ‘hostility to urban life’, and through constant promotion of rustic, natural living, Miguel de Cervantes has created the masterpiece that is Don Quixote. He has drawn on many pastoral elements from other texts such as Montemayor’s Diana, Gil Polos’ La Diana Enamorada and his own, La Galatea"

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The putting the complex into the simple quote is not from Alpers. He's quoting William Empson.

Don Quixote being a masterpiece is subjective. I think you could rephrase it so it sounds more critical, such as "widely acknowledged as a masterpiece" or "an important point in the history of the pastoral" or whatever you'd like to say. Unless you are going against the grain by saying that it is a masterpiece, I don't see any need to say it.

As for your intro, is Alpers a critic you are going to refer to a lot? I don't know how big he is in the study of pastoral literature but I think it's better to be more vague about a definition.

'Hostility to urban life' (quote from Alpers?) is a bit weak on its own. For a start, it's a widely acknowledged feature of the pastoral anyway and Alpers doesn't phrase it in an interesting enough way so that it's worth quoting. Hostility to urban life is more like hostility to the perceived corruption of urban life and its hecticness, so I would elaborate on "urban life".

This is quite a good book on the pastoral: Kathryn Hume, Fantasy and Mimesis: Responses to Reality in Western Literature, (New York: Methuen 1984)

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Originally Posted by loscuatrogatos

How long should an introduction be, ideally? My essay should be 2500 words. I have a tendency to rant and perhaps include information that is somewhat irrelevant. I want to be as straight to the point as possible, without missing details etc.

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Different lecturers like different things. I would make your introduction succinct but clear about the position you are going to take on the influence of other pastoral texts on Don Quixote. You should also show why this is important in our understanding and appreciation of the text. For example, I could do an essay arguing that Hamlet and Horatio are gay, but we don't actually learn anything about the play from that. Whereas if I said that viewing them as homosexual adds to our appreciation of sexuality as a theme in the play, that is a basis for an essay.

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Originally Posted by kelby_lake

Different lecturers like different things. I would make your introduction succinct but clear about the position you are going to take on the influence of other pastoral texts on Don Quixote. You should also show why this is important in our understanding and appreciation of the text. For example, I could do an essay arguing that Hamlet and Horatio are gay, but we don't actually learn anything about the play from that. Whereas if I said that viewing them as homosexual adds to our appreciation of sexuality as a theme in the play, that is a basis for an essay.

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Ok. I think what I'm struggling with is how to construct an introduction given that I have to refer to the influences of numerous texts upon Don Quixote.
Should these texts be mentioned in the introduction? Or should they be introduced as the essay progresses?