The Multipart Thesis—An Easy Starting Point

 

A device that has helped many create an effective thesis is a template called the multipart thesis.  This template is simply a strong and direct statement that states the topic of the essay and several divisions or “sub-topics” that the essay will also discuss.   These multipart thesis statements can be used for almost any kind of writing.

 

The multipart thesis is convenient because it helps to lay out what the essay is going to be about in a very specific way, but also because it helps prepare the reader for the order and organization of the discussion to come.    The multipart thesis is likewise very scalable-- more "parts" can be added as the discussion develops in depth and complexity.  

 

Here are a few very simple examples of multipart thesis statements in action.

 

Coppin State students are bright, resourceful, friendly, and motivated. 

 

The short-term adverse effects of alcohol intoxication are dulled reflexes, impaired senses, and decreased inhibitions. 

 

The United States government should increase funding for Pell grants because it will increase access to education for disadvantaged students, increase diversity in higher education, improve social equality, and improve the economic conditions of urban neighborhoods.

 

American and European schooling are different in their approaches to critical thinking,  the place of technology, student participation, class format, and detailed subject knowledge. 

 

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight was an important contribution to “comic book movies” because of its complex plot, its compelling characters, and its innovative camera work. 

 

The examples above make a point—on The Dark Knight, on American vs. European educational philosophies, on what the U.S. government should do for Pell grants—but each also lays out specific points that the essay will cover.  The red text above indicates the main point the thesis attempts to make; the blue text outlines the sub-topics that the essay will cover. Let’s reconsider the Dark Knight example above. 

 

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight was an important contribution to “comic book movies” because of its departures from the genre’s conventions:  it featured a complex plot, compelling, rounded characters, and innovative camera work. 

 

 

The basic idea in this thesis statement is that “The Dark Knight was an important contribution to ‘comic book movies. . . ’”   The reasons that the author thinks this is so are articulated in the second part of the thesis—the list of the three key sub-topics.   As readers, we are now prepared to hear that The Dark Knight is important because of (1) its complex plot, (2) its compelling characters, and (3) its innovative camera work.   The body paragraphs of this essay would develop ideas on plot, characters, and camera work—in that order.   

 

Multipart thesis statements—a general topic and a number of specific sub-topics—can cover almost any subject, and make almost any point. They provide a sense of organization for the essay that follows it.  The structure is easy to see in statements like the following:

 

The most important geological eras in the history of the world have been (1) the Jurassic era, (2) the Cretacious era, and (3) the Paleolithic era. 

 

The most common crimes that people experience in Los Angeles  are (1) vandalism, (2) theft, (3) assault, and (4) disturbing the peace. 

 

Coppin State should build more student parking because it will (1) make it easier for students to come to class, (2) decrease congestion on the campus, and (3) make students feel more a part of the campus community.  

 

The NBA should bring an expansion team to Baltimore because (1) the city supports its professional teams better than any other major city, (2) Baltimore is a large potential TV market for an NBA franchise, and (3) a regional competitor would push the Washington Wizards into improving as an organization. 

 

 

 

Conceptual and Grammatical Parallelism

 

Conceptual Parallelism 

Did you notice anything about how the multipart thesis statements above are organized?  How they sound?   A key element of the multipart thesis is, obviously, the listing of the thesis statement’s sub-topics.   This list should be structured so that the items in the list are conceptually and grammatically parallel (“alike”), which means they should have a.) similar level of generality and b.)  a similar grammatical form.

 

Conceptual parallelism is a matter of choosing appropriate sub-topics:

 

John likes to walk, run, and eat.    

 

America should raise taxes on the rich, cut taxes on the poor, and control health care costs.

 

In the examples above, the ideas that the thesis is putting forth are all conceptually parallel—they are all either voluntary human activities (walking, running, eating) or activities that a government would engage in (raising taxes on the rich, cutting taxes on the poor, controlling health care costs). 

In the examples below, the ideas are not conceptually parallel, and are thus confusing for a reader and harder to develop:  

 

Kangaroos like to hop, box, and are often found in temperate climates in Australia. 

 

The insect infestation was causing illnesses in the residents of the nursing home, the staff was unhappy, and the insurance companies were delaying payments. 

 

Angela DeMarco, 91, enjoyed dancing, skydiving, and the foxtrot.

 

 

In the first example (kangaroos), the topics “hopping” and “boxing” are things that kangaroos do; the third element, where they are found, isn’t conceptually connected with what kangaroos do.

 

The “insect infestation” example is confusing—there isn’t a clear thread connecting a topic with the elements of the list; a reader would have to do significant work to discern what is being discussed here.

 

In the Angela DeMarco example, dancing and skydiving are fairly broad physical activities.  The “foxtrot” is a specific type of dancing, and is not only far more specific than the other two elements in the list, but is also a subcategory of dancing, rather than being a parallel category.

 

 

Grammatical Parallelism 

Items in a list, particularly in a three-part thesis, should also be grammatically parallel—meaning that they should all be in a similar grammatical form.   This means that the syntax of each part of the statement should sound the same and have the same basic structure. 

 

In this example, the items in the list are all single words:

 

John Smith is a philanthropist, a genius, and a criminal. 

 

If we want to add more detail to one element of the list—say by adding an adjective—we should add an adjective to the other elements as well, to keep the elements of the list in similar form:

 

John Smith is a generous philanthropist, a mechanical genius, and a devious criminal. 

 

Changing the grammatical structure of one list element requires a change to the others as well:

 

John Smith is a philanthropist of the first order, a genius with machines, and a criminal in his private life. 

 

John Smith is a wealthy and generous philanthropist, a brilliant and innovative mechanical genius, and a vicious and unrepentant criminal mastermind.