What is a thesis in an essay. The thesis is the fundamental position of the essay. Restructuring speech for a specific audience

  • 19.04.2020

Tell about a case from life.

An analogy image.

Question-answer form(perhaps the most convenient and easy way: we ask ourselves a question and answer it ourselves, this helps not to get away from the topic).

|| Be sure to first check the correspondence between the topic and the thesis. ||

In any case, my advice to you: if you have read, re-read your essay and could not say with certainty that the arguments you gave prove exactly the idea that you put forward as a thesis, then you probably need to change the thesis (it’s just sometimes make it easier than picking up new arguments). You can also check whether these arguments really suit you by the micro-conclusion that you write at the end of each argument. Such a check must be done in order for the “thesis-argument” correspondence to be complete.

Main part

Argumentation

So, the thesis is formulated, now you need to bring an argument from literary sources. The main part, as we remember, consists of one or more literary arguments supporting the thesis. Each argument is separated into a separate paragraph. There should be a micro-conclusion at the end of each paragraph.
It is possible to bring one literary argument to one thesis, but it is better that there are two arguments.

If there are several theses, then each of them has its own argument!

That is, if you answer a question on the topic, for example: “What does love bring to people: suffering or happiness?”, Answer that, from your point of view, love can both make a person happy and make him unhappy, then you need to give two arguments , in one of which love helps a person to find happiness,
to feel the fullness of life, and in another it brings sadness and suffering. And then in this case the thesis will be proved, and completely.

Argument structure

The argument consists of several elements and includes:

Appeal to a literary work: we name the author and the work, its genre (if we know; if we don’t know, then we write like this - “work” to avoid factual errors).

Its interpretation: here we turn to the plot of the work or a specific episode, characterize the hero (s). It is advisable to mention the author several times, using speech clichés such as “the author narrates”, “the author describes”, “the writer argues”, “the poet shows”, “the author considers”, etc. Why can't you just write: "the hero went there, did that"? But because it will no longer be an analysis, but a simple retelling.

Micro-conclusion (it completes only one of the micro-themes, and not the entire essay as a whole; it is necessary for the consistency and coherence of the text): in this part, we, as a rule, formulate the main idea of ​​the entire work mentioned or the author's position on a specific problem. We use clichés like “the writer comes to the conclusion...”, etc.

The micro-conclusion from the argument should be consistent with the thesis that you gave at the beginning of the essay, and not just be a conclusion from the argument!

All elements of the argument are sequentially arranged one after the other.

For example, the topic: “What path can be called a road to nowhere?”.

Sample introduction Each of us has our own path, and there is not a single person in the world who would not make mistakes along this path. It seems to me that this is quite natural. Throughout our life's journey, we all the time have to make one or another choice in order to reach any goal. It often happens that a person realizes that he is doing meaningless actions and deeds. And yet he continues down that road. Often, stubbornness makes you go down the wrong road. But the roads may not lead you where you want to go. They may not lead anywhere at all if you yourself do nothing to move forward.
Thesis The road to nowhere can be called the path that will not bring any significant results.

Now about the arguments.

Elements of the 1st argument Example
Reference to the work In my opinion, we can find the answer to the question about the road to nowhere in the work of I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov".
Interpretation of the fragment (it is desirable to mention the author at least 2-3 times) Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is a middle-class landowner, "... with dark gray eyes, but the absence of any definite idea, any concentration in facial features." In my opinion, the problem is that he does not set goals for himself. I.N. Goncharov draws our attention to the fact that communication with Olga is a kind of last manifestation of Oblomov's personality, as if the last rise, the last happy time for him, and behind all this - only a fall and a hopeless existence ... Oblomov's soft nature unable to merge with the false, cruel outside world because it is too hard for him. The author says with regret that Ilya Ilyich decides to plunge into apathy in the country house of Agafya Matveevna, where he finds his "peace"
microwithdrawal The road that Oblomov walks can be called the path to nowhere, because he cannot do anything to achieve his goal because of his own laziness and unwillingness to move forward
Elements of the 2nd argument Example
Reference to the work Now let's turn to the remarkable work of F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment"
Interpretation of the fragment (it is desirable to mention the author at least three times) The life path of Rodion Raskolnikov did not lead him to anything good. In the novel, F. Dostoevsky depicts the collision of a theory invented by the hero with real life. Rodion wants to help all people and at the same time find out: “I am a trembling creature or have the right ...”. Raskolnikov had long hatched his terrible plan, but for the time being all this remained only a gloomy fantasy. In my opinion, as soon as Raskolnikov's thoughts turned to murder, he had to rethink his theory and choose another life path. Didn't he have any idea what such a crime could lead to? Sometimes you need to think about the consequences of what you said or did beforehand.
microwithdrawal I can also call this path a road to nowhere, because killing a person is the greatest sin that cannot be justified by anything, even the theory of a lifetime

Links between paragraphs (micro-themes)

To avoid logical errors, do not forget about "bundles", "bridges" between arguments. Everything should be consistent and logical. For example, you cannot start the paragraph of the second argument with the word “also”, since “in the same way”, like the author mentioned in the previous argument, a new author cannot reveal the same problem in his work: another author, another work - therefore It's not the same, it's completely different. Arguments should be not just a heap of episodes from works, but examples logically related to the thesis.

Note. In the final essay, it is allowed to give arguments based on foreign literature. This was repeatedly discussed in programs with the participation of the Minister of Education and Science D.V. Livanov and Chairman of the Council for School Essays of the Ministry of Education and Science N.D. Solzhenitsyna. They agreed that it was unacceptable to prohibit arguments based on works of world literature.

Conclusion

So we got to the final part of our final essay.

There are several ways to end an essay:

Conclusion. It is customary to conclude an essay with a conclusion from all of the above. This is probably the most common way to end an essay. Sometimes it is very difficult to write a conclusion, since one cannot repeat those micro-conclusions that have already been made in the essay after the arguments. In any case, the thought is the same, it is simply expressed in different words! The main thing is not to get away from the topic of the essay.

Conclusion-call. This is another fairly common ending. Of course, these should not be pathos slogans “Protect our Earth!”. It is better not to use 2nd person verbs: “take care”, “respect”, “remember”. Limit yourself to the forms “need”, “important”, “let's”, etc. Then no one can reproach you for an unethical attitude towards the addressee (after all, it is the teacher who will be your first reader).

The conclusion is an expression of hope. This is one of the most advantageous options for the final part, as it allows you to avoid duplication of thought, ethical and logical errors. It is necessary to express hope for something positive. You can not write, for example, that "nature will avenge itself on future generations."

Conclusion Options Examples
Conclusion Summarizing the above, we can conclude that the problem of assessing talent is still very relevant. People need to look for talents, not let them go out, because it is they, these talented people, are the engines of progress and society as a whole
call Summing up, I want to believe that every person should set himself high and noble goals. You always have to think about whether I need it at all? It is impossible to be inactive, because this is called the road to nowhere. There is no need to be afraid of mistakes along our path, because, as one wise man said, "since you have gone astray, it means that you have a path, a person who does not go anywhere cannot get lost"
Expression of hope I would like to hope that the problem of the true concept of the word "beauty" really should be very relevant in our time. And if we pay as much attention to this issue as possible, do not forget about such important concepts as nobility, kindness, courage, then our world will become a little better and more beautiful!

Completion of the story about the case that made you think about the topic (if such a story was given as an introduction).

A quote that makes sense. You can pre-select quotes in all thematic areas, maybe some will do.

For example:

“War is one of the greatest blasphemy against man and nature” (A. S. Pushkin).

“The defense of the Motherland is also the defense of one’s dignity” (N.K. Roerich).

“Nature is the creator of all creators” (I.V. Goethe).

“You are forever responsible for those whom you have tamed” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

“Love for parents is the basis of all virtues” (Cicero).

“It is not difficult to despise the court of people, it is impossible to despise your own court ...” (A.S. Pushkin).

“True love purifies and elevates every person, completely transforming him” (N.G. Chernyshevsky).

“To live means to feel, think, suffer...” (V. G. Belinsky).

“Man is the whole world...” (F.M. Dostoevsky).

“Happiness is achieved by those who strive to make others happy and are able to forget about their interests, about themselves at least for a while” (D.S. Likhachev).

"Blessed be the love that is stronger than death!" (D.S. Merezhkovsky).

“There is no happiness in inaction ...” (F.M. Dostoevsky).

“Russia can do without each of us, but none of us can do without it” (I.S. Turgenev).

It is important that the quote necessarily correspond to the main idea of ​​the essay. You can't use a quote just because it contains keyword(for example, in an essay about nature, a quote with the word “nature”), and not take into account its general meaning.

Text editing

Before copying an essay from a draft into a special form, it is necessary to carefully check and edit it. How to do it?

We read the text in parts.

First, the introductory and final parts. We make sure that they correspond, firstly, to the given topic, and secondly, to each other, they talk about the same thing. Well, if in the introduction you ask a question, and in the conclusion there is an answer to it.

Abstracts. They should be compactly stated logical answers to the question that you ask in the introductory part of the essay. It is desirable that the last phrase of the thesis be the very main answer, for the proof of which you will give arguments.

We read pairs "thesis + argument". We are convinced that the example corresponds to the main idea, the thesis, and does not just talk about something close to the topic of the essay.

"Bridges", "ligaments". Read the end of each paragraph and the beginning of the next. We make sure that the transition from one micro-theme to another is smooth, there are no logical errors.

Only after we are convinced that the essay is written in accordance with the topic and does not contain logical errors, we proceed to check the speech design, i.e. detection of speech, grammatical, punctuation, spelling errors. Here, too, there will be several stages.

We read the text for individual sentences. We find grammatical foundations, ask questions to all minor members. Long and boring? But on the other hand, this will allow you to check the compatibility of words and their grammatical connection. We determine whether the sentence is simple or complex, which makes it more complicated. At the same time, pay attention to punctuation marks. If you doubt the need for a particular sign, change the design. After all, this is an essay, not a dictation! Don't be afraid to change sentences, change words. Here you can and should change the text.

We read each word syllable by syllable. So you will better assimilate what you heard - they will immediately become more active different types perception (auditory, visual). Moreover, it is better to read the text not from the first sentence, but from the end. Or just not from the beginning of the sentence, but from the last word in it, then you will pay attention not to the meaning, but to the spelling. This is how spelling errors can be found. It's famous
way to check "from the end".

After that, it is desirable to count the number of words. All words are counted, including prepositions, conjunctions, and particles. Numbers such as the year (1978) and a hyphenated word are treated as one. If you get less than 250 words, you will have to increase the volume to the required minimum, otherwise the work will not be counted. There are times when a couple of words are missing, then it’s very disappointing to receive a “failure” for good in general
in terms of content and literacy essay. But there are evaluation rules, criteria that must be taken into account.

If a few words are missing in the essay, then you can add to the thesis introductory words such as “certainly”, “certainly”, “undoubtedly”, “undoubtedly”, etc., as well as adverbs for verbs and adjectives for nouns. For example, instead of “it is important to take care of our parents”, write “of course, it is very important to take care of our parents”, etc.

If a significant number of words are missing, then you can, firstly, add a comment to the arguments (just do not retell the episode). Secondly, you can add your comment on the topic to the introduction.

In any case, do not despair, you will succeed!

Abstracts become an important component of a term paper or essay.

Before you compose them, you need to figure out how the thesis is written. Not all supervisors and teachers explain what theses are.

Our article will help you master the basics of writing a thesis plan and teach you to understand other issues.

Thesis is the main idea with a precise, concise formulation that is put forward to prove it.

The thesis is written for an essay, term paper, diploma work

There can be several abstract statements.

Sometimes they are written separately from the scientific work as an independent article, sometimes they are included in the abstract or in the introduction.

All other sentences serve to prove the thesis. They are called arguments.

Abstracts include a description of the subject, tasks, goals, relevance, sections, as well as results.

The main elements of the thesis:

  • topic;
  • Full name of the author;
  • introduction;
  • a brief description of the stages of work;
  • List of sources;
  • applications, diagrams.

There are several types of theses:

  1. Main theses. They summarize the content of the document, are inseparable from .
  2. Simple theses. The main thoughts of individual semantic paragraphs. They serve to reveal the main.
  3. Difficult thesis. Consist of basic and simple. Each simple thesis explains the main one.

There can be only one part in the text, so the thesis will be one.

If the text is detailed, then there can be many thesis statements, it is important to highlight everything.

It is worth arranging the abstracts in the same way as the deployment of ideas in the text. This does not always coincide with the sequence of the text itself.

Theses should follow one from the other. They do not contain examples, justifications, arguments.

In fact, theses are found almost everywhere: in logic, in mathematics, in philosophy, journalism, philology, history, social science, linguistics.

When a theory is developed, a new field of knowledge is mastered or old statements are refuted.

Theses are used by schoolchildren when they write essays or analyze texts, students in term papers and doctors of sciences in their dissertations.

Abstracts, depending on the purpose of writing, may have different kind: be short or expanded, presented as formulas or in text form.

One of the types of text structuring is the thesis plan.

A plan helps organize information

It helps to structure information, contributes to its better study and memorization.

This method can be applied in preparation or for public speaking.

With it, concise summaries and summaries are written.

You can draw up a thesis plan before creating new job. So it will turn out to be more logical and connected, all topics will be disclosed.

Let's take a closer look at how to create a thesis plan:

  1. To begin with, by carefully reading, analyze the entire text.
  2. Make a plan for the material as a whole - find a plot, culmination, denouement, highlight the idea being proved, arguments, depending on the type of text.
  3. Then break the text into separate paragraphs.
  4. Highlight the main ideas for each paragraph. They will be the theses. The main statements should not be repeated.
  5. Combine these statements into one simple and clear sentence. Sub-theses can be identified.
  6. Rewrite for a clean version.

Consider the following text:

“All people have equal rights and opportunities. This is enshrined in the constitutions of many states and is supported by law.

But it was not always so. Only in the 19th century was slavery abolished in the United States and serfdom in Russia.

In the 19th century, the mass struggle of women for voting rights and for their freedom and dignity begins.

Now the elimination of various types of discrimination (racial, gender, age, etc.) continues.

Recognizing equality for all means only that people should be able to achieve their goals, regardless of, for example, skin color or gender.

But we are all different, with our own talents and abilities, habits, tastes, and we need to learn to respect the personal boundaries of another person and the fact that he may be different from us.

This is what modern human rights education aims to do.”

Main thoughts for each paragraph:

  • all people have equal rights and this is enshrined in the constitution;
  • the abolition of slavery and serfdom in the 19th century, the struggle of women for their rights;
  • the fight for equal rights continues.

All these statements can be combined into one: "We are all different, but regardless of this, we are equal in our rights."

This proposal will be the thesis.

This small example demonstrates how individual theses are extracted from the text.

In order to identify them, questions are asked to the fragments: “Did this sentence give us new information? What is the main sentence in this paragraph?

The above text consists mainly of theses, but if you expand it, you can insert a lot of evidence-based sentences: "Rights are needed for this and that reason."

How to write a thesis for an essay

The essay is a subjective creative text. It reflects the views and opinions of a person.

The thesis for an essay is your position on some issue.

Therefore, the thesis in such work will be your position on any issue.

You highlight it and give your argument.

At the exam, schoolchildren cite suitable literary works from life as arguments.

Then a logical conclusion is written, generalizing and confirming all of the above.

Abstracts in an essay can be presented in the form of questions, lines from any works, or be keywords.

Depends on the form of the work, the topic of the work and the preferences of the author.

How to write abstracts for a term paper

Abstracts are written for high quality coursework, which are marked as relevant and important.

in coursework and theses they are issued as an application. The appendix briefly describes the main sections of the coursework, conclusions.

An application with abstracts usually does not exceed the volume of 3 sheets written in 12 font.

How to write an abstract for an article

Abstracts for the article should be short and concise. In fact, they are a separate article. Their purpose is to summarize the material.

The most important thing in the thesis is to highlight the main thing

In general, they follow the same structure as abstracts of other types of articles.

Do not make the introduction too long, use simple phrases. It is important to be able to highlight the main thing.

You can use templates such as: "In this study, it was revealed ..." "The experiment showed that ...", "Data were obtained ...", etc..

Before compiling abstracts, you should invite competent people to read your article so that they evaluate it and leave comments.

This will help remove water and make the work more meaningful.

An example of a thesis

Standard for the thesis:

  • *.doc, *.docx, *.rtf format file, A4 sheet in portrait orientation;
  • single line spacing, indent 1.21 cm for the first line;
  • font Times New Roman, size 12-14 pt;
  • margins: top, bottom, right - 2 cm, left - 2.5;
  • all words are separated by one space;
  • abstracts no more than 2-3 pages;
  • pages should be numbered.

At the top center of the page is the organization or conference, city, year of publication. Then - an introduction, the main part, including formulas, tables, figures and drawings, a conclusion, a list of references, notes. At the end, the name of the compiler is indicated.

III All-Russian Scientific Conference “…”
(topic name)
(Introduction)
(Main text)
(Picture 1)
(Table 1)
(Conclusion)
(Bibliography)
(Note)
(Name of the compiler)

Thus, in order to present abstracts in your work, you need to understand the very concept of “thesis”, be able to draw up a thesis plan, correctly draw up abstracts and understand the intricacies of their application in various fields of knowledge.

The world of abstracts is vast, they are also used in scientific writing and in normal conversation.

Using them together with arguments allows you to make the speech evidence-based and logical.

We hope this article was useful for you and will serve you well. Good luck!

In this video, you will learn how to write the final essay of the exam, including abstracts for it:

Read also:




  • Helping a Young Researcher: Design Scheme…

Controversial issues are resolved by indicating the statement that needs to be proved or disproved. Properly formulated, it allows you to understand what exactly needs to be proved and pick up reasonable arguments.

Instruction

Before expressing thesis, determine for yourself the purpose of your proof. Why did you need to convince people of the truth of this or that statement? You must represent the audience you will be speaking to. The more you know about it, the easier it will be to formulate thesis and give arguments. Find out what your audience is interested in, what their needs are. Based on this information, make keywords.

The thesis should be clear and precise. To be understood correctly, weigh each word. Try to avoid words with deliberately vague meanings, such as justice, youth, matters of the heart. Specify generalized words and phrases (unfavorable environment, locals). Don't choose as thesis but quite obvious facts or axioms. For example, it makes no sense to prove that the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea, etc. As thesis and use an affirmative or negative sentence.

After thesis formulated, voiced and understood by the audience, you must make arguments for or against it. Save thesis verbatim in the form in which it was declared. Do not digress from the topic, otherwise there may be a loss thesis a. It would seem that it is impossible to forget about one's own statement, however, in the process of reasoning, an associative series arises in the mind. One thought clings to another, and often a person forgets where he started.

Avoid substitution thesis a. Otherwise, not only will you not convince the audience, but you will also get lost in your own arguments. Changes to the original statement are allowed only when they have been clarified and refined in the course of a constructive conversation with the opponent. Each change must be recorded and agreed upon by both parties.


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REMINDER

"How to write a FINAL ESSAY"

PLAN OF THE FINAL ESSAY

The essay consists of three main parts:

I. Introduction (lyrical digression on a given topic).

II. Main part:

Thesis (own opinion on the proposed topic).

Argument (confirmation by a literary example).

III. Conclusion.

Note. In terms of volume, the main part should be longer than the introduction and conclusion combined. There can be only one thesis supported by an argument. Optimal quantity– 2. Each thesis has its own argument!

INTRODUCTION

So how do you get started writing? Remember that the introduction must include a theme. It is not necessary to go into reasoning far from it.

INTRODUCTION TRADITIONAL

The introduction consists of several elements: the key words of the topic, general discussions about the significance of these concepts in human life, the main issue of the topic.

Intro elements

(The intro elements listed below are arranged one after the other)

Examples

Topic keywords

Parents and children …

General reasoning about the subject of speech

A child, being born, first of all feels care and love from the people closest to him - his parents. This is his family. Thanks to his relatives, he feels safe, with their help he learns the world. Of course, wishing their child only the best, parents give him their advice, teach, educate.

Question(s) (asking main question topic, which we answer in the main part).

What role do parental instructions play in a person's life?

MAIN PART

The main part consists of one or more theses supported by literary arguments. Each pair of "thesis + argument" is allocated in a separate paragraph.

FORMULATION OF THE THESIS TRADITIONAL

The thesis is the most important thing in the essay, because the disclosure of the topic depends on it.

NUMBER OF ABSTRACTS IN THE FINAL ESSAY
There can only be one thesis. However, it is not always possible to expand the argument on one thesis per 350 words. Therefore, two theses or more can be formulated. In addition, some topics already assume the presence of at least two theses (for example, the topic “War - there is no sadder word. / War - there is no word holier ...”).

When formulating a thesis, two aspects should be taken into account:
the connection between the thesis and the topic,
features of the formulation of the thesis itself.

THEME AND THESIS
The wording of the thesis, of course, directly depends on the specifics of the topic. Let's look at a few examples.
Topic question
If the topic is a question, then it is required to give a direct answer to it. As a rule, it is with this question that the introductory part of the essay ends.

“What events and experiences in life help a person grow up?” A person grows up when he is faced with grief, tragedy, or trials that are not childish, for example, in wartime.

Growing up occurs when a child learns responsibility for his actions.

Caring for loved ones helps a person grow up.

Subject-statement (including quote)
In this case, it is required to substantiate the already existing assertion. We finished the introductory part with questions why this is so and not otherwise. In the thesis part, you need to explain why this is so.
Topic Abstracts
"War - there is no sadder word. / War - there is no holier word ..." (A. T. Tvardovsky)

(In the introductory part, we ask questions: why is “war” the saddest word, why is it a holy word?) “War is the saddest word,” because it brings death, pain, grief.

"War - there is no holier word", because a person in the years of difficult trials stands up for the defense of the Fatherland, shows courage, selflessness, heroism.

Subject - nominative sentence (keywords)
The introductory part ends with questions about each of the key concepts. We need to formulate our judgment about each of them, to give answers to the questions posed.

"The harmony of nature and the imperfection of man."
(In the introductory part, we ask questions: What is the harmony of nature? What is the imperfection of man? How are they interconnected? Nature is an example of harmony, beauty, perfection. Everything in it is reasonable and proportionate. Man, on the contrary, is imperfect, has many vices : cruelty, selfishness, greed.Moreover, due to the dark sides of his nature, he can harm nature.

WAYS OF THE THESIS FORMULATION

The standard formulation of the thesis implies a direct expression of thought.
Direct expression of the main idea:
All people understand that it is necessary to protect nature, to preserve the world around us for posterity.

The thesis statement is original
As for the claim to originality, there are several possible ways.
So, you can talk about a case from life (if this technique has not already been used in the introduction).
The most convenient and easy way is a question-answer move, when we ask ourselves a question and answer it ourselves. This method is convenient in that it allows you not to go astray.
You can use the analogy method - comparison with the natural world.

Real life example
Great Patriotic War touched every family in our country, brought grief and suffering to every home. My family is no exception. Having learned that my grandmother was a partisan, the Nazis came to her mother's house and tortured her in order to find out where the partisan detachment was. The great-grandmother did not tell them anything, and then the Germans executed her. May 9 in our family is not just a holiday, it is a reminder of the suffering endured by the older generation.
Question-answer move
What helps a person overcome difficulties? Probably everyone will answer this question in their own way. It seems to me that the support of loved ones plays an important role.
Analogy (comparison with the natural world)
In my opinion, it is love that helps to cope with difficulties. Love gives a person wings, with the help of which it becomes easier for him to overcome the obstacles that arise on the way.
Note. It is important that all formulated abstracts correspond to a given topic, do not deviate from it.

ARGUMENT

NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS
It is quite enough to bring one literary argument to one thesis; it is inexpedient to bring several analogous ones to one thesis. Important: if there are several abstracts, then each of them has its own argument!

ARGUMENT STRUCTURE
The argument consists of several elements and includes:
1) an appeal to a literary work: we name the author and the title of the work, its genre (if we know; if we don’t know, then we write like that - “work”);
2) its interpretation: here we turn to the plot of the work or a specific episode, characterize the hero (s). It is advisable to mention the author several times, using speech clichés such as “the author describes”, “the writer argues”, “the poet shows”, “the author considers”, etc. Why can't you just write: "the hero went there, did that"? But because it will no longer be an analysis, but a simple retelling;
3) an intermediate conclusion (it is intermediate because it completes only one of the microthemes, and not the entire essay as a whole; it is needed for the logicality and coherence of the text): in this part, we, as a rule, formulate the main idea of ​​the entire mentioned work or the author's position on a specific problem. We use clichés like “the writer wants to convey to the reader the idea of ​​...”, etc. Important: the intermediate conclusion of the argument must be directly related to the thesis to which we have given this argument.
All these elements are sequentially arranged one after another.

Reference to the work
The problem of ecology worries many writers, who in their works warn humanity of the danger. The idea of ​​the need to reconsider one's attitude to nature is expressed in G. Troepolsky's novel "White Bim, Black Ear".

Interpretation of the fragment (it is desirable to mention the author at least 3 times)
The author recalls the setting of the management of the hunters' society about the destruction of magpies as harmful birds, which was allegedly justified by the observation of biologists. Then the hawks were exterminated, then the wolves. And then it turned out that they were all useful, and it was forbidden to kill them. They banned it after it was almost wiped out. The writer speaks of a new instruction - to destroy the crows. He appeals to the reader with an appeal: "Save the gray crow!" The author draws our attention to the fact that this bird is also needed, because it plays the role of a nurse.

Intermediate output at the end of an argument
The writer wants to convey to us the idea of ​​the importance of all living beings in nature. A person should not mindlessly destroy them and catch on when it's too late.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO GIVE ARGUMENTS ON THE BASIS OF FOREIGN LITERATURE?
Yes, yes and yes again!!! 08/31/2015 in the program "Opinion" ( ) was attended by Minister of Education and Science D. Livanov, Chairman of the Council for School Essays of the Ministry of Education and Science N. Solzhenitsyna. They agreed that it was unacceptable to prohibit arguments based on works of world literature.

LINKS BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS (MICROTOPICS)

In order for the text to be coherent, it is necessary to pay attention to the smooth transition from one microtopic (thesis and argument) to another.

Bundle options

Examples

A summary of the content of the previous paragraph in one sentence, then the formulation of a new thought.

Indeed, nature gives us everything we need for life. And how do we treat her?

It is easy to see that a person often destroys everything that surrounds him. Fortunately, people are already aware of their mistakes and are thinking about how to preserve nature for posterity.

CONCLUSION

How to write a conclusion?

The conclusion, like other compositional parts of the essay, can be both standard and original.

CONCLUSION TRADITIONAL
There are several standard ways finish essay:
Conclusion. It is customary to conclude an essay with a conclusion from all of the above. This is probably the most common way to end an essay. However, at the same time it is the most difficult way, because. it is difficult, on the one hand, not to duplicate in the conclusion what has already been said, and, on the other hand, not to go away from the topic of the essay.
call.
This is another fairly common ending. Here it is advisable NOT to use 2nd person verbs such as “take care”, “respect”, “remember”. Why? Yes, everything is very simple: each essay has an addressee - the one who will read it and to whom the calls will be addressed. In our case, this is the teacher who will check the work. It turns out that we are calling on him to cherish, remember, and so on. To be honest, it's not very ethical. Therefore, it is better to use the word "let's": "let's protect nature", "let's remember veterans", etc.
Expression of hope .
This is one of the most winning options for the final part, because. avoids duplication of thought, ethical and logical errors. Important: you need to express hope for something positive. To write: “I would like to hope that nature will avenge itself and all people will die,” it’s not worth it, you yourself understand.

Conclusion Options
Conclusion
So, how are people alive? I think love. People are alive with love for their loved ones and friends, love for their native land and nature. They are led through life by a dream, hope for the best, faith in their own strength. And good feelings help to go through life: sympathy, mercy, sensitivity, responsiveness. This is something without which our life is unthinkable.
call

In conclusion, I would like to urge people not to forget that nature is our mother, which gives us everything we need for life. Without it, we would not be able to exist. And so it is our duty to repay her kindness for kindness. Let's take care of its preservation, take care of everything that surrounds us.
Expression of hope

Summing up what has been said, I would like to express the hope that harmony and mutual understanding will reign in every family. I would like to believe that love, care, sensitivity will become the main thing in relations between generations.

CONCLUSION ORIGINAL
A quote that makes sense. You can stock up on quotes in advance on all thematic areas, it may happen that one will do. Important: the meaning of the quote must necessarily correspond to the main idea of ​​the essay. You cannot use a quote just because it contains a keyword (for example, in an essay on nature, a quote with the word “nature”) and not take into account its general meaning.

A sketch that brings you back to the intro.
I look at the illuminated windows of houses and think about how good it would be if there was no loneliness behind them, if everyone who lives there was surrounded by care.
Going through old front-line letters, I dream that there will never be more wars in the world that separate families.

Quote
Thus, friendship is of great importance in a person's life. No wonder Cicero said: “In the world there is nothing better and more pleasant than friendship; excluding friendship from life is like depriving the world of sunlight.

HOW TO ACHIEVE ORIGINALITY

THE INTRODUCTION IS ORIGINAL if it contains a story about a certain incident from life that led to reflections on this problem.

THE THESIS FORMULATION IS ORIGINAL if you

Give an example from life;

Or used a question-answer move;

Or they made an analogy (comparison with the natural world).

CONCLUSION ORIGINAL if it is is a kind of sketch that returns to the introduction or contains a general quotation.

K.V. Sorvin

An essay is a type of assignment that involves writing the largest amount of text. And this fact alone makes the essay not only the most difficult, but, as a rule, the most “expensive” task. AT last years at the Olympiad "Highest standard" out of 100 maximum possible points, 60 are essays. Such a quantitative difference gives rise to a special quality the specifics of the essay, which will be discussed in this section.

First of all, a larger volume of material imposes increased requirements on its organizations, that's why the first The question to be considered here is the question of construction rules essays and methods for practicing relevant skills.

Essay structure. Five basic elements

A high school student preparing an essay naturally wants to make it interesting and non-trivial. But, having behind him mainly the experience of ordinary conversations and conversations, he often follows the path of the latter: he inserts in some arbitrary place the one that came to mind by association interesting thought, expresses on their own very non-trivial facts, but not directly related to the given topic. Moreover, in an effort to “show off erudition”, an applicant often does this not just out of habit, but consciously and purposefully, while not really thinking about how the information given has to do with the main line of the text. In the end it turns out that although separate fragments the resulting essay can be read with interest and even testify to the erudition of its author, the topic remains undisclosed, and the task remains unfulfilled. A low, if not generally unsatisfactory, score for a text written in this way is a completely logical result, although, as a rule, the author himself surprises a lot.

Essay is a finished product. It is like a house - it can be built by the most different people but, in principle, anyone can live in it. An essay is a text that should be interesting and understandable to everyone, and not just to the one who wrote it. Any person who reads it must endure for himself: main idea, defended by the author, as well as arguments to prove it. To make this idea clearer, the essay must contain explanations and examples, and in order for the text to really look like a finished product, it must be crowned conclusion. It must be subject to the same plan and represent a holistic design.



And if, speaking about the first task of the participant of the Olympiad, we continue the analogy with the house, then we can say this: of course, you always want to build a palace, but let it be Egyptian pyramid. The shape of this structure is unpretentious, but to this day even the blade of a knife cannot be squeezed between other stones, and any addition to it will look like obvious bad taste. But most importantly, nothing can be organically removed from her. So, let's learn how to build an essay like an Egyptian pyramid.

First of all, you need to know five main components any essay, on the basis of which the entire text should be organized. These components include:

thesis (T);

- argument (A);

– proof (D);

- explanation or example (P);

- output (B).

From the foregoing follows the most important rule: not only every paragraph, but even any sentence in the text have the right to exist only if they can be correlated with one of these five basic components of any essay: with thesis, argument, proof, explanation, example or conclusion. Otherwise, if no such match can be found, the sentence or paragraph should be deleted, even if it contains interesting information or demonstrates the wide erudition of the author.

Let's consider each of these points separately.

Thesis - the fundamental position of the essay

Thesis is the basic idea which is affirmed or denied in the text. This is the position for which the whole work is written, and if it is absent, then the latter turns into a "talk about nothing." Virtually any qualified written scientific and even journalistic text, ranging from a small article to a large book, there is a similar main idea. In some cases, it can be formulated briefly and quite unambiguously. For example, the main idea of ​​the famous book of Copernicus "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" can be formulated as follows: "The earth revolves around the sun and around its axis", and the main idea of ​​Durkheim's classic sociological essay "The Method of Sociology": "Social reality is the same object for scientific research, as well as physical reality, although the methods of its cognition have certain features. In other cases, the main thesis of the text cannot be formulated so briefly, but most often its meaning can be subtracted in the last chapter, in custody,in the output(we will say more about this feature of the final part of the text later).

"Thesis is the head of everything"- this should be your initial principle when constructing any non-fiction text. Most often, its wording occupies a small percentage of the total volume of the essay - one or two sentences, and more often it is written not at the beginning of the text, but at the end. Moreover, it does not have to be given at the very beginning. But in its absence, the whole work falls apart, losing its general meaning.

How to formulate basic the thesis of your text?

Often the thesis directly matches with a suggested essay topic. Most often this happens when the topic is formulated in the form affirmative proposal, which is proposed to be substantiated or, which happens less often, with which one can convincingly agree or disagree, at the discretion of the author. Such topics include, for example, the following: “Comte is the founder of sociology”, “There is no person without culture”. Often such a coincidence also occurs in cases where the topic of the essay is set in the form of an aphorism: “Accurate knowledge of society is among our most recent acquisitions” (E. Giddens), or “Nature creates a person, but develops and forms his society” (V. Belinsky).

However, the topic is not always formulated in the form of an affirmative sentence. So, for example, it can be formulated as question(“Are there signs of a class structure in modern Russian society?”). It can be formulated as a task for comparison("Spend comparative analysis views of Marx and Comte on social progress"), as a task for conducting a theoretical analysis(“The relationship of intergroup conflicts and role tensions”), or it can be both comment to an aphorism (“Comment on the statement: “the highest court is within a person”). The topic can also be formulated in the form of an affirmative aphorism, which, however, does not allow for an unambiguous interpretation on the principle of “true or false” (“Inequality is as good a law of nature as any other”).

Finally, the topic can be formulated in the form of a statement, to which, in the task itself, explanatory and clarifying questions. Just such a format of tasks has prevailed in recent years at the Olympiad "Highest Standard" in social science.

In all these cases, the thesis must be formulated on one's own and may not directly coincide with the given topic. Consider the examples of the topics above possible options formulation of the main theses of the essay.

Topic:"Conduct a comparative analysis of the views of Marx and Comte on social progress."

Reflecting on the task, we recall that Marx and Comte were both supporters of the concept of the progressive development of mankind; both singled out the general stages that all societies go through in their development, and in the concepts of both authors, Europe was given the leading role in these processes. At the same time, if Marx saw the driving force of progress in the economic sphere of society, Comte assigned a decisive role to intellectual development, due to which these authors singled out different stages in the evolution of societies and differently understood the immediate prospects of human civilization. These considerations allow us to formulate the main thesis of the essay:

Thesis:"Between the views of Marx and Comte on social progress, there are both similarities and differences."

Topic:"The relationship between intergroup conflicts and role tensions".

After reflecting on the topic, recalling the relevant theoretical materials and examples from life experience, we come to the conclusion that in a number of cases intergroup conflicts do generate role tensions of various types, but not always.

A preliminary analysis of this topic, in this case, will allow us to formulate the thesis:

Thesis: “The connection between intergroup conflicts and role tensions is not unambiguous, necessary. This relationship is probabilistic. It is implemented through several mechanisms and is bilateral in nature.”

Very often, the formulation of the thesis is helped by a clear selection Problems set in the statement. In addition to the fact that the requirement to highlight it is usually directly present in the task itself (for example, in task “C9” of the Unified State Examination), such a procedure in itself is useful, since it helps to focus your attention on the main line of the planned text. The requirement to "identify the problem" often frightens the student, confuses him. In fact, there is nothing beyond common sense in this requirement. Any task at the Olympiad should contain a certain paradox, and even more so, it should be present in an aphorism, which differs from a simple statement (like “this table is wooden”), which in a figurative, concise and popular form fixes a certain contradiction. To make this contradiction explicit, to formulate it in the conceptual apparatus of the corresponding science, and then to show how science approaches its resolution is one of your tasks.

Highlighting the problem of utterance - creative process, so there can be no universal algorithms, following which would guarantee success. However, there are a number of techniques that can significantly increase the likelihood of achieving it. Firstly Having read and comprehended the statement, it is necessary, first of all, to correlate its content with a certain section, and even better with a certain topic relevant discipline. Having done this, Secondly, it should be remembered that any topic arose in science because it solved quite specific tasks and paradoxes. To remember about them means to prepare, mobilize the tools to complete the examination or Olympiad task.

Let us illustrate what has been said on the example of the aphorism of A.N. Leontiev, often mentioned in teaching aids for preparing for the exam: “A role is not a personality, but an image behind which it is hidden”. This aphorism is convenient for analysis in that it clearly and unambiguously refers to the fundamental sociological theme "Social roles". Let's remember the first paradox which it was necessary to learn in this topic and from which the entry of a person into sociological science generally begins - the bearer of the role performed by the personality is not the personality itself, but Group. It is at this point that we find that role characteristics not identical characteristics of the individual and that a variety of relationships can be built between them. One of the options for such a relationship is the situation when the role turns out to be an “image” that hides the personality. The problem in this case can be formulated as follows: "The author touches upon the problem of the autonomy of the role in relation to the personality, the discrepancy between personal and role characteristics."

Well, what about the formulation of a thesis to a topic that includes not only a certain aphorism, but also comments on it and questions? Recall that in recent years it is precisely such tasks that are increasingly found at various Olympiads in social science, including the Olympiad "Highest Standard". Often, the presence of such auxiliary material disorients the participant, who, as a result, writes not an organically integral text, but a set of sentences that are not connected with each other by a semantic unity. In the event that the task clearly articulates the requirement to write an essay, this can lead to a serious decrease in the grade. One of the guarantees against such an error is precisely the clear formulation of a single thesis for the entire text.

Consider the task formulated on the basis of a quote from the book by J. Ritzer "McDonalization of Society", proposed at the Olympiad Highest Standard in 2013-2014 academic year.

“The modern American sociologist George Ritzer, in his work The McDonaldization of Society, writes that “now, instead of meeting with his personal doctor, the hospital patient is likely to see every day with a different person with whom he will not develop a personal relationship ". What characteristics of modern society allow J. Ritzer to make such a statement? What are the features of the modern division of labor and social relations implied in this sentence? In what societies such relationships were possible? Is it related to changes in the nature of professions? Which sociologists adhere to this position? Give examples, arguments and counterarguments in relation to the proposed statement.

First of all, we note that it consists of two parts: the first part is a phrase taken from a well-known work, the second is the comments and explanations given to it. However, looking closely, you can see that the presence of the second part does not fundamentally change the nature of the task, in comparison with the examples discussed above - explanatory sentences only allow you to formulate your thought more clearly, to more clearly indicate the vector of your own thoughts. Indeed, in the question “what characteristics of modern society allow J. Ritzer to make such a statement?” it is easy to see the same requirement to “formulate the problem”, only already containing a certain “hint”, in the rest - indications of the presence of certain mandatory points in the plan. The problem, in this case, can be formulated as follows: Ritzer raises the problem of the depersonalization of human relations in modern society ". Accordingly, the main thesis of the essay will sound like this: "The depersonalization of human relations is the most important characteristic of modern society."

An important step in formulating the main thesis of the essay is defining one's own attitude to the analyzed statement or statement, especially since this requirement is most often explicitly present in the task.

How to treat the author's position is a question that sometimes throws even a well-prepared graduate into confusion. It is clear that it is impossible to predict one's perception of this position in advance, and yet it is very useful to have at least general idea about the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches to its assessment. At first glance, the simplest and least risky is the direct agreement of the student with the position of the author of the aphorism he is analyzing. However, with all the advantages, full agreement with the author's position has a significant drawback - it leaves very little room for the manifestation of one's own knowledge and creativity. express your full disagreement from the point of view of the author? Formally speaking, such an answer is not prohibited, but let's not forget that the tasks are usually given statements by famous people, among whom there are often classics of science, using the conceptual apparatus of which an essay should be written. Obviously, unequivocal disagreement with the author in such a situation can put the participant in a difficult position. It turns out that the best option, on the one hand, allows you to show your own creative potential and treat the task non-trivially, on the other hand, this is an option partial agreement with the position of the author.

In no case should one be afraid to argue with the author, especially when it comes to private issues. It should be remembered that any aphorism, even if it belongs to the pen of a great scientist, cannot be flawless from a scientific point of view. Aphorism never conveys all the variety of necessary features of any phenomenon, but in a figurative and visual form conveys to the reader the most significant, perhaps even paradoxical, properties of it. Consequently, some aspects of the phenomenon turn out to be undeservedly forgotten in it, and some aspects, on the contrary, are hypertrophied, exaggerated. To pay attention to this in your essay means, firstly, to make it much more interesting, embossed, and secondly, to get a completely legitimate reason to reveal your knowledge of such aspects that, at first glance, are very distantly related to the topic. It should also not be forgotten that in the form of assignments, fragments from texts written long before our time are often given. While perfectly correct for some past era, the views expressed in them may well lose their validity (in whole or in part) in relation to the present day.

As an example, let us continue the analysis of Leontiev's statement "The role is not a person, but the image behind which she hides". Above we have given the following formulation of the problem raised in it: "The author touches upon the problem of the autonomy of the role in relation to the personality, the discrepancy between personal and role characteristics." Note that such a mismatch can take a different form. Indeed, very often the role in its main points matches With personal characteristics individual and differs from the latter only in minor aspects. She can enter contradiction with his individual characteristics, which will lead to role-playing tension; finally, she can really hide them, turning into a kind of “mask”. Thus, as it should be in an aphorism, Leontiev's statement does not convey the whole variety of relationships that can arise between personality traits and roles, but a well-known psychologist managed to find the point that fixes these relationships in the most bright and even dramatic form.

Continuing to reflect on the topic, we can recall that the inconsistency of the role with the individual gives rise to difficult psychological conditions (role tensions), and this alone makes such a situation unstable, requiring its resolution. Moreover, choosing, say, your future profession, the young man just strives to ensure that the social roles associated with it not only do not hide his true features and abilities, but, on the contrary, give them the opportunity to manifest themselves in their entirety.

The thesis of the essay, therefore, can be formulated as follows: “ In his statement, Leontiev touches upon the most important feature of the social role - its autonomy in relation to the individual, but this does not mean that the role always hides personal qualities human».

Experience shows that texts in which the authors do not confine themselves to full agreement with the position of the author, but express criticism of it, albeit not very significant, but at the same time independent criticisms, always look much more interesting and often receive high scores. You can see for yourself by looking at the HSE Olympiad website for the best essays from previous years. Consider an example.

In 2014, the following topic was proposed for grade 11 in the section "Sociology":

« Russian-American sociologist P. A. Sorokin argued that “art is gradually becoming a commodity; for the sake of relaxation, consumerism, entertainment and pleasure. As a pure means of entertainment, contemporary art naturally moves into a different status. From the realm of absolute values, it descends to the level of the production of commodity values.

Why P.A. Sorokin spoke in this way about art in modern society? What characteristics of modern society does the sphere of art reflect? Is it possible, by describing contemporary art, to understand the values ​​of contemporary society? Is this statement a criticism? contemporary art?

Give examples, arguments and counterarguments in relation to the proposed statement».

The author of one of the essays reasonably showed that this statement is true not only for the society of the early 20th century, but also has not lost its relevance in the modern world. First of all, he connected the process described by Sorokin with the development and spread of mass culture. And yet, in a number of positions, the participant of the Olympiad considered the sociologist's statement too categorical. “However, despite a basically completely correct understanding of the trends in the development of mass society and its culture, Sorokin does not take into account that there are exceptions to every rule, and mass culture is not as bad as it might seem (hereinafter, the spelling and style of the essay authors are preserved. - K.S.). And within the framework of mass culture, brilliant works of literature were created ..., cinema (Soviet cinema, a number of Hollywood films, the works of Stanley Kubrick, for example), visual arts(Soviet military and post-war painting, pop art), theater (Tennessee Williams…), which in terms of depth are not inferior to the works of elite culture… Thus, Sorokin's view can be considered only partially correct. His position is explained primarily by the fact that he, being a witness of the collapse of old Russia and a passenger of the "Philosophical Steamboat", a true intellectual, saw, like the Spanish philosopher J. Ortega y Gasset, in mass society and mass culture only the negative, considering these phenomena evidence of a deep disease of society, its abnormal development ... "

As we can see, having decided to enter into a discussion with one of the classics of sociological science, the author not only got the opportunity to show the skills of a serious polemicist, but also was able to organically, fully fitting into the logic of the text, reveal his extensive knowledge in the field of contemporary art. Such a move turned out to be very advantageous and brought him a lot of points. Although, of course, not everything here looks completely flawless. So, it is hardly possible to recognize the correct wording in which the young man reproaches Sorokin for forgetting such an elementary principle as “there are exceptions to any rule”, and a number of others. Therefore, taking this opportunity, I would like to give advice to the participants of future Olympiads: when arguing with the authors of the proposed texts, one should show appropriate tact, try to avoid searching for elementary errors that are clearly not characteristic of the pillars of science.

When writing an essay on a topic whose thesis matches the title, most often you can limit yourself to the wording one main thesis. However, in cases where the formulation of the topic is less trivial, it makes sense to increase the number of theses. Above, on the example of several classical scientific works, we have shown that each of them is based on a clearly formulated thesis. However, any of these books is divided into chapters, chapters into paragraphs, paragraphs into paragraphs, and each of these structural units contains the main idea - the thesis. Thus, in a well-organized text, in addition to the main thesis, there may be abstracts of the second level(in chapters) third(in paragraphs) and so on up to the theses of individual paragraphs (ideally). Of course, an essay at the Olympiads and the Unified State Examination is not a book, and it cannot be measured by the standards of large works. However, in it, as a rule, along with the main thesis, three to five theses of the “second order” should be singled out, in which and through which the main one is developed and specified. Ultimately, one can be guided by the principle: in any non-fiction text there should be as many theses of various levels as there are independent chains of logical reasoning in it.

The division of one thesis, large in content volume, into several smaller ones greatly facilitates the logical substantiation of one's position, as well as the formulation of the conclusion.

So, in the famous book by S.I. Povarin “The Art of the Debate”, a curious episode of a fictitious court session is analyzed. Having finished the accusatory speech, the prosecutor concludes: “The crime committed by the defendant must be qualified under article twelfth criminal code". The lawyer in his speech objects: “The crime should be qualified not according to the twelfth, but according to eleventh article." It would seem that everything is logical - that's why he and a lawyer do not agree with the prosecutor and convince the court to apply an article to the client, which implies a less severe punishment. But in this case, that's not the point at all. His thesis - "... to qualify not according to the twelfth, but according to the eleventh article" - in fact, is a clear mixture of two independent theses of the second order. The first of these is the assertion that the crime it is forbidden qualify under article twelve. The second one is a crime. must be qualified under article eleven. By mixing them "in one heap", the hypothetical lawyer created for himself serious problems with substantiation: proving his point, he will inevitably jump from one statement to another, cross arguments, etc. Moreover, it is quite possible that, having combined the arguments, he will not notice that most of them prove the second thesis, and the first turns out to be practically unsupported. An experienced opponent can easily take advantage of this, and the lawyer's case will be lost. And vice versa: by dividing his position into two parts, the defender will be able to adequately assess the degree of validity of each of them and strengthen, where necessary, his arguments. With this approach, he will be able to build consistent, integral and independent chains of argumentation for each of the theses, without mixing or crossing them.

Based on the above, we can define the following rule: having formulated the basic thesis of your essay, try to break it down into smaller, independent and further “indivisible” statements. Having done this procedure, for each of them separately, you should build your own independent chain of arguments.

As an example, let's continue the analysis of the topic "How are inter-role tensions related to the processes of inter-group conflicts?". The main thesis of the essay was formulated by us as follows:

“The connection between intergroup conflicts and role tensions is not unambiguous, necessary. This relationship is probabilistic. It is implemented through several mechanisms and is bilateral in nature.”

Let's break this statement into several independent statements:

T. 1. Intergroup conflicts and inter-role tensions are not interconnected by an unambiguous, necessary connection.

T. 2. Intergroup conflicts increase the likelihood of inter-role tensions.

T. 3. In some cases, inter-role tensions, in turn, can become sources of inter-group conflicts.

Next, you need to consistently substantiate each of the statements. We will discuss the subtleties and methods of such justifications below when we discuss the rules for constructing arguments and proofs for the theses (paragraph 3).

In one of the best essays written in 2014 at the “Highest Standard” Olympiad on the topic of a fragment taken from the book “McDonalization of Modern Society”, the following second-order theses can be distinguished in the text:

T1 - McDonaldization is a consequence of the development of mass production.

T2 - The division of labor leads to the emergence of narrow specialists, which leads to the need to attract a large number people to perform some work (for example, treating a patient).

T3 - The division of labor and the development of mass production lead to the rationalization of life, but at the same time to the depersonalization of human relations, their anonymity.

Concluding the discussion of the first and fundamental structural element of the essay, we will give several examples of the formulation of second-order theses for non-trivially formulated topics, which, as a rule, cause the greatest difficulties for applicants.

Topic: "Interethnic conflicts in the third millennium: what is the reason?".

Main thesis: the causes of interethnic conflicts today have both historical roots and are generated by the peculiarities of the modern global world.

T. 1. Some modern inter-ethnic conflicts have their roots in the distant past.

T. 2. Some inter-ethnic conflicts are one of the results of the globalization process taking place in the conditions of the uneven development of nations and peoples specific to capitalism.

T. 3. Interethnic conflicts are indirectly connected with the strengthening of ethnic communities and ethnic identity. One of the reasons for these processes is the normative-value uncertainty and the state of anomie that are characteristic of modern society.

Topic: "Are there signs of a class structure in modern Russian society?"

Main thesis: in Russian society there are separate elements of class structures, but they are subordinate, not dominant.

T. 1. Formally, the reasons for the existence in modern Russia there is no class structure.

T. 2. A class structure can exist in societies where there are no formal grounds for this.

T. 3. In Russian society, there are separate and incomplete elements of the class structure.

T. 4. Class elements in Russian society are peripheral, not defining.

Topic: “Comment on the statement: “By obeying the law of the crowd, we return to the Stone Age” (Parkinson).”

Main thesis: there is a similarity between the behavior of a person in a crowd and his behavior in the Stone Age.

T. 1. According to Durkheim's concept, in the Stone Age, as well as in archaic society in general, there was no developed individuality. The individual consciousness was dissolved in the collective consciousness.

T. 2. In modern society, having obeyed the crowd, a person also loses his individuality. The collective unconscious comes first (Jung).

T. 3. In the Stone Age, the role of irrational motives in human life was great.

T. 4. In the crowd there is a weakening of the rational motives of human actions.

If it was possible to adequately dissect the main thesis, then the essay acquires the first most important condition for success - a competent structure. However, to formulate a system of theses is a necessary, but obviously not a sufficient condition for successful essay writing. The most important thing after their formulation is their justification. This purpose is served arguments and proof of.