For the last three weeks, we’ve talked about the available research relevant to your chosen topic and how you might narrow your focus to develop a strong argument for your Master’s thesis. Let’s focus even more on the argument this week.
To start your initial post, I’d like you to provide a single sentence argument for your thesis. For my own work, for example, I may have said something like: Napoleon’s attitude and policies toward political malcontents, such as Claude François de Malet, were directly responsible for creating the opportunities they needed to attempt to overthrow him.
Secondly, provide at least three questions that you expect to have to answer in your thesis project that are directly related to your argument. For me, they may have been something like:
• How did Napoleon deal with political malcontents who wanted to see him murdered or otherwise overthrown?
• How did Napoleon’s attitude and policies toward political malcontents give Claude François de Malet the opportunity to overthrow him?
• How did Napoleon change his attitudes, policies, or general leadership style as a result of Malet’s conspiracy against him?
Finally, provide a paragraph to explain how your thesis process is going so far. What roadblocks do you see in your path? Have you found any particularly interesting or useful sources? Are you having a hard time finding appropriate source material?