Why is that men are always the ones drinking in beer commercials? How did soap advertisements push forth an ideal of civilization? Why are women the ones doing laundry when they want to sell detergent? How did etiquette manuals depict the female consumer?

Assignment Question

Write one primary source analysis paper, follow the instructions I have attached below. Regardless of what you choose to write about, however, you need to have a thesis, a clear statement on what you are arguing about. You should not simply ramble about beer, cigarettes, war, or etiquette manuals, you should argue something specific about them. Whatever your thesis is, your sources should serve to support it, to sustain it, and to prove it. Facts do not make up a thesis statement. Opinions that cannot be backed by evidence do not work as a thesis.

A thesis is an argument that can be contested and that’s why you need evidence, to support your version of events The easiest way to craft your thesis is to ask yourself: “what is the leading question I hope my paper will answer?” This question can be grand, or focused, it doesn’t matter. As you work towards answering it, you will likely narrow it down regardless.

Why is that men are always the ones drinking in beer commercials? How did soap advertisements push forth an ideal of civilization? Why are women the ones doing laundry when they want to sell detergent? How did etiquette manuals depict the female consumer?

By itself, your source will not provide you with an answer. You will need secondary sources to get there. Books, papers, articles on the subject. They will help you contextualize what you’re looking at.

The answer to the question you posed, in its intricacies, is your paper, and the distilled version of it, that is, a summarized, concentrated version, is your thesis.

It clearly states your argument, it introduces your key points, it might even already present the biggest reason why you believe whatever it is that you do. Your thesis should come at the end of your first paragraph, once you have introduced your topic, your general idea. The classic, “in this paper, …” But you can also present your thesis in a less formulaic manner, by simply connecting your ideas into your arguments.

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