Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Preliminary Thesis/Thesis in Progress

Throughout Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" Hemingway uses the young apprentice Manolin to represent the lost youth of the old man Santiago as well as contrast the human bond relationship with Santiago's love for the sea. During Santiago's battle with the great marlin the audience is able see both Santiago's contempt and respect for the sea that provides a living for him. We are also allowed a look at how Manolin represents the lost youth of the old man, although Santiago continues to have vivd dreams of the lions of africa on the shores of the beach. The purpose of the young lions are used to represent the eternal youth and motivation for the old man. To examine the main characters relationships Hemingway uses the ocean and Manolin to compare and contrast Santiago's relationship with humans and his relationship with the world around him.

The purpose is to...

1. Compare and contrast Santiago's personal relationships with his relationship to the ocean that he both loves and hates.
2. To show how the old man's various dreams of lions and his apprentice Manolin represent both his eternal strive and his lost youth at the same time.

Please...
Comment:
A lot of this sounds awkward because I'm not entirely sure how to phrase it properly.
What could I change and how to address the "So What" factor?

3 comments:

Jennifer Lee said...

Your thesis doesn't really look or sound like a thesis. Each sentence on its own looks like a introduction sentence to each paragraph of your research paper. Try to simplify :D

colleen f. said...

I think your thesis sounds really good so far. When I read it though, I was a little confused on what your actual thesis is. Is it the purpose of the young lions? Or is it the way Hemingway uses the ocean? Just be specific, otherwise it looks great!

Michele L. said...

If that whole paragraph is a thesis, I think its a little long. The first sentences definitely work for an entire intro paragraph though. The last sentence sounds like the beginning of a thesis, but I don't see anything about the lions in there. I'm sorry I can't help very much, because I haven't read the book, but if there is a way you can connect the lions together with the ocean to show both the characters relationships into the last sentence, I think it could work and then you will have both of your purposes in there. Good start!