Hey guys!
I was just wondering what goes into a thematic essay. It's something that I had never heard of until going to the ATARNotes lectures, and I think it should be something I should explore when finding my writing style. First off, I have some basic understanding of how a thematic response is structured; My guess is it that it includes some element which persists throughout the topic, and this is what drives the argument. Is this correct?
Anyway, what I really want to get into is how a thematic response works in my National Study Germany. What are some themes that we see in this topic? I can't think of much aside from maybe betrayal, social/political/economic instability and democracy (If these are even considered themes?). My problem is that I can't separate these themes from the syllabus dot points. E.g. My theme of betrayal would link to the dot point of the emergence of a Republic and the Treaty of Versailles, so there's no difference between a thematic structure and a syllabus heading structure.
I think I need some clarity on what the themes are in Germany and where we see them throughout the syllabus, rather than just in one dot point (Are the themes the 'key features and issues' in the syllabus or do we come up with our own?). I'm probably rambling on now so I might just stop here It's just that my teacher hasn't shown us this thematic structure and it looks like she focuses more on a chronological / event approach, so some deeper insight into other ways of writing would be great!
I've just read my question and I think you guys might be confused at what I'm asking so I'll say them specifically below:
1. What is a thematic structure
2. Where do we see themes in the National Study of Germany
3. Are themes the 'key features and issues' which are stated in the syllabus
Again, thank you guys for being such a great help and showing me new things which I would never have known otherwise!
Hey rodero!
Love hearing that you came to the lecture - plenty more to come
Unfortunately I didn't study Germany (Jake and Emily did so they can probably help more with the specifics) but a thematic essay is pretty much always structured according to these themes:
- Political
- Economic
- Social- Cultural (can sometimes be included within the social themes paragraph, you'd then call it socio-cultural)
- Military
- Geopolitical
The first three in bold are usually the most important, and I'd say feature within most thematic essays, however the other themes can also be quite significant depending on your topic (e.g. for a Cold War essay geopolitical themes are really significant). So you'd have a paragraph dedicated to each theme
Thematic essays work for most questions, however they are particularly well suited to those types of questions that appear more broad, and are also really good if you feel like you lack a strong understanding of a particular event or factor. Let me clarify that with that last point I AM NOT saying that you can get away with including less detail in a thematic essay and that you can "study less," but lets say you were going to write a syllabus essay on the Weimar Republic, but your knowledge of the Treaty of Versailles is a bit lacking, in terms of specifics and detail. Writing an entire paragraph on the Treaty of Versailles then is going to be pretty fk'n hard, as you will have to provide more context and explanation. However, if you were doing a thematic essay you would not necessarily need to provide this context, and more so just include what knowledge you do have (usually overall cause and effect) on the Treaty of Versailles and how it impacted the political, economic and social landscape of Germany at the time. Again --> DO NOT use a thematic structure to avoid learning detail. It is still super important. But there are always going to be weak areas, and sometimes thematic essays can accomodate for that.
However, that being said, thematic essays can be really tricky to write, as they involve the extrapolating of themes from a variety of different factors - which is no easy feat. It requires a really good understanding of the core concepts and issues of your case studies, and it is critical when writing thematic essays that you understand the various through-lines and links between the different factors. Some students find that they get quite confused while writing them also, as it often requires you to discuss events not in chronological order (however in a way I think that this point is a plus, as it forces students to not write narratives).
The stuff that you mentioned are what my teacher normally referred to as "factors", so basically anything that is a little bit more specific to your topic. Factors are often the events and issues raised in the syllabus, however that is not always the case. Factor essays are also super valid, and can afford you equally high marks in the HSC when done well (like with all essay structures - there isn't one particular essay structure that is "better" it's really just down to what you are most comfortable writing). Looking at my HSC as an example, I learnt pretty early on which types of essay I was most comfortable writing for each section (some people use the same structure for all - I was more varied)
For Russia: The Bolshevik Consolidation of Power --> Always structured according to the
syllabus, so a paragraph on the social and political reforms, a paragraph on the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a paragraph on the Civil War and War Communism, and a paragraph on the NEP. These could also have been considered factors!
For Russia: The Soviet State under Stalin --> Always structured
thematically, so a paragraph on his political impact (linking it to the political purges and show trials), economic impact (linking it to collectivisation and industrialisation) and socio-cultural impact (linking it to the terror in the countryside, and his impact on education, art and the media).
For Cold War: Origins AND Development (and sometimes even Detente) --> Always structured by
factors, even if not explicitly outlined in the syllabus, so a paragraph on ideology, a paragraph on containment, a paragraph on the arms race and a paragraph on the geopolitical crises.
So yeah that is basically an outline of what a thematic structure is
I'm sure that you would be able to relate political, economic, and social themes to the Germany unit even though I didn't study it (I'm learning through some of my tutoring students though haha), but I'll let Jake and Emily take over now with their superior knowledge if they have something else to add more specifically to that unit
Hope this helps!
Susie