II._Choosing_a_topic.ppt

1、II.Choosing a topic论文选题,Purpose Process Product (Good Questions) (Systematic Approach) (Valid Answers),Criteria of topics,Choosing a topic is the most important crucial part of the entire thesis process. Adequately restricting and focusing topic,What needs to be considered in topic-selection? Person

2、al interest Avoid overly ambitious and challenging topic A small piece of an important topic or a small piece of an area that intrigues you.,A good topic? Interesting Significant Researchable Modest Familiar,Topic, question and thesis statement,Topic: a broad range or general field of interest (Meta

3、phor) Question: a particular part or aspect of a topic that is narrow enough to investigate and write about (What are the effects of metaphorical use of language in communication?) T.S.: An assumption about the topic, an approach to it, an attitude toward it, a proposition to be examined. (Metaphors

4、 at different levels add lots of power and glory to the language in communication.),How to choose a topic? the requirement of your school. Identify a research interest or research topic Narrow the topic down as much as possible Review the literature on the topic as completely as possible State the p

5、roblem in a question form. Translate or turn your research question into a thesis statement.,Subject areas: English literature English linguistics English language teaching and learning Translation studies Language and Culture,How to narrow down the topic? “Who”, “What”, “How” “the acquisition of En

6、glish Vocabulary” Who: English/non-English major university freshmen What: productive vocabulary in speaking How: interview, questionnaire, observation, measurement,Formulating general rhetorical knowledge and discourse pattern,General question: What is the relationship between the students rhetoric

7、al knowledge and discourse patterns?,Specific questions: 1) Does the subjects perception of the rhetorical organization of English argumentative discourse vary from the expected English norms? 2) Do these English argumentative essays written by the subjects demonstrate any deviations in rhetorical o

8、rganization from the expected English norms? 3) Are there any correlations between the subjects rhetorical knowledge and the discourse pattern of their English argumentative texts?,Formulating a thesis statement,T.S. is the controlling idea that determines the design of your graduation thesis. T.S.

9、is a single sentence with the topic of the paper as the grammatical subject.,Major features of an effective T.S.: Be specific Use your own ideas Be sure you can build an argument A single, direct sentence,Working T.S.: a topic part + a comment part Eg: The current American farm crisis/ can be traced

10、 to three major causes.,A successful working T.S.: Interesting and engaging Explicit Argumentative Specific Limit and focus a topic,Finding an approach,Examine or analyze Evaluate or criticize Compare and contrast Establish relationships Argue for / Against / Persuade,选题的主要内容：,选择方向，确定论文题目，收集资料，研究分析参

11、考资料，整理论据，拟订参考书目，拟订论文提纲，构思，拟写初稿，修改润色，校对和定稿等步骤。,二、选择论题和确定论文题目(choosing a topic),英语专业涉及的范围： 英语语言 语言与文化 英语教学研究 英美文学 翻译理论与实践,研究种类： 纯理论研究 分析实际问题 本科生毕业论文选题的原则： 分析研究某个实际的专业问题。 “ 小题大做”,例：,方向 题目 英语长句汉译的技巧 英汉翻译技巧 英语存在句的汉译技巧 汉诗中形象的英译 大学英语图表类作文写作中 的主要问题及其对策 英语教学研究 网络环境下的英语专业泛读课 教学研究,一个中心论点（one central idea） 前期工作

12、：了解一般性知识 集中于某个论题 题目方向：思想性、艺术性,选择论文题目和确定论文题目的思路和方法,方向：英美文学 选定 一个作家（比如Hawthorne） 读文学史和文学手册中的相关章节（了解他从事文学创作的年代特点和文学上的潮流，以及他在文学史上的地位及其作品等。（第二章详解） 选一篇你最感兴趣和最熟悉的作品（如Scarlet Letter ) 反复阅读原著（汉译本仅为参考） 进一步缩小范围，选定作品的一个方面，（若是几个作品的比较，则选定几个作品的一个方面） 查找一些介绍和评论这些作品的著作和文章，作者传记，作者的其它作品等。,The scarlet letter was her pas

13、sport into regions where other women dared not to tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachersstern and wild onesand they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss. NathanielHawthorne,阅读原著需了解的方方面面,作品主题，主要人物，故事情节，写作技巧，叙述人称，背景，作者的创造意图，及你作为读者的反应。,以红字为例看了解和分析作品与定题的关系,社会中的种种罪恶 红字的主题：

14、原罪 个人的圣洁 人需要温暖而富于同情心的人际关系 不相信知识而相信人世间充满摸棱两可的现 象 可拟题目： “谈红字描写的罪”，“ 冷酷的心Chillingworth 的人物性格剖析”，“非人的宗教Hester的堕落溯源”， “从红字看18世纪的美国社会观念（道德观）” 作者如何表现主题：细腻的心理描写&象征手法 可拟题目： “浅议红字的心理描写” ， “红字中字母A的象征意义”,总结：选题的方法与要求,方法：要求： 1）通览捕捉法1）掌握学术信息 2）专题所定法2）确定研究方向 3）调查研究法3）进行自我认识 4）拟想验证法,关于确定论题的几个要点,有自己的见解（可以论证别人论证过的观点，但要以自己的方式方法，以新的眼光去论证；可以补充或反对别人论证过的观点，但要有充分的论据。）。 为树立自己的观点，必须注重细节与细节的分析。,确定论题要考虑的几个要