The statement in brackets is identified by the student as her thesis. I remember hearing before that some sagacious philosopher once declared that there is no thought without language or something to that extent. When I try to comprehend the correlation of language to perception of truth in Christianity, which ceaselessly speaks in unabashed metaphor and oxymoron, simile and symbol, I get all caught up in confusion and excitement at the same time. In class, they discuss and write down the point of view of the primary medieval text. For homework, they begin initial work on an analytic essay by writing a personal response and thesis statement and by outlining their essays.
Students bring their writings to class to work on in small groups.
They read the essays to each other, identify the theses, and discuss whether they understand each other's essays. The class as a whole discusses their responses which the teacher uses to lead into a discussion about the text and its relevance in medieval history. In class, students develop a paragraph analyzing a fourth text. At home, they organize a personal response to their own analysis a dialectic response as a strategy for probing their own thinking about a text. Their essays are discussed in small groups and more generally as a class to focus further discussion about history.