Let’s talk about claims, or controlling ideas! You’re probably used to terms like thesis or argument, which we’ll call controlling ideas or claims. There’s no single formula for writing a controlling idea or claim, but here are some tips and templates you can experiment with:
Think of your claim as a hypothesis, a conclusion you’ve already drawn—the rest of the essay is where you explain to the reader how you arrived at that conclusion. You are exploring this conclusion and the thinking that led you there. You are not proving a point by attempting to disprove everything else, and you’re not ignoring obvious contradictions or complications. Instead, you’re collecting evidence from the textual artifacts you examine and interpreting the evidence to build your exploration.
It also might help to first draft your claim like a series of things you notice, and your reasoning as to why they occur. For example:
“I keep seeing [textual/visual/social pattern] in [your subreddit]. After paying attention to how and where these patterns emerge, I notice [common link—this could be the type of user posting/engaging in it, the tone of response, or something else]. Based on how members respond to or engage in these patterns, I think this influences or is significant to the culture of this space because [reasons—or in other words, how do you know this, based on what concrete evidence and observations?].”
For the discourse community narrative, let’s say I want to write about a virtual environment: the subreddit r/SaintSeiya, because I was a fan of the anime as a kid and because at a glance I notice lexis in the use of Saint Seiya-specific terms that have become community slang alongside Reddit-specific abbreviations and slang, and shared values/goals in the way community members have a system of hierarchy based on sharing evidence of fandom like collectible action figures or original fanart. Using a template like the one above, I might write:
“I notice that users on r/SaintSeiya indicate their status in the community by indicating how committed they are as fans. While some of this is through the creation of original content or the purchasing of collectibles, it also emerges through language. Members who can casually incorporate the language of the world of Saint Seiya are presumed to be veteran members, or at least die-hard fans. This is significant because it suggests that being a die-hard fan gives you seniority in the community hierarchy. However, members seem to be kind to users who mix up terms or get terms wrong, which also suggests that the community is not a very elitist one and aims to share their love of the series with whoever wants to take part.”
Notice that I’m not too worried about “sounding smart,” using big words or sentences that are really lengthy. Rather, I’m just trying to get down my initial thoughts in a specific, semi-organized fashion. Once I begin collecting specific evidence for my paper and drafting it, I may find that my hypothesis changes; at that point, I can always go back and modify my controlling idea to fit my new findings.
Whether you call them claims, controlling ideas, or interpretive problems, they’ll generally be at least a few sentences long. You typically need this much space to be specific and unique to your community. Notice that my example is 5 sentences. It’s also a good idea to signpost the tension or gap you notice by using a contradiction word, like while or however: this elevates your claim from a fact you observe to a fact you need to interpret in order to resolve a central issue, discrepancy, or problematic aspect. I like to place this contradiction at the end of my claim paragraph, so it’s the last thing in the reader’s mind for them to puzzle over along with me while they read my essay.
Your body paragraphs would each examine a different piece of evidence that shows the reader why you came to the hypothesis you came to. In my example, I might spend 1¶ on how and when the anime phrase “Burn your cosmo” gets used by members, followed by 1¶ explaining how the meaning in the anime is changed into a cultural meaning for the community. Then I might spend another 2 paragraphs on a different piece of lexis and cultural value, and so on and so forth. In my conclusion, I might spend a paragraph or two considering the larger significance of this kind of behavior–possibly opening it up to online fandoms for 80s anime and status in general, especially since being a fan of anime in the U.S. back in the 80s made you a marginalized unpopular nerd.
I’ll keep using this example community as we work through each phase of drafting for each essay, and we can discuss this (and other) examples in our live Zoom sessions and address any other questions you have about formulating controlling ideas.