Can you help me pick a thesis for my research paper?

Question

I'm doing a research paper on Homosexuals and Nazi's.... the negative impact of the Nazi's on homosexuals. How it was for homosexuals before hitler, during and after...

Right now, i am going with "Homosexuals are more masculine than Nazi's".... does that sound okay for a 300 level class in a University? If not, what do you recommend? I have my sources (Gad Beck and Pierre Seel's books)....

Answer 1

"Homosexuals are more masculine than Nazi's" is probably inadequate because masculinity is an individual trait, and even as such, it is not well defined even within a culture. To try to state that homosexuals as a group are more or less masculine than another entire group, you have to have some way of backing it up, and you'll end up with personal attacks (ad hominems) and blatant opinions without any data to back them up.

Consider the following:

"The rise of homosexual rights advocacy and Nazism were parallel and sprang from similar cultural phenomena within early 20th century Germany."

"The Nazi approach to homosexuality sprang from its leaders' documented, intense self-doubts about their own masculinity."

"The purges of homosexuals within Nazi Germany harmed the arts under the Third Reich."

Or finally,

"Social Darwinism as a reflection of Nazi philosophy is inconsistent with the Nazi practice of exterminating homosexuals."

Answer 2

I'm just a high school AP US History student but I'd like to comment. Would you be able to actually prove homosexuals are more masculine than Nazi's? I mean there is no real evidence for that, I don't think. Also, aren't history papers written in the past tense? So Homosexuals were more masculine than Nazis; unless it's comparing modern day homosexuals to Nazis, then present tense is fine. Lose the ' on Nazi's. It's not ownership of Nazi, but Nazi plural, and should just be Nazis.

How about having a thesis like "the Nazis had an overall negative impact on the lives of homosexuals during the Hitlor era" or something like that; more sophisticated, to the point, something you will be able to prove. Remember, your entire essay's point is to try to prove your thesis, even if you yourself don't agree with the prompt or thesis.

Answer 3

It's too broad. If you want to truly research something like this (or anything), you need to be specific instead of making sweeping generalizations.