Description

A minitheme is a one page, single-spaced work in which you will be required to engage with the reading material for the class. The purpose of writing a minitheme is to develop your skills as a critical thinker and reader. In order to write a successful minitheme, you should keep a reading journal. As you read the course texts, look for recurring symbols, images and ideas and write them down in your journal along with anything else that seems interesting, disturbing or provocative. Then amass the information you have collected. Take one of the themes you have been focusing on in your reading journal and flesh it out with details, citations, and page numbers.

Minithemes should exhibit SIX primary things: [1] an imaginative title that entices readers’ attention; [2] a concise, specific, argumentative thesis; [3] evidence of attentiveness to the text under consideration; [4] strong textual support for your argument; [5] an explanation of the significance of the theme you have chosen to focus on; [6] questions or concerns for further investigation. Minithemes serve as models for the sort of process that should be undergone when you write longer essays. In short, you must first read a given text, taking notes and underlining important phrases and passages. Then gather and sort out your notes, making sure your focus is clear and sufficiently narrow. Finally, develop a meaningful and interesting reading of the text.

Sample

Keep in mind the following is an example of a minitheme on the film The Matrix. When writing minithemes for a written text, you must use PAGE NUMBERS & WORD-FOR-WORD QUOTATIONS to support your argument. Name: John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt Date: January 1, 2002 Title: "Neo's Evolution: Mirrors, Death, and Growth in The Matrix" Thesis The Matrix is preoccupied with how mirrors appear to signal growth in Neo's life. One sees mirrors, or mirrored surfaces, on: Textual Support [1] Morpheus's sunglasses. Morpheus is the only one who wears "mirrorshades." The Agents wear a more common variety of sunglasses that are not mirrored. [2] The pill case that Morpheus twirls in his hand during his and Neo's first meeting. [3] The spoon at the Oracle's apartment. Later Neo states, "There is no spoon," as he and Trinity begin their attack on the Agents. [4] The doorknob on the Oracle's door. [5] The mirror following Neo's ingestion of the red pill. Commentary & Interpretation What is clear about all these instances is that they go hand in hand with steps in Neo's evolution from nihilism. At each point that we see a mirror, we see Neo make a choice, accept a challenge, and take a position. This taking a position slowly weans him away from his state of nihilism. When Neo accepts the red pill, he is faced with the shiny pill case and Morpheus's glasses. Much of the film is taken up with a series of tests: Neo fighting Morpheus, jumping from a building, or taking on the Agents. In the background or foreground of all of these actions are Morpheus and his glasses. Incidentally, most of these tests involve death. It is as if Neo has to face death to change. In a sense, the entire film, by portraying the environmental disaster from humanity's creation of dangerous machines (AIs), is trying to make us face death. And, by facing death, we will take action and leave our nihilism behind. Questions & Suggestions for Further Discussion Two suggestions: [1] The mirror symbolizes Neo's need to be introspective, to rethink who he is. This need leads to his evolution away from nihilism towards Belief and is driven by his constant facing of death. [2] All of the mirrors in the film are external and fixed to more mature or enlightened individuals. Perhaps their maturity in some way is what leads to a reevaluation of Neo's own life; he considers himself in light of them and doesn't like what he sees.