Essay Structure Given: What Do I Do about a Thesis?

(Canada)

I need essay help with an essay on the purpose and value of labour support.

Here is what it must contain:

-The benefits of labour support to the mother and her family.

-The purpose behind providing labour support.

-The doula's responsibilities.

-The doula's role.

What I'm confused about is how to structure this. Should I come up with a thesis statement that is supported by reworking the above points? I'm having trouble because I can't come up with a thesis which incorporates everything. Am I tackling this from the correct direction?

Linda responds
Cold Canadian air hasn't frozen your brain cells. You are thinking through your problem in exactly the right way. You need only a tiny bit of essay help.

As you figured out, that means you have to have a thesis that is general enough to cover all four topics. The thesis does not have to be creative or unique: just make it serviceable.

The thesis does not have to mention every keyword for the topics you will cover in the body paragraphs. You can use something as general as "the doula can play a vital role in the birth of a child." You will do better than that because you know your material and I don't.

I foresee one big potential problem. The outline you've been given has a lot of overlap. (I'd bet money the person who wrote that prompt didn't try to answer it herself/himself!) That may make it hard for you to write an essay without repeating yourself. You don't want to have your essay appear bloated; that might make the examiners think you were padding the essay because you didn't know your topic well.

Here's a suggestion: look at your big topic in three parts and treat your four "must contain" items as if they were subpoints under these three. That would give you an outline that looks like this:
1. Before labor

a.The benefits of labour support to the mother and her family prior to labour
b.The purpose behind providing labour support prior to labour
c. The doula's responsibilities prior to labour
d.The doula's role prior to labour

2. During labor

a.The benefits of labour support to the mother and her family
b.The purpose behind providing labour support
c.The doula's responsibilities during labour
d. The doula's role during labour

3. After labor

a.The benefits of labour support to the mother and her family post-partum
b.The purpose behind providing post-partum labour support
c.The doula's responsibilities post-partum
d. The doula's role post-partum

If one of your 4 "must contain" items is not relevant at a stage, you can safely skip it. Planning your content in that way should help you avoid any problems with redundant information.

I hope that's enough essay help to get you get a very good grade. Good luck!