Extended Essay Help - Marine Navigation

[oolf]

Hello. I need help. So my topic is going to be about a comparison between the past and the present marine navigation system. And I need a good thesis statement. Can someone help me suggest some? I've already made one. It goes something like this:

"Despite the modern navigation system being more advantageous than the ancient one, navigators of today still suffer from several problems."

But my adviser disapproved it. She suggested one and it goes something like this:

"Although there are differences between the old and the new navigation systems, there are still striking similarities between them."

But the problem is I have not researched quite a lot with my topic yet. So I really don't know what thesis statement to formulate. Is there somebody here knowledgeable about marine navigation? Can you help me suggest some? Can I even push through with this kind of topic?

Btw, even though this topic is like a Science/History thing, we are going to do it for our English subject. It's because we don't really have this International Baccalaureate thing. But we need to do an extended essay. So in our school, any topic from any subject area would do as long as it's interesting according to my teacher.

So pleaase help. Thank you

[alefal]

Hey there!

Are you saying that you're not doing the IB? In that case, be aware that most of the advice given here might not apply to your essay, as this is an IB forum and the Extended Essay have quite specific assessment criteria, which may or may not compare to your essay's criteria. We could not possibly discuss whether or not your topic is narrow enough or even suitable, as we have no idea what the criteria for your essay are. We don't even know whether or not your essay is supposed to be descriptive or analytical, nor to what degree or how long it should be. Writing a 200-words-long descriptive text is a completely different ball-game from writing a 6000-words-long analytical essay.

But the problem is I have not researched quite a lot with my topic yet.

Yeah, that is your biggest problem, it seems. However, you don't solve this issue by asking people to suggest a thesis statement for you. If people suggest a thesis statement, and you use it in your essay, that is technically defined as plagiarism, and you could end up ruining your grade because of such a stupid and avoidable mistake. We have a policy on this forum that we don't and should not facilitate plagiarism, so if that's what you're looking for, I suggest you find another forum.
You solve this issue concerning lack of research by conducting more research, that is to read more on the subject and perhaps interview people with knowledge on the topic (such as professors, researchers or someone working within the field). At this stage, this can be defined as 'preliminary research.' This preliminary research will allow you to obtain a more thorough (though general) understanding of the topic as a whole, and it will enable you to confidently formulate a thesis statement yourself. When you've formed a thesis statement, you of course go into the more detailed and comprehensive research process, where you try to get a bottom of everything related to your statement, and perhaps tweak the statement as appropriate. When you consider yourself finished with this process, then you should be able to start writing, though it does not mean that you have finished researching. You must always be sure that you're not plagiarising other people's work or opinions.

This, of course, assumes that you have plenty of time and no pressing deadlines any time soon.

Good luck!