Thesis Statement: A young boy’s environment can cause internal conflict.
Introduction
One possible research question that is applicable to my topic is, how can a young boy’s environment affect his identity? I arrived at this question after reading “Thank you Ma’am”, and discovering that the young protagonist is missing essential components necessary to further develop his ability to make sound decisions. This question is relevant because it impacts everyone. Rather it is his mother, his father, his sisters, his brothers, or (like in the story) a total stranger), everyone is impacted by a young boy’s decisions. How he interprets life as a boy can potentially affect his decisions-making as a man. I hope to learn more about boys who have made bad decisions, and what may have led to that. It would be very important for me to study some sociological aspect of how home life affects young men. I think this is an essential part to remedying self-destruction.
Working Hypothesis It appears that if one or both parents are missing, a young boy will struggle with identity. Perhaps, an adult role model might be one possible preventative measure. Young people must learn how to make decisions and deal with the consequences. It is my prediction that young people need to see responsible adults make good decisions so they can mimic them. Additionally, witnessing negative consequences might be an inspiration as well. Young boys need help, and sometimes (if not at all times), it takes a village to raise a child. Most importantly, I predict that peer pressure may have a greater impact than indicated in situations similar to the story.
Research Strategy
What do I need to know?
How do parents’ impact a child’s life? Can a stranger have a positive impact on a child’s life? How does societies’ standards influence young boys?
Where will I look for the Answers?
I plan on investigating this topic by watching news broadcasts (local and national) and reading newspaper articles (online archives, and local papers). It seems that magazines might be effective to setting a criterion for what society’s expectations are of what is
