Small-Group Discussion and Summary Before beginning your small-group discussion, you'll need to propose a thesis. You'll share your thesis, along with support for it, in a small-group discussion. To start forming your thesis, you'll first need to brainstorm and choose a topic about Victorian society that you'd like to focus on. You may select one of the topics listed below or choose a different one in consultation with your teacher. Possible Topic 1: Family structure and societal norms Literature that is set during the Victorian era reveals evidence of social structures and societal norms of that time. Consider comparing the roles of children and parents in a family structure, home life versus work life, gender roles, or marriage patterns.

Small-Group Discussion and Summary Before beginning your small-group discussion, you'll need to propose a thesis. You'll share your thesis, along with support for it, in a small-group discussion. To start forming your thesis, you'll first need to brainstorm and choose a topic about Victorian society that you'd like to focus on. You may select one of the topics listed below or choose a different one in consultation with your teacher. Possible Topic 1: Family structure and societal norms Literature that is set during the Victorian era reveals evidence of social structures and societal norms of that time. Consider comparing the roles of children and parents in a family structure, home life versus work life, gender roles, or marriage patterns. Possible Topic 2: Most significant technological invention or development For this topic, you might consider which technological development has had the most profound impact (positive, negative, or both) on how people live, making life different than it was in the Victorian era. If you choose this topic, you can pick any technological process or device. Part A You will need to determine a position on your topic for the thesis statement. Review this strategy for writing a thesis statement. Your thesis should explore a significant aspect of Victorian society. Here are some examples of thesis statements. Possible Thesis for Topic 1: Since the Victorian era, gender roles have vastly changed, and women have redefined their roles in the workplace and at home; therefore, the quality of living within today's social structure has improved. Possible Thesis for Topic 2: The most significant technological advancement during the Victorian era was the first commercial telegraph, which opened lines of long-distance communication worldwide more than ever before and changed life for people as radically as the Internet did for people in current times.