In a previous post I mentioned that my plan was becoming to come together. This post is about me refining that so I know exactly where I am going.
The circle is my conclusion.
The boxes are my intermediate conclusions / big points.
The writing is the evidence/examples.
Looking at this I can see that there are some areas which I have a lot to write about whereas others are limited e.g. result of the succession, long lasting nature of his legacy, Homeric hero, legacy of the Hellenistic world, influence on powerful others. Obviously this would be a problem as some areas of my dissertation would be very developed whereas others not so much, I have therefore decided to refine this by combining some intermediate conclusions into one big point.
The boxes are my intermediate conclusions / big points.
The writing is the evidence/examples.
Looking at this I can see that there are some areas which I have a lot to write about whereas others are limited e.g. result of the succession, long lasting nature of his legacy, Homeric hero, legacy of the Hellenistic world, influence on powerful others. Obviously this would be a problem as some areas of my dissertation would be very developed whereas others not so much, I have therefore decided to refine this by combining some intermediate conclusions into one big point.
As there were issues with my first plan I decided to combine these following areas into one: legacy of the Hellenistic world, influence on powerful others and long lasting legacy as they all fit under one intermediate of Alexander's legacy. I have also created a question mark around my point about Alexander reflecting the values of a Homeric Hero because I have found little content in my research though it is an area I am deeply interested by, furthermore a comparison with Achilles may not really relate to my overall question so if I cannot make it fit coherently with my dissertation it is an area I can scrap.
I have also, in red pen, given this plan an order and suggested the links between intermediate conclusions so my dissertation can be one sustained and flowing argument. This should help me when I come to make a more ordered plan of evidence/examples as it will give me an idea of where my dissertation is going when I write it.
My next step is to do all of the research so I have the order of each paragraph and then make a more detailed plan with all of the sources I plan to use, this should aid me in the long run as it will make writing my dissertation much easier if I know exactly where I am going with it. Difficulties I may face will be finding enough sources for points so I may have to adjust this plan as I go but it isn't finalised and I can cut bits out and add ideas in where it suits me which is the benefit of this initial plan being so flexible.
I have also, in red pen, given this plan an order and suggested the links between intermediate conclusions so my dissertation can be one sustained and flowing argument. This should help me when I come to make a more ordered plan of evidence/examples as it will give me an idea of where my dissertation is going when I write it.
My next step is to do all of the research so I have the order of each paragraph and then make a more detailed plan with all of the sources I plan to use, this should aid me in the long run as it will make writing my dissertation much easier if I know exactly where I am going with it. Difficulties I may face will be finding enough sources for points so I may have to adjust this plan as I go but it isn't finalised and I can cut bits out and add ideas in where it suits me which is the benefit of this initial plan being so flexible.