you don't have to wear that dress tonight

i am really sick of reading these papers, and i'm only 2/3 of the way done. i can't decide if they are just super-dense or if i failed to find the right language by which to instill a sense of what was expected of them. i know that i did my best; i spent a good amount of time over several weeks discussing what an argument is, and i gave them numerous handouts (which we went over together) that clearly explicate what an argument is and how to make one, and yet still i have 50 papers which, with few exceptions, definitely do not make arguments. seriously, guys, a broad introduction that talks about how "literature" or "diction" or "themes" function in the world at large (or worse, one that informs me of how important a writer t.s. eliot is), plus a "thesis" statement which basically rewords the prompt, does not, by any stretch of the imagination, constitute an argument. and just telling me what happens in the text (characters do things! words can have more than one meaning! symbols and stuff!) is also not an argument.