Overview
Political theory essays often deal with a normative issue (known colloquially as the "ought" question, that is, what should we do in this situation, etc.) Edmund Burke characterized the French Revolution as violent, chaotic, and doomed to failure. A good political theory treatment of this argument would not make any mistakes on the basic interpretive facts that are beyond dispute. It would, for example, trace Burke’s influences back to the historical context he lived in. But it would also move into the realm of the "should" statement as well. The political theory essay would advance a clear normative argument; the author would take a position either for or against Burke’s claim.
Think of two or three plausible alternative interpretations: e.g. a) I disagree with Burke: the French Revolution was both necessary and successful, but also by discussing the works of theorists (i) and (ii); or b) I agree with Burke; the French Revolution ushered in an age of violence and chaos and ultimately failed in its objectives, as expounded by theorists (iii) and theorists (iv), which I will discuss in tandem with my close reading of Burke; or c) I agree and disagree with Burke; as my close reading will show, the French Revolution was unnecessarily violent, but I argue, using the works of theorists (v) and (vi), that ultimately it was successful as it ushered in an age of democratic government.