...I agree with rob333... My understanding is that you dont NEED a thesis as such - but u should try and keep your Train Of Thought along the same line throughout your essay - this gives the marker a clear indication that you know what your doing, you know your subject matter, the relationships between texts,journeys and purpose, and you are making a serious, 'shit im gonna give this kid as many marks as possible' attempt @ the paper... relate your material to each other and/or contrast the material, make the connections obvious to the marker, reveal what and how techniques are used to represent the journey... just show that you've got a plan/structure & the rest is up 2 your own bullshitting ability... coz as we all know thats how u get marks in 'english'...