Thesis

## Peter Filkins

I think the mistake that writers sometimes make when writing an argument-driven paper is to think that the thesis is the castle on the hill, there to be defended at all costs, rather than exploring the potential wonders and curiosities of the landscape surrounding the castle, the value of which is the whole point of the castle being there in the first place. The former approach often leads to ignoring key evidence or an obvious counter-argument in the fear that including such will only lay siege to one's own position, and so the writer pulls up the drawbridge and remains stuck in the castle, rather than taking in the view from elsewhere. Instead, one of the most useful pieces of advice I ever got was to try to formulate the strongest possible opposing argument, i.e. visit the "other" castle and bring it into the discussion, for doing this will only help to develop stronger lines of argument and evidence in support of your thesis, or it may even alter your thesis, and there's certainly never any harm in that. Good writing is not a war of ideas, but rather a discussion of them, no matter how much the culture might tell us to shout down or undermine the opposition, rather than intelligently engage with it.

And as for coming to a workable thesis in the first place, I always find it useful to ask myself a series of questions before I even begin to write. I.e., what do I really think about Plato's *Symposium*? What seems its most important or controversial or still relevant idea? How might it be easy to misunderstand what the text is saying, and what could I point out to someone about a key passage or idea? What exactly is Plato trying to say and why is he saying it, even if I don't feel I agree with him? What other writers or artists have explored similar ideas, and how do those compare or even disagree with one another? And most importantly, what do I *really* care about here, what seems something I *really* need to sort out (don't forget, sincere and profound confusion is a mark of engagement, not mere indifference), or which I think others should not ignore or miss? In the heat of sorting through a text in class and seeing important ideas unfold in discussion, I'll even stop sometimes and ask, "Well, who cares?" By asking that, I want to prod myself and others to really engage with the material, and not just discuss it or write about it only for the sake of fulfilling some abstract, detached exercise. Good argumentative writing says of the writer, "I care, and I think you, dear reader (and NOT just dear teacher), need to care about this, and thus I'm trying to provide you with enough information, and thoughtfulness, and convincing argument to show you not only what matters about these ideas and this text, but HOW MUCH it matters or should matter to anyone."

## Gabriel Asfar

In argument-driven writing, a thesis is a PROPOSITION.

Succinctly state your proposition.

EXAMPLE: Heisenberg's "Principle of Uncertainty" can be considered as a key to understanding the role of the narrator in [title of a literary work].

Create an outline of how you will proceed to demonstrate the validity of your proposition.

Substantiate generalizations, using specific examples to support your points.

Avoid lengthy quotations; paraphrase instead.

Acknowledge your sources.

Write abundantly; then sharpen by revising, condensing, and cutting to the number of pages required by the assignment.

## Jamie Hutchinson

* Good theses grow out of the writer's personal commitment to the material/topic.
* A good thesis can be both believed and doubted. A lack of controversy typically leads to insipid writing.
* I'm more interested in papers that explore an issue than papers that attempt to prove something.
* But exploration can be combined with staking out a claim or direction of some sort. Too many papers I read lack "feistiness."
* Good theses take risks, invite a degree of controversy, force both the writer and the reader to think.
* A thesis for a Seminar paper obviously needs to limit itself to something manageable for a paper of 5-7 pages.
* Unfortunately, many students lack the patience needed to zero in on something. It's easier to generalize than to look closely -- and then look closely again.
* Perennial advice: "Say a lot about a little, not a little about a lot."
* A good thesis will force you and your reader to return to the text(s) and look more closely at their language and ideas.
* Write what you know is tried and true advice -- what you know from having lived and from having read and researched.
* A thesis that doesn't seem to embody this sense of genuine knowledge and intellectual commitment is likely to lead to perfunctory writing.
* By the time I get to the end of the first paragraph, I want to feel that the writer cares about the issue(s) and has a direction.
* I generally prefer that a thesis not be framed as a question. But it's also true that a thesis implicitly contains a question -- i.e., why might this point of view have some validity?
* A thesis is YOUR angle on the material. Don't be afraid to claim your knowledge.
* Speaking personally, I enjoy reading essays that lead me along the pathways of the writer's thinking -- what they saw along the way and how it led them to their questions and inferences. In short, SHOW me the details that led you to your views.
* I don't care whether the thesis is ever stated as a single sentence. Trying to do this, however, can sometimes help a writer discover what is at the heart of his/her thinking.
* A paper needs to have a sense of momentum -- a sense of something unfolding step by step, of building up to some sort of conclusion (even if that conclusion has to do with the difficulty of ever finally resolving the issue's complexity).

## Rebecca Fiske: *What is a Thesis?*

Have an idea worth writing. Write it. To do such a thing, you might need to go through all sorts of strange rituals, contortions, exercises, and anxieties. You might search your soul for inner truths. You might Google facts from midnight to mid-day. You might sit quietly next to a duck pond and contemplate. You might debate with your buddies. Whatever path you take, at some point, you must find your own way and stop. You must decide to take a stand, to say “I think - .” When you have come to that point, you are ready to write your thesis.

Your thesis belongs solely to you. In fact, a thesis is a statement of belief, a courageous and essential thing. It is your idea, and it is worth writing. And when you do write it for the first time, you might be surprised at how familiar it is to you, how personal. I don't mean personal in the purple prose sense. Rather, I mean that you will know it is yours.

As your professor, I might ask you to write an essay about Gilgamesh. And you might decide to take on the general topic of images of the wilderness. You might write pages and pages of focused free writes and drafts. You might even compose an entire essay about the wilderness in Gilgamesh. You might write about how Enkidu goes out of it and loses innocence. You might write about how Uruk is a fortress and protects its people from it. You might write pages and pages concerning wilderness. But you will not have your thesis until you take a stand, acknowledge what you believe, and write a thesis statement, just one or two sentences.

Once you write it, you may weave in into your essay in anyway you wish. Some place their thesis statements at the beginning of their essays. Others place them at the end. Really, what matters is that your thesis statement offers your readers a clear sense of what you believe. But, be careful. When you write, you give, in the true sense of gift-giving. Your thesis becomes the rightful property of your readers. Like any creation, your essay and its essence – the thesis – will live beyond you, will be interpreted and reinterpreted. In fact, you might discover that when you read your essay later, it takes on all sorts of new meanings, suggest all sorts of altered theses. A thesis is not something fixed or frozen.To write what one believes, knowing that ideas inevitably grow and change, is courageous and essential. A thesis is the heart of an essay.

August, 2012

## Larry Wallach

For me, coming up with a thesis for a paper is only one part of the whole process of paper writing. I think it might be interesting to broaden the discussion to strategies for students to develop their ideas on paper.  This includes:

1. selecting a general topic (which book(s), which passages or ideas within the book(s), what mixture of ideas will be involved)
2. at this point, one strategy is to encourage the student to develop a title; the process helps the student focus in on what s/he really wants to say.
3. I am not hung up on having students prove anything, which the term "thesis" might imply:  the conclusion does not have to point to an inevitable endorsement of the thesis.  I'd rather that the student use the paper-writing assignment as an opportunity to explore an idea or set of closely related ideas from a number of perspectives, including arguing for or against, but also including thinking of the idea(s) in several contexts.
4. these explorations should constitute the elements of a draft of the paper; the next challenge is to find a structure that pulls these perspectives into some kind of discursively sensible or logical order
5. at this point, a thesis might well emerge that can be a refinement or expansion of the original title
6. the introduction can describe the materials, ideas, and approach the writier is dealing with
7. the conclusion can describe how the process of considering, juxtaposing, and evaluating ideas has produced new insights (or even failed to do so).

## Peter Laipson

I doubt that my definition of a thesis will be much different from anyone else's:  It's essentially a one-sentence statement of the most fundamental -- and often the broadest -- claim the paper makes.  However, I would mention a useful exercise for gauging the cogency of one's thesis, and the logic of one's argument, that I still find helpful in my own writing.

1. Read the introductory paragraph of the paper.  The final sentence should be your thesis.
2. Read the topic sentence of each succeeding paragraph in the paper.  If your thesis is strong and your paper well-organized, each topic sentence should not only follow from the topic sentence of the paragraph that precedes it but also should help elaborate your thesis.

**Deadlines for Students Starting Fall 2021**

***Semester before Thesis I** (Spring 2021)*

**Apr. 2021** | Preliminary Thesis Proposal to Academic Affairs

**Aug. 25-26** | Senior Workshop at Simon’s Rock

***Thesis I** (Fall 2021)*

**On or before the following dates:**

**Aug. 30  Mon.** | Fall classes begin. Register for BAST 404 (Thesis I) if not already registered.

**Sept. 3  Fri.** | Select remaining member(s) of Thesis Committee by this date with guidance from Thesis Advisor.

**Sept. 10  Fri.** | Meet with Thesis Committee to review Thesis Proposal, budget, and Funding Request (if applicable) and to receive recommendations for revisions, and outline the thesis schedule for the year.

**Sept. 15 Wed.** | Submit approved (by the Thesis Advisor and Committee) Thesis Proposal and Thesis Funding Request (signed by the Thesis Advisor) to the Office of Academic Affairs, and submit an electronic (PDF) copy of the Thesis Proposal to [[1]].

**Dec. 2 Thurs.** | Before this date, submit a written self-evaluation of thesis work to date, together with an annotated bibliography and/or other appropriate materials as applicable, to your Thesis Advisor and Thesis Committee, and meet with the Committee to review the your progress.

**Dec. 16 Thurs.** | Self-evaluation and materials to the Committee and the Office of Academic Affairs.

***Thesis II** (Spring 2022)*

**On or before the following dates:**

**Jan. 31 Mon.** | Spring classes begin. Register for BAST 405 (Thesis II) if not already registered.

**Apr. 20 Wed.** | Submit copies of the complete thesis including the thesis title and abstract to all members of the Thesis Committee for approval. (These documents should be formatted properly at this time.)

**May 2 Mon.** |  By this date, hold a final meeting with the Thesis Committee and receive approval of the thesis.

**May 11 Thurs. by noon** | Submit one final copy of the thesis, signed by all members of the Thesis Committee, to the Provost and Vice President.

**Deadlines for Starting Spring 2022**

***Semester before Thesis I** (Fall 2021)*

Application to Begin Senior Thesis and Preliminary Thesis Proposal to Academic Affairs (see detailed Academic Calendar for due date)

**Jan. 2022** | Senior Workshop (date and times TBD)

***Thesis I** (Spring 2022)*

**On or before the following dates:**

**Jan. 31 Mon.** | Spring classes begin. Register for BAST 404 (Thesis I) if not already registered.

**Feb. 4 Fri.** | Select remaining member(s) of Thesis Committee with guidance from Thesis Advisor.

**Feb. 11 Fri.** | Meet with Thesis Committee to review Thesis Proposal, budget, and Funding Request (if applicable) and to receive recommendations for revisions, and outline the thesis schedule for the year.

**Feb. 16 Wed.** | Student submits approved\* copy of Thesis Proposal and Thesis Funding Request Submission link to come. (\*approved by Thesis Advisor and Committee)

**May 3 Wed.** | By this date, the student must submit a written self-evaluation of thesis work to date, together with an annotated bibliography and/or other appropriate materials, to the Thesis Advisor and Thesis Committee, and meet with the Committee to review the student's progress.

**May 11 Wed.** | Self-evaluation and materials to the Committee and the Office of Academic Affairs.

***Thesis II** (Fall 2022)*

Dates will be confirmed once the academic calendar is finalized.

## BONUS!

Seniors are entitled to a couple of bonuses at the library:

**Senior Carrels:** Seniors may apply for reserved use of a study carrel for **one semester** in their senior year. Because there are a limited number of carrels, they are distributed to those seniors who apply in the fall and spring semesters. Here's how it works.

**Extended Loans:** For seniors, books are due at the end of the academic year in May.  Remember there may be others who would like a chance to use the volume, so please return books as soon as you are done using them. All other items have the same loan periods and renewals as for the rest of the student body:  DVDs: 7 days; Reserves: 4 hours. More info.

## Proposal-to-Product Assignment

1. **Find three theses that are related to your area of interest by looking at the Senior Thesis List.**
	* This is the best place to start because it includes only those theses for which the library has a copy of the thesis and the proposal, **both** of which you need for this assignment.
	* You can browse the list or use CTRL+F to find keywords related to your topic.
	* Make a note of the following information about the theses in which you're interested:
		+ Thesis year
		+ Author's last name
2. **Find and download thesis proposals and any theses available digitally on Digital Commons:**
	* Theses and Thesis Proposals by Author. We recommend that you search by author because if both the thesis and proposal are available, you will find both with one search.
	* Theses and Thesis Proposals by Date. Note that the date of the proposal does not correspond to the date of the thesis - usually a thesis is completed in the calendar year following the date of the thesis proposal.
3. **This year you will only be using theses available through Digital Commons. If you need help, ask a librarian!**

## What is Senior Workshop?

Each August, the week before classes start, Simon’s Rock faculty hold a Senior Thesis Workshop on campus. This workshop is designed to facilitate the thesis process and is required for all students registered for Thesis I. For those beginning theses in the spring semester of the academic year, the Senior Thesis Workshop is offered during the first week of the semester, but these students may attend the Summer Thesis Workshop if approved to do so. Engineering students (Columbia or Dartmouth) attend a workshop offered at Columbia University, or by Skype.

**Topics of discussion include:**

* What is a Senior Thesis?
* What does a finished Thesis Proposal look like?
* What is the relationship between the Thesis Proposal and the final product?

In addition, logistical issues are also discussed, including: research and writing strategies, interlibrary loan, Human Research Review, exhibition guidelines for Arts students, and senior thesis funding requests.

Questions may be directed to [Bonvillain], Director of Senior Workshop.

You probably have some experience using our library resources and services, so we're highlighting a few here that are particularly relevant to seniors:

**Ask a Librarian**: Our librarians are information professionals who can not only help you with your research, but also advise you about technology and integrating information into your thesis. Make an appointment early so you can get started off right.

**Print and Digital Collections**: The library makes many thousands of books, articles, and other resources available to you on site and digitally. Anything you can't find in our collection, you can request via Interlibrary Loan.

**Interlibrary Loan:** You will probably not find every book and article you need in our library collections. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) allows you to access materials from thousands of libraries.

Pro Tips:

1. **Don't ignore bibliographies!** When you're reading academic material, the researcher/writer has already done a lot of work that you can use. Not every item in a bibliography will be relevant, but it's worth taking the time to look through to find additional research on your topic and then track down those citations.
2. **Read both deeply and laterally.** Reading deeply involves sticking to the main topic and reading everything you can get your hands on. To go lateral, look at items that have relevance but are parallel to or intersect your main topic. For example, if your thesis has to do with Shakespeare, you will read deeply related to Shakespeare, but you could also read laterally by familiarizing yourself with the writing of his contemporaries.
3. **Always take the context of information into account.** Context is one of the important ways that we build meaning and that applies to research as well. Whether it's one line from a larger text, a page from a website, or a book in a library, the context of information is essential. Not only does information connect - books in the library are co-located by subject - but the context also provides you with important information. For example, an article from a news site takes on a different meaning if you know the site has a political leaning.

You probably consider yourself well-versed in the technologies needed for your courses and daily life, but have you thought about the technology required for a thesis?

Issues you should consider include:

* You'll be using a word processor for a significant piece of writing and in a more sophisticated way - don't wait until you run into its limitations to find out what it can do.
* You'll need to manage many sources of information in a variety of media and differing formats. Starting from the beginning with an appropriate system or software can prevent mistakes and repetitious work.
* Perhaps more important than ever before, you'll need a plan for backing up your data, research, and writing. You may even want more than one backup. Investigate ways of automating the back-up process so that you don't need to remember on your own.
* It's likely you'll need to share information with your thesis advisor and committee members efficiently via the cloud. It will need to be something easy and convenient not just for you, but also for your faculty. You may want to discuss with them the best approach for you both.
* How will you name files to indicate date, draft, and other relevant information? Do you have a plan for organizing your files?
* You're going to be managing many meetings and deadlines, both self-imposed and otherwise. Are you using a calendar and/or task management process that is effective? Consider using productivity tools to help you manage procrastination and the other roadblocks you will inevitably encounter on a project of this duration.
* Will you need to learn new technologies specific to your discipline and project?

If you're not sure how to proceed, a librarian can help!

You need one of these tools right from the beginning of your thesis research - it will definitely help save you headaches later.

These tools are free and they'll help you throughout your research, writing, and citing process! Remember, though, as helpful as they can be, no tool is magical or error-free. **YOU** are still responsible for checking to make sure that your citations are correct and complete!

**Zotero:** For a robust citation management solution perfect for extensive research (such as a thesis), you want Zotero, which will help you collect citations directly from your browser as you search, organize your research, cite sources, and generate a bibliography quickly and easily.

* Download Zotero [help with installation]
* Using Zotero
* Creating Bibliographies
* Word Processor Integration

**Mendeley:** Similar to Zotero in that it enables you to import citations quickly and easily from the web and organize them in a variety of ways, Mendeley will also scan PDFs for citations to other sources that may be of interest.

If you choose not to use one of these tools, you should make use of the library's guides to help you cite your sources and format your thesis:

* Citing Sources & Avoiding Plagiarism
* Formatting Your Paper: APA
* Formatting Your Paper: MLA

If you want help choosing which tool is right for you or need assistance learning how to use Zotero or Mendeley, you can always ask a librarian!

## Software for Formatting the Final Version of Your Thesis

Many students use Google Docs to write their thesis. It's a great tool, but it has limitations when you're trying to do the final formatting. For example, Google Docs doesn't support mirrored margins. When you're ready to format the final version for printing/submission, we recommend that you download and format your thesis in MS Word. **If you don't have MS Word, you can sign up for MS Office 365 (free if you use your Simon's Rock email address) to use Word online or try Open Office or Libre Office.**

## Page Formatting for Final Thesis

Formatting is managed most easily in Microsoft Word, not in Google Docs.

* **PAPER SIZE:** All Senior Theses must be printed on 8-1/2" x 11" sized paper. (Final versions must be printed on white archival quality paper with low acid, which is supplied by Academic Affairs.)
* **LINE SPACING**: The text must be double-spaced.
* **FONT SIZE:** Use font size 12.
* **DOUBLE SIDED:** Can be 1-sided or 2-sided; must have approval of Committee to select either option.
* **MARGINS:** Margins must be 1-1/2"on the left and 1" on the right, top, and bottom,
	+ For 2-sided printing, use alternating margins:
		1. In MS Word: Go to the Format tab; Select: Document; at bottom of window, toggle switch for “mirror margins.”
		2. This will change the margin selection to “inside” and “outside.”
		3. Set inside to 1.5 and outside to 1.

If a thesis includes **non-print material** (CDs, slides, films, music scores, oversized manuscripts, etc.) one copy of such material should be submitted with the copy of the written component of the thesis intended for professional binding.

## Sequence of Pages

The following sequence of pages is recommended:

**Preliminary Pages**

(numbered with lowercase Roman numerals starting with i)

* Title Page [note: this page number (i) should be suppressed/hidden]
* Dedication and/or Acknowledgments
* Table of Contents
* List of Tables (if applicable)
* List of Figures (if applicable)
* Abstract

**Body of Thesis**

(numbered with Arabic numerals starting with 1)

* Body of Text
* Figures and Tables (if not included in text)
* Bibliography / Works Cited
* Appendices

## Tables and Figures

Style manuals (e.g., MLA, APA) give instructions on the preparation of figures and tables. The Thesis Advisor or Librarians can answer questions concerning these matters. Some general guidelines include:

* Tables and figures may appear on separate pages or within the body of the text.
* The title (description) of a figure (drawing, graph, photo or picture) should appear below the figure.
* A table title normally appears above the table. Tables and figures should be numbered separately.
* A table that is oversized may be divided so that portions of it appear on two pages facing each other. The entire title and any footnotes must appear on the left-hand side of such over-sized tables.

**Page Numbering Basics:**

1. Number must be centered at either the top or bottom of the page.
2. Use lowercase Roman numerals for the preliminary pages (i, ii, iii, iv, v).
3. Use Arabic numerals for the rest of the thesis (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
4. Hide the page number (i) on the Title Page, but make sure it's counted.

## Formatting FAQ

**Q: How many pages does my thesis have to be?**

**A:** There is no College-wide policy regarding how long a thesis must be. The content of the thesis is evaluated on the bases of the quality, scope, contribution, and significance of the work. Generally, if there is a significant performance, lab, or non-written component of the thesis, then the written portion may be shorter. Theses that involve mainly or exclusively writing or a review of the literature should be longer. **However, in all instances, the minimum (and maximum) page-length of any given thesis—if such restrictions exist—are determined by the Thesis Committee.** Concerns or questions regarding thesis length should be directed to your Thesis Advisor and other committee members.

**Q: How long should my abstract be?**

**A:** The Thesis Abstract is a **150-200 word** statement of the essence of the thesis. It should give a clear sense of the central argument, rationale for, and/or concerns of the thesis, as well as the major areas of discussion, examples, creative experiments, etc. and their outcome.

**Q: What about the title?**

**A:** A limit of 1**6 words is recommended**, and should be formatted with two parts: a title and a subtitle, separated by a colon. The final title might contain some of the key words, and should be agreed upon with your Thesis Advisor and Committee. Capitalization and punctuation should be consistent with your style guide.