This is a one-semester, three-credit course that consists of reading, research, and assignments completed in one-on-one consultation with an assigned Signum faculty member.
Important: Students may register for this course only after their thesis topic is approved by the thesis coordinator. See the Master’s Thesis Guidelines for details, and the Important Dates section of our Application page for thesis application deadlines.
SEMESTER 1: Thesis Preparation: Language & Literature (LITZ6390)
During this semester, the student works in community with fellow thesis students, alongside a Thesis Tutor who will guide the group through this initial stage. The first semester of the thesis focuses on the research question, foundational reading, and the skills for writing an extended piece of scholarship. Students will write short responses to the most relevant texts they read during the semester, complete most foundational reading, and produce extensive annotated bibliographies of works relevant to the topic of their thesis. Serving as the foundation for the subsequent semester’s continued reading and initial drafting, this semester allows students to read widely, and discuss current and core trends in relevant scholarship in the Community Workshops that are detailed below.
Literature Reviews (suggested deadlines Weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8)
In consultation with the Thesis Tutor, students will identify which four of the secondary texts are most important to the topic of the thesis; at least two should be book-length. The student will write a literature review on each of these four works. Each literature review should survey the content, quality, and relevance of the book to the topic of the thesis; the student should complete the semester with 12-16 pages of scholarly written work. In most cases, these reviews will be around 3-5 pages each and due at approximately three-week intervals, but an alternate schedule may be arranged with the student’s thesis director at the start of the semester. In shortened form, these literature reviews may form the foundation for the student’s annotated bibliography.
Annotated Bibliography (due Week 12)
Building on the literature reviews from the first semester, students will complete the majority of their thesis reading and draft a comprehensive annotated bibliography explaining the relevance of each source to their thesis question (as it develops in response to research). Each work will be cited in the approved style and summarized in a descriptive paragraph that explains the student’s interaction with and assessment of each text. Each annotated bibliography entry will evaluate the work’s quality, discuss its relevance to the thesis topic, and assess its place in current scholarship, etc.
While the actual number of sources included in the bibliography is negotiable and will change from topic to topic, the reading list and bibliography should show sufficient mastery of the field. For example, a sufficient bibliography might include approximately 30 sources, divided between:
● relevant primary sources (poems, short stories, screenplays, novels, autobiographical material, etc.)
● book-length secondary scholarship
● scholarly articles or chapters in edited collections
Some topics will lend themselves to reading more heavily in primary sources or in scholarly assessments; some texts have been studied very little and will require creativity in the compilation of a reading list. Students should consider including theoretical works not directly relevant to the topic to establish a methodology or as models of the application of academic approaches to other texts.
This piece of work will be submitted to the student’s Thesis Director for approval and feedback.
Revised Prospectus and Presentation
In Week 13 of the semester, students will submit a revised Prospectus to their Thesis Director for approval. Their successful transition to the second semester is contingent on the Thesis Director being satisfied with this piece of work.
The student will then give a presentation of their work to the students and Thesis Tutor with whom they have been working in Community during this semester. The Thesis Director may also choose to attend.
Community Workshops
Five 60-90-minute workshops on the various skills required for the thesis will be provided by a team of Thesis Tutors from the Language and Literature Faculty. Students are expected to attend these workshops as part of their Participation grade for the semester
These are as follows:
● Summarizing Workshop (Week 1);
● Citation & integrating sources Workshop (Week 3);
● Translation styles Workshop (Week 4); *as needed
● Peer review Workshop (Week 7);
● Prospectus Workshop (Week 10).
