General description: The 30 required credits in the literature track may include 6 credits for a Master’s Thesis (26:350:696, 697). This project is to be new research and writing, not an expanded version of a previously-written seminar paper, and the equivalent of two full semesters of graduate course work. It is normally done during the last two terms before a student’s Candidacy. Fifty pages of manuscript (exclusive of footnotes and bibliography), using MLA style, are expected. The Graduate School has further format requirements, and their deadlines must be met.

Who should do an MA Thesis and why? Conceiving and executing an independent project that is lengthier than the typical seminar paper provides opportunities to survey a field of interest, explore a subject in depth, develop one’s research skills, sift and manage one’s findings, make original discoveries, and revise one’s thinking. The product is a polished, coherent essay disciplined by a hypothesis reflecting the student’s own ideas, following academic standards of argumentation, supported by substantial research, and accurately documented.

For all its boons, however, writing a thesis is not for everyone. Normally the English M.A. is not a specialized degree. Many students, especially those who came into the Program with limited undergraduate course work in literature, need the two semester-long seminars which the Thesis project replaces. Literature track students have to prepare for the comprehensive M.A. Exam on 50 authors.  For some students, it may also be professionally desirable to have the literature courses listed on the transcript. Those who plan to apply to Ph.D programs do not necessarily improve their chances by writing an M.A. Thesis, even though it may be good preparation for the Dissertation; a substantial seminar paper demonstrating the applicant’s abilities may just as effectively be submitted with an application for further graduate study down the line.

Initiating the project: During the semester prior to the commencement of the work, the student who has decided to pursue a Thesis writes a preliminary formal Proposal (see below) and secures a director of the project. It is the student’s responsibility to find at least one other reader. Both these  professors must be members of the English Graduate Faculty.  These arrangements, and any special variations from this policy, must be approved by the English Graduate Program Director, in consultation with the faculty director of the project, in the semester preceding the student’s registration for 26:350:696.

The formal proposal for a project of this magnitude and complexity typically includes a statement of the research goal; an explanation of why this goal is worth pursuing; the leading questions to be investigated; a description of the critical and scholarly methodology to be used; a projected timetable for the stages of the work, listing tasks for both semesters; and a preliminary bibliography of at least 10 items. A statement of personal interest in the subject can also be appended. The project director may ask the student to refine the Proposal before agreeing to serve or within the first two weeks of the initial semester of the work. These head starts are essential for a successful project; two full semesters will be needed to research and write the thesis.

In the first semester the student registers for 26:350:696, paying the usual tuition. Within the first two weeks, the faculty director and the student meet in person to discuss the proposal, schedule a series of conferences, and establish as firmly as possible what reading, research, and writing is to be accomplished by the end of the first term. The professor then meets with the student in person on a regular basis, at least every 3 weeks, to monitor progress through the projected timetable, assisting where necessary with revisions in project goals, direction of research, and methods used. (Normally phone and E-mail contacts should supplement such meetings, not replace them as though this were a correspondence course.)

It is often desirable to produce a speculative draft of one’s central argument (not necessarily of the whole Thesis) before the end of the first semester in order to clarify the direction of the essay and to set down tentative conclusions from the research so far. Where the project has several distinct parts or stages, it is wise to write up one or more of them in draft stage by the end of the first term. Students should keep in mind that somewhat more than half the work must be done in the first semester; the second term will be shortened by the committee’s need for reading time and by Graduate School deadlines. Working ahead of schedule is obviously desirable as well for students who will be taking the M.A. Exam in the spring.

At the end of the first term, the director gives the student a letter grade based on what has been accomplished so far and its promise. (“Incomplete” is not an option: by definition the project is not yet finished.) In some cases, it may be in a student’s best interest to abandon the project and take an additional course subsequently to meet the Program requirement of 30 credits.

In the second semester, the student registers for 26:350:697. Meetings with the director continue as needed, as the Thesis goes through its final stages. Often this means that several drafts are read and discussed. The final draft must be submitted to the student’s committee in time for these two faculty to read it, for necessary revisions to be made, for re-reading and final faculty approval before the Graduate School deadline for Degree Requirements. This phase of reading, revision, and re-reading can easily take four weeks. The separate letter grade the director gives for 697 may be different from the grade for 696.

Preparation and submission of the Thesis: Theses become permanent holdings in the Dana Library collection. Besides using MLA style, the manuscript must be prepared in strict accordance with the instructions in the pamphlet Thesis and Dissertation Form, available from the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School. By its deadline for Degree Requirements, the student files one original copy and one strong photocopy (both on 100% cotton-content bond paper) with the Dean of the Graduate School–Newark (see Graduate Catalogue).

Working ahead of the following deadlines is advisable:

Submit Final Version of Thesis to Faculty Committee:

October Diploma – September 5
January Diploma – November 27
May Diploma – April 5

File approved Thesis with GS–N (deadline for Degree Requirements):

October Diploma - October 1
January Diploma - January 2
May Diploma - May 1.*

*This is later than the date students must file for a Spring diploma, April 1.