An Honors Thesis in English

What does it involve?

Prospectus

The prospectus is a document that establishes your intentions for your thesis and makes a strong case for why your project should constitute an Honors thesis. A strong thesis is usually a result of a well developed prospectus. Care and attention at the stage of the prospectus can help you save time and energy later on. The idea for the thesis sometimes grows out of work you do in one of your major classes. If so, the prospectus should show how the thesis will build significantly on the work of a course or a project with a faculty member and not merely lengthen it.

Whether you choose to write a scholarly or creative thesis, the prospectus should contain the following elements:

• Purpose: A statement of your purpose in completing the project.
• Background and Significance: An explanation of the context and issues central to your project.
• Methods and Procedures: A description of the procedures you will use to conduct research and write your project.
• Preliminary Outline: A detailed outline anticipating the final structure.
• Preliminary Bibliography: A listing of sources already found to be relevant to the project in correct MLA format.
• Qualifications of the Investigator: A statement of your qualifications to complete the thesis.
• Qualifications of the Advisor: A statement explaining how the advisor is qualified to direct you in this particular project.
• Timeline: A detailed schedule for completion of the various aspects of the project.
• Budget: A list of anticipated expenses.

The Honors Program provides explanations of the various elements if you need further clarification.

Thesis

In English, an Honors thesis is either a significant scholarly project or creative writing produced at the undergraduate level. Either choice should make a contribution to the existing literature, although the contribution will be less substantial than is required for a graduate thesis. Your thesis should be the most developed research or creative effort of your undergraduate years. It can develop out of work you do in an upper-division course, but it should significantly extend that work.

There is no set length or content for your thesis. Generally, an academic English Honors thesis tends to be at least twice as long as a paper from your senior English course. You should plan on making the thesis a capstone of your learning in the English major, so it will, of course, be longer and more involved than anything else you have written. The exact length of the project will be determined partly by your focus—and your advisor will help you know what is appropriate.

The length of a creative Honors thesis can vary significantly, depending on the type of creative work being completed. For instance, a thesis built on poetry will be approximately the length of a chap book. If you are proposing a novel, however, you will probably only complete several chapters rather than the whole thing. No matter what creative option you choose, you will need to include an introduction or afterward that situates your writing in the field and raises critical issues relevant to the work. Again, your advisor will help you determine an appropriate length and depth.

In addition, it is a requirement for a creative Honors thesis that students complete English 218R and the appropriate 300-level creative writing course for the genre of the thesis---English 317R, 318R, 319R, or 320R.

Defense

Your advisor will be the primary person to determine if your thesis is ready to defend. Once you are ready and the Honors Program has been notified, you will help coordinate a time when you can meet with your advisor, reader, and a representative of the Honors program. The English department Honors coordinator may be invited, but it is not necessary that he or she attend.

If you have worked through the process conscientiously with your advisor, the defense should be fairly straightforward. The form of the defense can vary, but most often the defense begins with an oral explanation of your project. After your presentation, you should be prepared to answer a wide range of questions about your research and your conclusions. You can ask your advisor what kind of questions you can anticipate in your case. You will also be asked about your broader Honors experience at the university—coursework, portfolio, etc. Once questioning is completed, you will be asked to leave the room while the panel members discuss your project and preparation. Immediately after they have finished their discussion, they will inform you of their decision.

Who is involved in the process?

Honors Coordinator

The role of the English Honors coordinator is to help you successfully navigate the route to an excellent Honors thesis. You should visit the coordinator early in your process so he or she can help you brainstorm possible ideas for your thesis and meet deadlines. The coordinator will recommend possible advisors for your thesis; you should not get an advisor on your own, although you might be asked to make recommendations. While the Honors Program office is the best source of advice about general Honors requirements and procedures, the English Honors coordinator is available at any point on your journey to answer questions and give advice about your thesis in English.

Advisor

A good advisor is an important part of the process for completing your thesis. When you meet with the English Honors coordinator to discuss options and ideas, you may be asked to recommend full-time faculty members you have had courses with whose scholarly interests coincide with your inclinations for a thesis. Potential advisors may want to know something about you and your interests and writing before they agree to be your advisor, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes, even if you haven't had a class with a faculty member, he or she may still agree to serve as your advisor if your project is of particular interest. Once you have an advisor, that person is significant in helping you refine your focus and proceed to a successful completion of the thesis. You should meet with that person regularly to get feedback and help on your research and writing. The advisor will have a significant role in determining if your thesis is ready to defend or not and will participate significantly in that defense.

An advisor must be a full-time faculty member whose area of specialty matches the content of the thesis. For creative theses, for example, only the following faculty members are qualified to serve as advisors: John Bennion, Susan Howe, Dean Hughes, Kim Johnson, Bruce Jorgenson, Lance Larsen, Pat Madden, John Talbot, Doug Thayer, Leonard Tourney, and Stephen Tuttle. For other areas in the English department, similar lists are available from the Honors Coordinator.

Referee

The referee for your thesis can be either a full-time or part-time faculty member whose expertise coincides with those of the thesis. Typically, he or she is chosen by you to provide complementary expertise to that of your advisor. The referee will have the most direct input at the thesis prospectus stage (when he or she will approve the scope of the project) and at the defense (when he or she will participate in questioning you about your project and help determine if it is sufficient). Some referees may provide feedback along the way, as well.

What is the timeline?

Strong Honors theses begin with good planning in your sophomore and junior years. The Honors Program requires that your prospectus be completed roughly 11 months before your planned graduation: May 15 for April graduation, September 15 for August graduation, January 15 for December graduation. These deadlines are not set in stone and may be extended for well designed projects. However, the English Honors coordinator will not sign off on a project after those deadlines if he or she believes the project cannot be done well during the remaining time until graduation. If circumstances have prevented you from completing a prospectus with enough time until graduation, you may have to delay your graduation date to allow more time to complete a strong thesis. Do not wait to turn in a prospectus after completing your project or even a major portion of it, either. Doing so suggests a lack of planning and thoughtfulness and may result in a waste of time if the prospectus is not approved.

The deadline for completing your thesis is roughly 2 ½ months before your graduation: February 1 for April graduation, June 1 for August graduation, and October 1 for December graduation. This deadline is firmly applied by the Honors Program, and they have a thesis submission form your advisor must sign, indicating that your thesis is complete and ready to defend. In practice, this means that you should have a completed draft of the entire thesis to your advisor at least one month before the Honors deadline (by January 1, May 1, or September 1), so that he or she can make comments and suggest necessary revisions. Do not expect that you can turn in a first draft right before the Honors deadline and have your advisor “rubber stamp” your incomplete thesis: he or she will more likely suggest that you delay your graduation to give you time to reach the standards of an Honors thesis.

Achieving Success

Key factors in producing a strong, successful English Honors thesis include the following:

• Meet with the Honors Coordinator early (during your sophomore or junior year) so that you can begin planning for the thesis well in advance of the deadlines.
• Work with your advisor to develop a strong prospectus before your senior year.
• Meet regularly with your advisor but respect his or her time by visiting during office hours or other scheduled times. Give him or her drafts of sections of your thesis at regular intervals to allow both of you time to review the writing and research. While your advisor is reviewing portions of your thesis, you may work on other portions. Like any scholarly work, a thesis requires a repeated cycle of reading, thinking, writing, receiving feedback, and then more reading, thinking, and writing. Plan ahead so that you have the time to work through these cycles.
• Stay aware of deadlines so that you can meet them without putting undue pressure on your advisor, referee—or yourself.
• Remember that your advisor determines when you are ready to defend your thesis—not vice versa.